I am trying to choose my next riding mower before the old one craters.
I have a craftsman mower with gear drive that is about 15 years old and has survived a flood. It still cuts great but is beginning to fall apart.
I have absolutely no problem with shifting for myself.
My question is whether the drive maintenance problems are likely to increase with a hydrostatic drive including the transmission and belts.
Reliability is far more crucial to me than having an automatic transmission.
lazyness ( OK convienance if you like ) costs you money, always has & always will.
I don't think you can get a manual box on anything any more, they are just too expensive for Joe Public to pay for .
Now days people seem to expect to get every thing for nothing .
The VST trannies should last a lot longer but AFAIK they are not repairable.
The vari Drives they are replacing are a lot cheaper to repair and are repairable
The vari drives are a PIA to change belts on but $ 200 for a new variator is cheap compared to $ 1000 for a new hydro.
#3
tom3
Maybe depends on the hydro make and model. An actual heavy duty (not just called as such) serviceable hydrostatic transmission will probably last about forever if maintained. Most of the disposable non-serviceable boxes that are found in most big-box store models are garbage in a couple years. The geared boxes are probably not up to the ratings of what you have but still give good service for many years. Main problem I have with the geared trannys - too slow or too fast travel for my mowing. I'd suspect the overall mowers with the better hydro transaxles are generally better built too, and priced to suit.
