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Hi All,
I purchased a Fastrack SD with 26 Hrs on the clock last week. The RH hydro is slower than the left. I have done the adjustments as per the manual but still no joy. Initially forward RH was slower than LH - reverse was evenly matched. after adjusting the lever - hydro adjuster rod and fiddling about I now have forward evenly matched and running at 8 mph which I am happy with. Reverse however is now slower than RH side. no amount of adjusting can I get forward and reverse speeds to be the same both sides.
Rang the dealer and he went through the adjustment procedure and I confirmed I had done that. He then told me to remove the arm rests as they were probably interfering with the control lever travel ... I assured him they were not. He then said there was probably air in the hydro and I should bleed the system, he also went onto say that this is common when transporting the mower and is probably the problem. I asked him, given that I am a commercial mowing contractor that transports the mower several times a day could I expect to have to bleed the system regularly ? He then became a little aggressive and I decided he would not be able to assist me with my problem and ended the conversation.
Anyway, does anyone know what I need to do to set the hydros so they travel at the same speed , forward and reverse.... ? I am lost and it really is annoying me that our 4 yr old 1800 hr Fastrack is a better mower to use than the new SD

Thanks
Michael

Anyone ? Someone must have something ...... surely , I hope

MNK said:

Anyone ? Someone must have something ...... surely , I hope

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Contact Hustler and report the unfriendliness of the dealer!!! With 26 hours on it, do NOT try to fix a problem yourself.....that's what a Warranty is for!!! If there is another Hustler dealer in your area contact them and request them to check out the problem(and tell them the other dealer did not offer after-the-sale support that you expected). I would not "touch" my Gravely if it developed a problem like yours for three years or 1,000 hours no matter how confident I was that I could probably fix it. You PAID for a Warranty...I recommend that you use it.

djdicetn said:

Contact Hustler and report the unfriendliness of the dealer!!! With 26 hours on it, do NOT try to fix a problem yourself.....that's what a Warranty is for!!! If there is another Hustler dealer in your area contact them and request them to check out the problem(and tell them the other dealer did not offer after-the-sale support that you expected). I would not "touch" my Gravely if it developed a problem like yours for three years or 1,000 hours no matter how confident I was that I could probably fix it. You PAID for a Warranty...I recommend that you use it.

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I was going to make some "changes" myself but after reading your advice I have reconsidered and will approach another dealer.... I don't hold much hope though , see how we go.
Anyway thanks for the feedback dj ... wise words.
On a brighter note I leveled up the deck over the weekend just gone (that's a mission in itself) as it was supplied from the same dealer 5/16" lower on one side and leaving a nice (sic) little line on the customers lawns. Took her out today and apart from the speed issue it is cutting perfectly , it will be a nice mower to use once I get the bugs sorted .

Michael

Maybe the mower came from the USA? Don't things spin the wrong way down under. :wink:

3100s are 3100s so unless the linkage is all out of whack and even so a good serviceman should be able to get them adjusted. Seems like a warranty job for sure. Did you buy the mower from the jerk dealer? If so, that would be a call to Hustler for me. They are pleasant to talk to.

MNK said:

Anyone ? Someone must have something ...... surely , I hope

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Where abouts in Aust are you?
If youve done the linkages etc I dont know what else it could be. Air should be out of the system by now. Bloody dealers unfairly blame operators for everything these days! How could he look you in the eye and blame transporting for air getting in? That doesnt make sense! If theres a leak air can get pulled in but transporting, NO WAY!
The machines new so any issues should be sorted under warranty. Get them to do it incase something else goes wrong!

I'd like to know what dealer it was. Maybe you can PM me the name?

RetiredGuns said:

Maybe the mower came from the USA? Don't things spin the wrong way down under. :wink:

3100s are 3100s so unless the linkage is all out of whack and even so a good serviceman should be able to get them adjusted. Seems like a warranty job for sure. Did you buy the mower from the jerk dealer? If so, that would be a call to Hustler for me. They are pleasant to talk to.

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Ha ye ... only the water draining out of the kitchen sink I think ... or is it the toilet?
Yep got it from the rude dealer (well his mechanic was the rude one with the stupid answers)
Mine has the 3400 I think but don't make any difference , same same.

