frequency to change hydro oil / filter but only average 70 hrs a year? Still yearly?

[NavyNancy]

I am reviving this thread because I find the topic interesting. I would assume, that if the hydro fill tank and the drain plugs are easy to clean / access , it is advisable to change out the hydro oil per factory spec , but in doing so , it may be best to do it during a day when there is very low humidity, to ensure less possibilities of water/ water vapor entering the system ?

For people who do not have easy access to clean those 2 areas , is it really better to never change the hydro oil at all or should it at least be changed for the initial 70-100 hour break in procedure ?

If the hydro oil is never changed and the system is kept closed { unless oil needed to be added for some reason , like a small seal leak} , I assume it is advisable to change the hydro oil filter per factory hourly specs and then add just enough oil to get the proper oil levels in the hydro oil tank , and doing it this way would alleviate issues of air entering the pump/system.... or would just changing the oil filter still cause air to enter the system ?

I can see some logic, in the consumer not even messing with the hydro oil/ hydro filter and just keeping it entirely closed system, and not even taking the caps off the hydro oil tank, unless oil needed to be added to achieve proper fill line measurements.

The big question being, how likely is it, to cause significant damage to the hydro pumps , or see significant degrading pump performance, by never changing hydro oil/ filters as long as the system is kept closed/ clean from outside contaminents ?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Hydros are assembled in a dust free factory because dust is the big killer
no matter what you do or say if you can pop the top of with it under the mower to fill them then people will do that without doing proper cleaning thus end up with dirt, dust grit & lawn clippings in the transmission
All hydros have a vent of some sort and the oil gets way over boiling point so water in the oil will boil off no problems .
Even most ZTR's you have to remove the hydros to replace the oil
A hydro is not an engine where the products of combustion contaminate the oil so all you are doing is getting rid of wear particles when you replace the oil
On some mowers that have internal disc brakes then oil changes are needed more often to remove the wear debris from the brake pads

 

[NavyNancy]

Hydros are assembled in a dust free factory because dust is the big killer
no matter what you do or say if you can pop the top of with it under the mower to fill them then people will do that without doing proper cleaning thus end up with dirt, dust grit & lawn clippings in the transmission
All hydros have a vent of some sort and the oil gets way over boiling point so water in the oil will boil off no problems .
Even most ZTR's you have to remove the hydros to replace the oil
A hydro is not an engine where the products of combustion contaminate the oil so all you are doing is getting rid of wear particles when you replace the oil
On some mowers that have internal disc brakes then oil changes are needed more often to remove the wear debris from the brake pads

In your opinion, it is probably better for the majority of consumers that use their zero turn for residential , to not even change their own hydro oil or the hydro filter ?

 

[bertsmobile1]

In your opinion, it is probably better for the majority of consumers that use their zero turn for residential , to not even change their own hydro oil or the hydro filter ?

On yours I would do it right now as I suspect the hydros are copies not genuine
Use full synthetic 20w50 oil and make sure everything is very clean before you open the trans
Clean around the oil filter housing and replace it as well then forget about it
If you always operate the mower with the engine at full speed then you should get 1000+ hours out of that transmission
World Lawn owners manuals suggest far more frequent oil changes for the hydros & the engine which again makes me feel they are fakes

 

[NavyNancy]

On yours I would do it right now as I suspect the hydros are copies not genuine
Use full synthetic 20w50 oil and make sure everything is very clean before you open the trans
Clean around the oil filter housing and replace it as well then forget about it
If you always operate the mower with the engine at full speed then you should get 1000+ hours out of that transmission
World Lawn owners manuals suggest far more frequent oil changes for the hydros & the engine which again makes me feel they are fakes

Thats very interesting. If Worldlawn was using fake hydro gear ZT-3200 for the last several years in their mowers , I would think it would have been revealed by now and the company could face massive lawsuits/ fines from owners/consumers and surely the real HYDRO GEAR corporation could sue them to the point of taking them out of business ? It sure would seem like a very risky endeavor to do such a thing ?

When I bought my worldlawn last week from the original owner, it only has 18 hrs on it, but you still suggest I go ahead and change it ? Do you think its best to use the 20-50 w synthetic that has the zinc additives ?

FWIW, I appreciate all your responses/ knowledge .

 

[NavyNancy]

I guess I could contact HYDRO GEAR directly and verify if they are the sole supplier of the hydro systems for worldlawn ? It sure would be risky for the company to advertise they are using OEM - original hydro gear systems and then actually be using a cheap forgery/ copy of them. I did contact 3 or 4 local businesses that work on the worldlawn mowers and none of them mentioned issues with the hydro systems . The 2 things that got mentioned was failures with the engines when they were not using the Kawasakis and the ot her thing mentioned was deck belt coming off and the pulleys having to be replaced.

I actually did a decent amount of investigating, prior to driving out to look at the mower and then of course inspecting the mower myself, with the limited knowledge I have. If the kawasaki engines and the hydro gear drives are the real OEM components , then that is at least 2 good things about this brand mower and you wont usually find those components on the big box store zero turn mowers that are in the 2k-4k price ranges ?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Zinc if for scuff protection
It is useless in a hydro
IT is essential for older CAM FOLLOWERS and rockers in auto engines .
Full synthetic is cleaner oil and can take the very high heat & pressure .
Oils aint oils Sol .

 

[NavyNancy]

I contacted HYDROGEAR and asked them if they are the supplier of hydro pump/drives for WORLDLAWN. Hopefully I will get an answer in a few days. I would be shocked if they said no, since WORLDLAWN does advertise they use hydrogear drive/pump systems.

 

[chiefcook]

I have another question. I have ZT 3400's on my Dixon with an expansion tank. Would it be beneficial to change the filters on schedule, suck the oil out of the tank and replace it with new oil? Does the oil in the tank circulate thru the system? I did the initial change at less than 100 hrs and the oil looked terrible and smelled bad.

 

[NavyNancy]

I imagine alot of people change their hydro oil like the guy in this video ? Just look at all the dirt/dust around his filters and resorvoir cap.