John Deere X-370 Tranny oil and filter change frequency

[2muchgrass2mow]

I have a new JD X-370 with just over 50 hrs. use. In reviewing the maintenance chart, I note it recommends a "break-in" change of the tranny oil and filter at 50 hrs. That seemed rather soon to me, so I called the local JD dealer. They said they don't ever suggest that until at least 100 hrs. What to do? In reading the instructions for the procedure, it would not be that big a deal except for severe arthritis in all fingers and my left wrist, plus a right shoulder replacement. I don't need to be dropping the deck and moving it about, and reattaching it if I don't really need to. Stuff like that is painful for my POS hands, and even dangerous to my titanium shoulder reconstruction. I'm 72 and active, but must be careful with weight and moving against resistance, weird positions, etc. So, what say you experts out there in mechanic land?? Change it or no?

 

[bertsmobile1]

What is cheaper
oil or a new hydro ?
The early oil changes on engines & transmissions were instigated to remove any debris left in there from the assembly process, back in the 50's
Assembly has gotten a lot better but there is always that 1 in a 1000 that is not clean
Thus the early oil changes are just cheap insurance

 

[2muchgrass2mow]

Thanks! I watched a you tube video today of a guy changing the tranny oil and filter on an X-370. He did it in such a way that it is not necessary to remove the deck (Yeah!!). I can do this and will tomorrow. From his video, I learned that it is necessary to do two things to make this possible: 1. you must, after draining tranny fluid and removing the old filter, be sure to insert the new filter all the way back into the housing so that even the spring is inside. Otherwise, it is impossible, with the deck still on, to generate enough force against the spring's tension to get the cap to thread. 2. You must have a long neck funnel to get the new tranny fluid into the reservoir tank, since it is so far up under the back of the mower and fill it slowly. Thanks again!

 

[bertsmobile1]

And you must clean the case where the filler cap & filter go BEFORE you touch them
and b clean I mean really clean and that includes the surrounding area where dust could drop into the hydro.
They are made in a dust free factory because dust is what kills them
Just about every You Tube video I have is a recipe for disaster but of course they never post the video 1 year latter showing the hydro is cactus .

 

[2muchgrass2mow]

And you must clean the case where the filler cap & filter go BEFORE you touch them
and b clean I mean really clean and that includes the surrounding area where dust could drop into the hydro.
They are made in a dust free factory because dust is what kills them
Just about every You Tube video I have is a recipe for disaster but of course they never post the video 1 year latter showing the hydro is cactus .

Thanks for that. This video guy stressed that point as well - REALLY stressed it. In fact, he felt (he was doing this job for the first time) that JD could come up with a better design on the caps to better insure that gunk doesn't get in there - I agree having watched the video. He did a good job . . .