Micko said:

Where abouts in Aust are you?
If youve done the linkages etc I dont know what else it could be. Air should be out of the system by now. Bloody dealers unfairly blame operators for everything these days! How could he look you in the eye and blame transporting for air getting in? That doesnt make sense! If theres a leak air can get pulled in but transporting, NO WAY!
The machines new so any issues should be sorted under warranty. Get them to do it incase something else goes wrong!

I'd like to know what dealer it was. Maybe you can PM me the name?

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Sunshine Coast Qld.
I'm a diesel fitter by trade and been in the heavy equipment industry for over 30 yrs, now I'm no mower expert but do know enough about hydros to know it isn't air. And I also know transporting the thing wont introduce air into the system.
If I had to make a call I reckon there is not quite enough travel on the controller ... meaning the hole in the steering lever for the linkage arm is slightly closer to the pivot (or slightly further from the pivot on the hydro) , if that makes sense.
I can adjust the speeds to be right but only in one direction at a time. If forward is right reverse is slow or if I adjust reverse to be right, forward is too slow. So not quite enough travel to make full forward - full reverse at the hydro. That's my theory anyway and if the Hustler dealers cant/wont sort it, I'll slot the hole on the steering lever so I can move the linkage mount further away from the pivot point.
Maybe.
What I don't have, is time to have my main mower parked up while some idiot that thinks the hydros get air in them while transporting tries to fix it !! So Ill put up with it for a bit until I find a dealer with a decent mechanic.

So, spoke to another dealer ... apparently that's how they are and I can't expect them to match both sides as there are too many variants .
Whatever , Ill just fix the damn thing myself.
I'm thinkin Ill give reverse a tune up anyways while I'm at it so its the same speed as forward :thumbsup:

MNK said:

So, spoke to another dealer ... apparently that's how they are and I can't expect them to match both sides as there are too many variants .
Whatever , Ill just fix the damn thing myself.
I'm thinkin Ill give reverse a tune up anyways while I'm at it so its the same speed as forward :thumbsup:

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Similar thing happened with my first SZ. Took it to dealer, he messed around with the linkages (or something), jacked up the machine and used a RPM meter thing on the wheels. ie put a white dot on the tires and this thing counted how many revs in a given time. Tested the speed basically! Im trying to remember back like 8 or 9 yrs now but he may of tested the pressure in the hydros as well.

Took him like 30mins and it was done!

I dunno what it is with dealers these days! Lazy, untrained, uncaring? Its not good enough thats for sure!

You might consider setting the forward endpoint of the fast hydro and readjusting the linkage to get equal reverse speed if that's important to you. Otherwise did you measure the control arms on the hydros to see if throw is equal?

RaptorSD said:

You might consider setting the forward endpoint of the fast hydro and readjusting the linkage to get equal reverse speed if that's important to you. Otherwise did you measure the control arms on the hydros to see if throw is equal?

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Yes it is important to me and Ye I can do that ... but then the control arms stop in different positions at full speed and ye I can adjust that as well but only for one direction.
Call me anal or maybe I have OCD, whatever, but it is annoying that I pay $10k for a mower and they cant even match the speeds on it.
Yes measured the control arms and the throw is approx. 1.5 mm different

Anyway I sorted it, I extended the operator control arms where the linkage arms attach and, where the linkage arms attach I have slotted the holes on the extender plates to provide fine adjustment for throw equalisation . In doing so the control arms require less travel to meet full speed but this has also allowed me to increase reverse full speed equal to that of forward. So I know have around 12kph forward and reverse, equal speeds at full speed.
Happy camper now.

Thanks all for your input

MNK said:

Yes it is important to me and Ye I can do that ... but then the control arms stop in different positions at full speed and ye I can adjust that as well but only for one direction.
Call me anal or maybe I have OCD, whatever, but it is annoying that I pay $10k for a mower and they cant even match the speeds on it.
Yes measured the control arms and the throw is approx. 1.5 mm different

Anyway I sorted it, I extended the operator control arms where the linkage arms attach and, where the linkage arms attach I have slotted the holes on the extender plates to provide fine adjustment for throw equalisation . In doing so the control arms require less travel to meet full speed but this has also allowed me to increase reverse full speed equal to that of forward. So I know have around 12kph forward and reverse, equal speeds at full speed.
Happy camper now.

