I have a Craftsman Rear Engine Rider 13.5 HP Model 536.270320. I am not a big fan of this mower and would not buy again. But it is the first mower I've owned with Hydrostatic Drive. For a long time, I had preferred 'shift and clutch', and my recent experience with this mower confirms why. What I observe is that when going uphill, the hydrostatic lever gradually "creeps" to a slower speed. In fact, i have to hold one hand on that lever all the time to keep at a constant speed. Downhill or level ground does no seem to be a problem. Is this normal for all hydrostatic drives? Mechanically, I can understand why it does it, because the engine has less load on it when in "lower' gear. There is a "tightening" adjustment that I can make that makes the lever harder to move. This seems to fix it for about one mowing cycle, then back to the same problem. Do all hydros do this? I would like to get rid of this mower soon and have a strong inclination to go back to 'shift and clutch'.
GaryL
GaryL