John Deere Ztrak M535 a lemon? Hydrostatic drive failing after 245 hours

TxBeeman

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Apr 12, 2023
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  • / John Deere Ztrak M535 a lemon? Hydrostatic drive failing after 245 hours
I bought a John Deere from an authorized JD dealership (ie. not Lowes of other dept store) specifically because I was hoping I would get better service and more reliability. I am really regretting that decision.

I have had this mower for 4 years, but it only has 245 hours on it. When I took it to a different mechanic to look at, he was shocked at the problems it is having (said he expected it to be over 2500 hours based on the problem).

The problem:
The hydrostatic drive, especially the one on the left, basically quits and just "grinds" after about 5 minutes. The mower just wants to make left-hand circles. And the problem is getting worse. This drive is supposed to be "
maintenance free" - there isn't even a drain to get rid of the old oil. For this mower to have this kind of problem with this few hours makes me believe that that HAS to be a manufacturer defect.

The local JD dealership is no help. They want to charge $125/hour to look at the problem, which from what I have read would entail tearing the entire drive apart (several hours of labor).
 

bertsmobile1

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Nov 29, 2014
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  • / John Deere Ztrak M535 a lemon? Hydrostatic drive failing after 245 hours
I bought a John Deere from an authorized JD dealership (ie. not Lowes of other dept store) specifically because I was hoping I would get better service and more reliability. I am really regretting that decision.

I have had this mower for 4 years, but it only has 245 hours on it. When I took it to a different mechanic to look at, he was shocked at the problems it is having (said he expected it to be over 2500 hours based on the problem).

The problem:
The hydrostatic drive, especially the one on the left, basically quits and just "grinds" after about 5 minutes. The mower just wants to make left-hand circles. And the problem is getting worse. This drive is supposed to be "
maintenance free" - there isn't even a drain to get rid of the old oil. For this mower to have this kind of problem with this few hours makes me believe that that HAS to be a manufacturer defect.

The local JD dealership is no help. They want to charge $125/hour to look at the problem, which from what I have read would entail tearing the entire drive apart (several hours of labor).
LEft drives always fail first because the belt tends to slip on them and the dust raised form the deck tends to coat them more than the right.
This design problem is made worse if the owner does not pay attantion to lubricating the tension arm pivot and keep the hydros clean so they can cool.
The hydros are bought in as a sealed unit and usually replaced as a sealed unit
So you actual beef is with the hydro supplier .
Repairs are not difficult, but do take a long time
I used to spend anyting up to 2 hours cleaning them after the 1/2 hour to remove then
The parts that usually wear (pump motor unit) is a drop in replacement.
The other thing that happens is the splines can strip out of the drive pulley.

Now these things should be checked at the annual service and are done when I service one.
I am yet to find a hom owner that understands that a service is more than changine fluids & filters .
 
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