Thanks all for your input

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Exactly how are you "measuring" your ground speed to determine the speeds in forward and reverse?? And even more importantly, why on earth would anyone want to go 12mph in reverse??????? ALL hydros are designed for a faster forward speed than reverse(look at any ZTR specs), so why would you tinker with something that is obviously contrary to the manufacturer's design? I can understand adjusting when one side is slower than the other to get the levers equal when going forward, but you have gone way beyond just doing that. IMHO, you are courting danger and may be repairing/replacing your transaxles prematurely:0(

P.S.
The Hustler FasTrak SD's come with HydroGear ZT-3100 trannies as pointed out to you. Their specification is 8mph forward/4mph reverse. My Gravely has the ZT-3400's and they are rated at 10mph forward/4.5mph reverse. You definitely are entertainig damages if you are attaining 12mph ground speed(beyond the "designed" speed). And again....12mph in reverse...REALLY...unusable speed:0(

:smile:

djdicetn said:

Exactly how are you "measuring" your ground speed to determine the speeds in forward and reverse?? And even more importantly, why on earth would anyone want to go 12mph in reverse??????? ALL hydros are designed for a faster forward speed than reverse(look at any ZTR specs), so why would you tinker with something that is obviously contrary to the manufacturer's design? I can understand adjusting when one side is slower than the other to get the levers equal when going forward, but you have gone way beyond just doing that. IMHO, you are courting danger and may be repairing/replacing your transaxles prematurely:0(

P.S.
The Hustler FasTrak SD's come with HydroGear ZT-3100 trannies as pointed out to you. Their specification is 8mph forward/4mph reverse. My Gravely has the ZT-3400's and they are rated at 10mph forward/4.5mph reverse. You definitely are entertainig damages if you are attaining 12mph ground speed(beyond the "designed" speed). And again....12mph in reverse...REALLY...unusable speed:0(

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Hi dj and thanks for your input, very entertaining. I bet you can lift heavy things huh ?
So just to clarify:
I use a GPS it tells me 12kph both sides both directions ...... not sure on the accuracy so it may be 11 kph or it may be 13 kph but close enough for my purpose
I said 12 kph not mph , so not sure where you got the mph from. Regardless it is running the same speed in reverse as its big brother the Super Z in standard configuration which is important to us...
The SD comes with ZT 3400 hydros as I subtly pointed out and mentioned to Retired Guns... Not sure where you get your information from but its very reliable huh ?
Explain to me how/why I may be replacing the transaxles prematurely (this should be good) . While increasing the ground speed in reverse is outside Hustler design specs it is not outside the ZT3400 specs, but please fire away!

P.S. I have no idea what relevance your Gravely has to this issue...

I opened this thread to put out there an issue I had and what I did to repair it , nothing more, nothing less. While we may be using the mower outside of manufacturer specs it now suits the purpose and better meets the needs of the specific task it is required to do.
Without knowing what purpose we use the mower for, your comments do nothing but to reflect poorly on yourself. Fortunately,Your HO is just that as it's about as handy as the mechanic that told me the hydros get air in them when you transport .:smile:

Mick

MNK said:

:smile:

Hi dj and thanks for your input, very entertaining. I bet you can lift heavy things huh ?
So just to clarify:
I use a GPS it tells me 12kph both sides both directions ...... not sure on the accuracy so it may be 11 kph or it may be 13 kph but close enough for my purpose
I said 12 kph not mph , so not sure where you got the mph from. Regardless it is running the same speed in reverse as its big brother the Super Z in standard configuration which is important to us...
The SD comes with ZT 3400 hydros as I subtly pointed out and mentioned to Retired Guns... Not sure where you get your information from but its very reliable huh ?
Explain to me how/why I may be replacing the transaxles prematurely (this should be good) . While increasing the ground speed in reverse is outside Hustler design specs it is not outside the ZT3400 specs, but please fire away!

P.S. I have no idea what relevance your Gravely has to this issue...

