I was out mowing today and as I was making a pass I suddenly notice I no longer have any forward or reverse on Left Side Drive. I see no signs of burst lines, Fluid reservoir is full. Drive belt must be intact or else RS would not work. From what I have looked up it could be the wheel motor or the Hydro-Gear pump. Any Hydraulic specialists out there that can give me a what to check first list. Once I can get it back in the driveway I will jack it up and test if there is anything flowing that will allow the wheel to turn under no load.
Hydro pumps and pump motors don’t suddenly go bad. So check hub as stated for starters.
#4
mowing4me
Thank you for the tips! I will check that out. When I was looking for new motors I noticed they had a shear key type connection. That will be much more cost effective than a new pump or motor.
#5
mowing4me
Nope not the axle key. I have a pic but too large to post
While they don't go bad suddenly they DO break internal parts and stop just like yours did. I just replaced a Hydro on a Super-Z for this exact problem. Exactly what happened to you. Mowing away fine then like switch the left side went dead. Found a chunk of busted metal inside. Nothing bound up just would not turn anymore.
Another great feature is the lack of parts and the many,many small revisions Hydo-Gear does to their Hydro's. First we tried to order just the broken part and that was wrong. Then we ordered 2 different complete Hydro's based on the tags and numbers off the old one. Both were wrong and in just very minor ways but would not bolt up and work! Thankfully the vendor was great and took both back and refunded our money.
We finally we were able to talk directly to Hydo-Gear and NOT some parts supplier! Hydro-Gear does NOT want anybody calling them except authorized repair and parts suppliers. It was a major battle just contacting them and finding the right person! After sending pictures and some back and forth we got the correct one. BUT the part number was different from what we had been trying to order.
Next thing is Hydro-Gear depending on the age and model of the Hydro does NOT keep them in stock! So we waited 3+ weeks for them to make one.
I will say with a non-working Hydro these ZT mowers are a PIG to move and work on. This one would only go in a circle so it was stuck out in the lawn and I had to lay on the ground to swap the Hydro out. When we finally got the right one.
Wish we had a fork lift to get it in the shop.
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not doubting you; but, has he actually pulled that wheel and hub...? Mine looked good until I pulled it off then saw that the keyway was plugged with remnants of shavings.... just say'n
I actually pulled the wheel and hub, boy was that fun I am glad I have gear pullers available to get the brake drum off.
I was frustrated by thinking I was going to have to spend a ton of cash to figure this out. I put everything back together and prepared to move it to free wheel position and get it up my hill and into the driveway. I decided on a last ditch effort to re-examine the system, especially after I started it and felt the difference to move the left lever compared to the right. Something wasn't adding up by feel. I started digging and low and behold the dog gone lever arm that connects to the hydraulic pump had fallen off. I felt like such a dummy but then I thought again and because of my persistence I saved myself a couple thousand bucks. All good I jumped for joy and mowed the lawn!
