Thats some good information you gave me. Thanks. I'll try to look at it tomorrow. I tried once before to turn the axle by hand: jacked up the back end, took one of the wheels off, and push the bypass rod forward. The video on the 2nd page of this post shows that. But I'll do it again if I have no more odd jobs to do. I'll take some photos, maybe some closeups if I can; or maybe another video . Whatever this is I think it came from the factory like this. But not BOTH hydros. I myself can see thats highly unlikely. I've never been able to push it easily. It takes all I've got to even begin to make the wheels turn; but I'm 76 but not doing too bad for that age. I called the shop I bought it from today and asked them "what would make an MX5060 drive in forward or reverse regardless whether the bypass rods are in or out"? He had no idea, he said he'd never seen that. His guess was something internal in the transaxle, maybe a stuck valve or something to do with those valves....like you said. I said "well its that way on both sides". If the problem was just on one side, when you push both rods in then only the bad side would make the wheel move. He was puzzled. What is so odd is its both sides pull no matter where the bypass rods are positioned. So, I'll try to do what you said tomorrow. I'll let you know.
Pins on Toro MX5060 don't work
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bertsmobile1
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FWIW
I 'test' hydros while the mower is on my tilt trailer
With the trailer at full tilt I try to push it
If it moves & stops when I stop then the hydro is good
If it rolls a little & stops the hydro is good
if it rolls slowly all the way to the end then the hydros are on the way out
If it rockets away when the brake is released then the hydros are cactus
If I have pushed the mower onto the trailer and all the tyres are inflated then they will always roll off without any pushing the instant the brake is released .
That is how easy they should roll
I 'test' hydros while the mower is on my tilt trailer
With the trailer at full tilt I try to push it
If it moves & stops when I stop then the hydro is good
If it rolls a little & stops the hydro is good
if it rolls slowly all the way to the end then the hydros are on the way out
If it rockets away when the brake is released then the hydros are cactus
If I have pushed the mower onto the trailer and all the tyres are inflated then they will always roll off without any pushing the instant the brake is released .
That is how easy they should roll
Here's the latest on this ongoing saga. I called Hydro-Gear and got a real good guy on the phone (I wish all customer service people were as good as him). The first two letters on the model # were ZH and he said it was the ZT 2800 -- like you said. He said in order to test the internal I should push the bypass arm (the horizontal flat plate) forward or backward with my thumb and see if you felt a spring resistance. I jacked the machine up, took the wheel off. The bypass rod was sliding the bypass arm back and forth just as I'd always seen. So I tried what he said and I was able to move that bypass arm forward a little bit with my thumb. It wasn't much, but I could tell with repeated pushing and letting it go there was a spring resistance tension. Then, pushing the bypass arm to the rear it of course effortlessly slides to one point. From that point I could push it with my thumb and feel the spring resistance a little more so than when I pushed it forward with my thumb. Either way it seemed to me the spring tension he mentioned was there. I told him I tried rotating the axle with the bypass arm pushed forward as far as i could with my thumb but still couldn't rotate the axle freely. He said there would be some tension there because there was 5 pistons in there with some of them having pressure on them all the time, but that he wheels would roll. Bottom line: He said since I could feel the spring tension that told him the internal was working as it should. He thinks its an issue with the "linkage" as he called it. I said by linkage do you mean the bypass rod and he said yes, for some reason the control arm is not being pushed as far as it should. I don't know, thats probably true.
I think I need to say this: With the rods pulled back the rods just lay in the slot loosely. They don't look to be "locked in".....just laying there. With the rods pushed forward there is that small washer-looking retainer that you push through the hole and drop the rod down in the slot. I also checked to see if the rods would go any further once I pushed them in. They did. I felt it lunge a little with an added push. The same when I pulled them back, once I met a resistance I pulled some more and it would move some more. I'm thinking (rightly or wrongly) maybe these rods have been bent so much with sticks in the yard that they aren't functioning as they should. I have lots of trees and sticks in the yard. Those rods have some bent places on them I'm pretty sure came from the factory like that - but maybe not all of it. They are not a "straight" rod. I think tomorrow I'll take those rods off both sides and see if they are uniform. If so, and they are identical then they're not out of shape. I think I may find some variation though. If so I'll bend them like you suggested, thereby lengthening them a little. If nothing else just buy some new ones and put them on. They can't be but a few bucks.
I think I need to say this: With the rods pulled back the rods just lay in the slot loosely. They don't look to be "locked in".....just laying there. With the rods pushed forward there is that small washer-looking retainer that you push through the hole and drop the rod down in the slot. I also checked to see if the rods would go any further once I pushed them in. They did. I felt it lunge a little with an added push. The same when I pulled them back, once I met a resistance I pulled some more and it would move some more. I'm thinking (rightly or wrongly) maybe these rods have been bent so much with sticks in the yard that they aren't functioning as they should. I have lots of trees and sticks in the yard. Those rods have some bent places on them I'm pretty sure came from the factory like that - but maybe not all of it. They are not a "straight" rod. I think tomorrow I'll take those rods off both sides and see if they are uniform. If so, and they are identical then they're not out of shape. I think I may find some variation though. If so I'll bend them like you suggested, thereby lengthening them a little. If nothing else just buy some new ones and put them on. They can't be but a few bucks.
bertsmobile1
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Well that is a good result
And about what I had expected would be the problem
The most common cause I find is dust & crud building up around the little arm prevening it moving the full distance it should .