I opened this thread to put out there an issue I had and what I did to repair it , nothing more, nothing less. While we may be using the mower outside of manufacturer specs it now suits the purpose and better meets the needs of the specific task it is required to do.
Without knowing what purpose we use the mower for, your comments do nothing but to reflect poorly on yourself. Fortunately,Your HO is just that as it's about as handy as the mechanic that told me the hydros get air in them when you transport .:smile:

Mick

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I apologize for not catching the kph spec you gave(almost every post about ZTR's speed references mph). Maybe if you check your GPS you will find that changing the setting will give you mph(my Garmin Etrex does)....if that's "important" to you. I'm not much for translating metric to standard. The information I got for the trannies that come on a Hustler FasTrak SD came from the Hustler website(link follows):

Hustler Turf

Click on SPECS.

My concerns regarding the negative impact to your trannies is relevant to the HydroGear specifications for the ZT-3100, not just Hustler's design specs. After all, a HydroGear tranny is a HydroGear tranny no matter what ZTR brand it is mounted on(Hustler does NOT manufacture it's transaxle assemblies). My reference to my Gravely was to point out the differences in the ZT-3100/ZT-3400 speed specifications(my Gravely DOES have the HydroGear ZT-3400's and unless you special ordered it your Hustler has the ZT-3100's). Look underneath your FasTrak SD and write down the numbers off of the HydroGear label on one of the transaxles and post them. I'd be curious to enter that information on the HydroGear website and see which tranny(ZT-3100 or ZT-3400) comes up. One caveat here.....regardless of my opinion regarding possible damages to your transaxles, I hope that if you DO have any problems during the Warranty period that you realize what you have done most likely will void your Warranty for any repairs to the drivetrain. I'll check with my dealer and see what he tells me if I were to have done that to my ZTR. No matter what "purpose you use the mower for"....please explain the conditions that would require you to drive/mow with your FasTrak at 12kph in reverse. We would all like to know what purpose you find in doing that. Hopefully some other "more knowledgeable" users will chime in with their experienced recommendations regarding your unorthodox adjustment to your trannies. Maybe you can teach us all something we didn't know. I've been on these forums for several years and have never heard of anyone changing the reverse speed to match the forward speed. To say that you "put out there an issue I had and what I did to repair it, nothing more, nothing less" conflicts with adjusting the reverse speed to match the forward speed. That's not a "repair", that is an "alteration from specs" and would be considered "something more" than a repair.

Here you big fella, one more time , just for you !!!


Off the transmission and off the Hustler spec sheet .....

Pretty sure I have ZT3400 hydros on my Fastrack - standard order from Hustler.

Ill leave it at that as it is highly unlikely I could teach you anything, you seem to know it all.

MNK said:

Here you big fella, one more time , just for you !!!
View attachment 22503 View attachment 22504

Off the transmission and off the Hustler spec sheet .....

Pretty sure I have ZT3400 hydros on my Fastrack - standard order from Hustler.

Ill leave it at that as it is highly unlikely I could teach you anything, you seem to know it all.

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You kinda cut off the spec sheet at the bottom where the drive specs were...but it "looks like" the 36" & 42" may come with the ZT-3100's and the 48"-60" may have the ZT-3400's. So indeed you have the ZT-3400's on yours(as the picture of the tranny label confirms). Sorry for my confusion, but if you looked at the Hustler website link I gave you....Hustler fails to mention that when you click on Residential/FasTrak SD. Their website only shows the ZT-3100's for that model so I guess maybe you can understand why I would have said that. All that being said.........I wouldn't adjust my ZT-3400's like you did(have you asked about the Warranty not being adversely affected?).

MNK said:

Yes it is important to me and Ye I can do that ... but then the control arms stop in different positions at full speed and ye I can adjust that as well but only for one direction.
Call me anal or maybe I have OCD, whatever, but it is annoying that I pay $10k for a mower and they cant even match the speeds on it.
Yes measured the control arms and the throw is approx. 1.5 mm different

Anyway I sorted it, I extended the operator control arms where the linkage arms attach and, where the linkage arms attach I have slotted the holes on the extender plates to provide fine adjustment for throw equalisation . In doing so the control arms require less travel to meet full speed but this has also allowed me to increase reverse full speed equal to that of forward. So I know have around 12kph forward and reverse, equal speeds at full speed.
Happy camper now.

Thanks all for your input

Click to expand...

That's awesome! I wondered how they governed the reverse speed. Thank you for the info, when I retire and get bored maybe the neighbors and I can have tracker races (in reverse). :laughing: Seriously, great info, it's a shame your dealer didn't address it.