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So I realized a dream and stumbled upon a deal for a dixon ztr black bear 34" commercial grade mower. Bought it drug it home and had to fight with the safeties on it, to get it to move again (not an issue during test drive) and used it to shuffle trailers around the yard and totally murdered some leaves piled up in the corner. Well it was apparent there had been a leak around the pumps, the guy I bought it from said the tank was pushing fluid out, but was full full so he pulled some out and he hadn't had a problem since, and couldn't find any leaks.

Today in an effort to trace the leak, and see if it was actively leaking. I loaded it up and took it to the carwash to rinse it down (low pressure, not carwash pressure) in an effort to find any leaks if it's still leaking. Cleaned up real nice. Got home and went to back it off the trailer, and no right side. It was the weaker of the sides, meaning the right stick would have to be 1-2" further forward to maintain straight driving direction. (If held at the same point, you'd make a long right turn) but that was the only issue prior to this I had noticed.

Initially when trying to back it off the trailer it was making some noise but now, nothing. Left side works just fine. Was a pain to wrestle it off the trailer and into the garage.

Not new to running hydraulics, but haven't had to diag them much. My question is, where do I start? Pointers? The tank has fluid, and appears to be same level as when I bought it.

Replacement pumps look to be about what I spent on the mower. I lined up a guy to make me new hoses if I had found one to be leaking which is why I was cleaning it up.

Thanks in advance!

Look over the belt first, elevate the machine and have someone run the drive while you watch to see what's goin on underneath
Maybe only a belt or pully issue, these hydraulic motors are pretty durable - I've never seen a bad one even on older machines.
Also look at the travel of your shifting levers be sure there is not something going on there too.
If you can post the model number , year etc . One of these guys can look up more information for you

Bertrrr said:

Look over the belt first, elevate the machine and have someone run the drive while you watch to see what's goin on underneath
Maybe only a belt or pully issue, these hydraulic motors are pretty durable - I've never seen a bad one even on older machines.
Also look at the travel of your shifting levers be sure there is not something going on there too.
If you can post the model number , year etc . One of these guys can look up more information for you

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I haven't been able to determine the year yet, but it's the black bear with the Kawasaki motor. I'll try to find how to pin the year down.

We've checked the pully and belt, it seems fine, the other pump is running fine off the same belt. But when we looked at it we failed to verify the shaft was turning.

Also any pointers on id-ing the pump and or sourcing a rebuild kit for it?

You may be at the point where you need to just pull the pump. Look it over closely and find the ID tag, they all have them- you'll need to pull it anyway if it's not working. After pulling it you can roll the pully by hand and verify the shaft is in fact turning or not.
My understanding is there is only a few manufactures of these pumps.

Bertrrr said:

You may be at the point where you need to just pull the pump. Look it over closely and find the ID tag, they all have them- you'll need to pull it anyway if it's not working. After pulling it you can roll the pully by hand and verify the shaft is in fact turning or not.
My understanding is there is only a few manufactures of these pumps.

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Yeah I think that is the plan for this weekend. Took all the info I could find off the mower to our local mower parts house, and they wanted the specific numbers off the pump, but assured me they should have re-build kits for them. So I think we'll pull it and take it in with us next weekend.

Went out and started it today and it moved a bit, but then just quit. I can't wait to see how much the rebuild kits are.

Hicksvilleshick said:

Yeah I think that is the plan for this weekend. Took all the info I could find off the mower to our local mower parts house, and they wanted the specific numbers off the pump, but assured me they should have re-build kits for them. So I think we'll pull it and take it in with us next weekend.

Went out and started it today and it moved a bit, but then just quit. I can't wait to see how much the rebuild kits are.

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Make sure one of the rods to disengage the transmission is not pushed in on that side. Always start with the simplest things first.

darksoul251 said:

Make sure one of the rods to disengage the transmission is not pushed in on that side. Always start with the simplest things first.

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All we managed to get done this weekend was get he hind end jacked up. Decided it was too cold to mess with it. lol Hopefully next weekend we'll be more motivated. I'll make sure to check the linkages over, but the more I research it, the more I'm convinced the pump is dead. With it being weaker than the left and all that. I think While we're at it I'll get a new filter and oil for the hydro system.

Thank you for the input! I hope maybe that would be all it is!