Yours sounds like some corrosion on the shafts so check them from time to time for signs of oil leaking
Very dissapointed by the service you got from the shop and I would advise finding another one to deal with
Usually the best service comes from people like Star & myself who are freelance & only do repairs or a non franchised repair shop that only does repairs and resells used mowers.
We have to be good because there is no new equipment sales profits to fall back upon & we need happy satisified customers to tell others how good we fixed their mowers .
And thanks for coming back
Not only does it close the thread but it will provide the answer for others in the future .
And about what I had expected would be the problem
The most common cause I find is dust & crud building up around the little arm prevening it moving the full distance it should .
Yours sounds like some corrosion on the shafts so check them from time to time for signs of oil leaking
Very dissapointed by the service you got from the shop and I would advise finding another one to deal with
Usually the best service comes from people like Star & myself who are freelance & only do repairs or a non franchised repair shop that only does repairs and resells used mowers.
We have to be good because there is no new equipment sales profits to fall back upon & we need happy satisified customers to tell others how good we fixed their mowers .
And thanks for coming back
Not only does it close the thread but it will provide the answer for others in the future .
"Usually the best service comes from people like Star & myself who are freelance & only do repairs or a non franchised repair shop that only does repairs and resells used mowers."
Man, you are right about that.
Its not real easy finding a good and knowledgable mechanic. I have found one for my truck. He's straight up and tells you if you're overthinking things and when to forget something and move on. In something like hydros I didn't know where to turn to locally. Yes, I'll not use that one again.
Now, on to checking out those bypass rods. I think Toro should have made them out of heavier duty steel rods, like maybe 1/8". Anyway, I'm going to look at those when this rain all blows out. Also, I need to wash all that crud out from those hydros with a water hose, or maybe take it to the self service car wash would be better.
In addition, the Hydro guy told me I needed to change hydro oil, at 300 hours he said I was well past time to change it; even though two Toro dealers both said to wait till 500 hours. I'm wondering if this is something I can do myself without much risk. I think the manual has instructions on that.
Man, you are right about that.
Its not real easy finding a good and knowledgable mechanic. I have found one for my truck. He's straight up and tells you if you're overthinking things and when to forget something and move on. In something like hydros I didn't know where to turn to locally. Yes, I'll not use that one again.
Now, on to checking out those bypass rods. I think Toro should have made them out of heavier duty steel rods, like maybe 1/8". Anyway, I'm going to look at those when this rain all blows out. Also, I need to wash all that crud out from those hydros with a water hose, or maybe take it to the self service car wash would be better.
In addition, the Hydro guy told me I needed to change hydro oil, at 300 hours he said I was well past time to change it; even though two Toro dealers both said to wait till 500 hours. I'm wondering if this is something I can do myself without much risk. I think the manual has instructions on that.
bertsmobile1
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Only tick with hydro oil changes is keep everything spotless
This means tou have to properly clean around the fill port before you even think about removing it.
A quick wipe around with an oily rag will not do.
Agan the tranny makers have instructions about how to do it .
Once refilled the air has to be removed from the system
This is best done by jacking the wheels off the ground then following the instruction but remember to have the engine running as slowly as it will go
If run at full spped you can froth the oil in place of displacing the air
And it is pot luck
Some times 6 x R & F cycles & you are good to go other times you can spend a couple of days.
This means tou have to properly clean around the fill port before you even think about removing it.
A quick wipe around with an oily rag will not do.
Agan the tranny makers have instructions about how to do it .
Once refilled the air has to be removed from the system
This is best done by jacking the wheels off the ground then following the instruction but remember to have the engine running as slowly as it will go
If run at full spped you can froth the oil in place of displacing the air
And it is pot luck
Some times 6 x R & F cycles & you are good to go other times you can spend a couple of days.
Hammermechanicman
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Interesting. I just finished servicing another Toro Timecutter. This one was the Z with a steering wheel. It has the goofy automatic electric parking brake. This is the 3rd timecutter that the bypass rods do nothing. They all have the automatic electric parking brake. The bypass rods appear to do nothing.
bertsmobile1
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Wellit won't go anywhere till you disconnect that idiot automatic electric brake
I remember the first one I came across, having to turn the key switch on and off all the time to prevent the brake locking on before I got my hands on the Toro manual which explained how to disable the brake
So the brake makes the mower safer for the customer bu way more dangerous for the service technician
I remember the first one I came across, having to turn the key switch on and off all the time to prevent the brake locking on before I got my hands on the Toro manual which explained how to disable the brake
So the brake makes the mower safer for the customer bu way more dangerous for the service technician
Gord Baker
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Try it both ways. If it still does not disengage (possible but doubtful decal is wrong) RTFM and if that does not describe the problem just run it!