My raptor SD has been nothing but trouble since it was new in 2014 . It has less than 200 hrs on it and has been taken very good care of.Today I put the 3rd drive belt on and has had two deck belt in less than 100 hrs. after 125 hrs I replaced all 3 spindles ,and the hydrostate or transmission bracket bolts broke and back wheels colapsed had to lift it and pull it to my shop. I bought grade a bolts ,bolted the hdros back together. before someone says I have a ruff or bumpy yard let me say no I do not. I also did not buy this mower from Lowes .It was bought from a genuine hustler dealer in douglas ga. This hustler dealer went out of business in 2016 like many others, I have decided shame on hustler for building a great name with the super z ,then suckering good hard working people into buying the cheap made raptor SD,oh I almost forgot after I mowed grass the first time in 2015 I carried it back to the dealer because of the deck being so loud I think because of the spindles but they said no . like I said earlier spindles should last longer than 125 hrs. PS. my previous mower was a 16 year old DIXON 42 in. with a 15 hp kohler engine still running and much quieter than the SD hustler. The only good thing on this mower is the kawasaki engine. I hear hustler will put a heavy duty bracket on the hydrostates if it is still under warranty. no s--t.
hustler raptor sd trouble
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bertsmobile1
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You will need to either buy oe make your own heavy duty brackets.
Search this forum as previously mentioned there have been a couple of owners in your position and made their own.
In order to save weight they made the frame just that tiny bit too light.
Most owners who did the upgrade have never been back so we could assume problem solved.
From memory they put the boltss in the other way and the bolts themselves were longer ones cut short so there was solid shaft across the shear faces.
Search this forum as previously mentioned there have been a couple of owners in your position and made their own.
In order to save weight they made the frame just that tiny bit too light.
Most owners who did the upgrade have never been back so we could assume problem solved.
From memory they put the boltss in the other way and the bolts themselves were longer ones cut short so there was solid shaft across the shear faces.
AVB
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So far the three Raptors that I have serviced hasn't had frame breakage issues but I had to replace several hydro mounting bolts because they were lost as Hustler didn't use lock nuts. Other that I had customers where the Hydro fans would curl up and hit the frame cause drive belts to break. Also the tiny 2" flat idler tends to go bad rather quickly too on drive path..
Andydavis302
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Three days ago I broke the hydro belt. Went to an authorized dealer and got a new one. I then threw the belt off three times after replacing. (The belt was routed correctly, I triple checked) Today I took a closer look. Looks like I almost ripped the left rear bracket completely off.
But it seems I have the updated bracket already:
Any thoughts? I don’t see anything else bent, but I’m taking a deeper look tomorrow.
P.S. I bought this used with 62 hours on it from the previous owner of my house last year.
But it seems I have the updated bracket already:
Any thoughts? I don’t see anything else bent, but I’m taking a deeper look tomorrow.
P.S. I bought this used with 62 hours on it from the previous owner of my house last year.
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FieldCut48
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I am having similar issues. My Raptor SD was purchased from a hustler dealer 5min from my house that went out of business. It started throwing deck belts immediately. I found a fix for that (a wider belt). Now I'm going thru hydro drive belts. I'll check for loose bolts but truthfully I'm ready to get a new Mower. I cant get 1 cut without it breaking
Check your bolts to make sure they are tight.
The real key is to have the 2 brackets installed correctly. The problem is the hydro's are so powerful they are always trying to twist the mower.
After installing the 2 brackets in my picture. No problems.
If your throwing belts something is not aligned which points to these brackets. I have 212 hours on the original mower belt. Never thrown once.
I did replace the cogged hydro belt and do check it as mine had some of the cogs missing. It's not easy to see until you get under the mower.
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The real key is to have the 2 brackets installed correctly. The problem is the hydro's are so powerful they are always trying to twist the mower.
After installing the 2 brackets in my picture. No problems.
If your throwing belts something is not aligned which points to these brackets. I have 212 hours on the original mower belt. Never thrown once.
I did replace the cogged hydro belt and do check it as mine had some of the cogs missing. It's not easy to see until you get under the mower.
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So far I haven't seen that issue with broken mounting brackets but probably in time. What I usually see there is missing mounting screws.
Okay here is a known issue that I have here with the Hustler Raptors. The left hand hydro fan gets deform from heat and curls up hitting both the side frame and getting into the belt path. Replacing the fan usually solves the problem. The hand hand hydro doesn't seem to have the same issue as the left hand one does.
Another issue is the bearing in the 2 inch idler tends to go bad and hang up snapping belts too.
Also on some earlier units they used plain nuts on the transaxle mounting screws and they loose and lost allowing the transaxle to twist and throw belts.
Okay here is a known issue that I have here with the Hustler Raptors. The left hand hydro fan gets deform from heat and curls up hitting both the side frame and getting into the belt path. Replacing the fan usually solves the problem. The hand hand hydro doesn't seem to have the same issue as the left hand one does.
Another issue is the bearing in the 2 inch idler tends to go bad and hang up snapping belts too.
Also on some earlier units they used plain nuts on the transaxle mounting screws and they loose and lost allowing the transaxle to twist and throw belts.