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Raptor SD blades won't engage

#1

K

KenV

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and new to ZTRs. I purchased a 54" Raptor SD three weeks ago. It has 5.5 hours on it - just getting ready to change the oil after mowing today. Anyway- as I was mowing the blades suddenly dis-engaged and they won't re-engage. I didn't hit anything and, being new to ZTRs, was going pretty slow. When I try to engage the blades I hear a click. Could it be a relay or something? Thanks for any help - Ken


#2

B

bertsmobile1

Did you look underneath to check the blade belt is still on all the pulleys.
A lounish click is the clutch engaging


#3

K

KenV

I'm no mechanic, but the belt appears to be in place. Nothing hanging, etc.


#4

K

KenV

Found out the problem at 5.5 hours was a broken spring. As an update - mower has 55 hours on it now and I only use it to mow my lawn. Mowing on flat ground today and suddenly the mower stops and won't re-start. A belt (transaxle maybe?) is off. It's incredibly discouraging to have spent what is to me a lot of money on a mower that breaks so often. I bought a Hustler on the recommendations of several friends, but to be honest I wouldn't do it again. A cheap mower from Home Depot would give better service. Ugh!


#5

K

KenV

Another update - 105.4 hours and broke again. Mower will not move, turn, etc. What a piece of junk. Tried to contact Hustler directly via their website, but they never responded. Seems their customer service is of the same quality as their mowers.


#6

T

turboawd

KenV said:
Another update - 105.4 hours and broke again. Mower will not move, turn, etc. What a piece of junk. Tried to contact Hustler directly via their website, but they never responded. Seems their customer service is of the same quality as their mowers.
Click to expand...

well even if hustler contacted you, how are they suppose to know what went wrong? someone has to look at the mower in person.
you check the drive belt?
while you're at it, inspect the transmission mounting bolts becuase they are known to break or come loose. replace with grade 8 bolts and loctite the threads.
here's an email for hustler: service@excelii.com


#7

K

KenV

turboawd said:
well even if hustler contacted you, how are they suppose to know what went wrong? someone has to look at the mower in person.
you check the drive belt?
while you're at it, inspect the transmission mounting bolts becuase they are known to break or come loose. replace with grade 8 bolts and loctite the threads.
here's an email for hustler: service@excelii.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I've calmed down a little now - the transaxle belt appears to have come off again. Regardless of whether this is considered a minor problem or not, I still couldn't mow. I'm not mechanically inclined like many on here, so I have to wait for the dealer to pick it up, fix it, and return.

Regarding the contact with Hustler a word of encouragement or at least feigning concern wouldn't hurt. Completely ignoring a customer is inexcusable, I think. Three breakdowns in that few hours seems to be an indication that something is wrong.


#8

K

kraky

The first year the raptor SD came out it had a funky drive pulley that they changed right away on the next model year. I think these were the 2014 models and there was plenty of problems with them. I bought one of them used with real low hours off Craigslist and after using it a couple times I knew there was a vibration that shouldn't be there. I was lucky to have a really good dealer who sells a lot of these and I took it there.... he hand-picked a drive pully out of his stock that was perfectly perfectly round and made sure the belt was in perfect alignment with the other pulleys. When I got the machine back it was like a brand-new different machine.
This is the difference between ordinary and sub par dealers versus somebody who really knows what they're doing and cares about taking care of their customers.
If yours is one of the early machines it may be worth it for your dealer to call hustler and see if they have any kind of improved part.... after the trouble you've had you deserve some help!


#9

K

KenV

kraky said:
The first year the raptor SD came out it had a funky drive pulley that they changed right away on the next model year. I think these were the 2014 models and there was plenty of problems with them. I bought one of them used with real low hours off Craigslist and after using it a couple times I knew there was a vibration that shouldn't be there. I was lucky to have a really good dealer who sells a lot of these and I took it there.... he hand-picked a drive pully out of his stock that was perfectly perfectly round and made sure the belt was in perfect alignment with the other pulleys. When I got the machine back it was like a brand-new different machine.
This is the difference between ordinary and sub par dealers versus somebody who really knows what they're doing and cares about taking care of their customers.
If yours is one of the early machines it may be worth it for your dealer to call hustler and see if they have any kind of improved part.... after the trouble you've had you deserve some help!
Click to expand...
This is a 2015 model, but thanks for the info. I used the email given by turboawd and someone tried to contact me today. Hopefully I'll talk to a person tomorrow and get this resolved.


#10

K

KenV

Venting again. The dealer picked up the mower, replaced some bolts and belts and returned to me yesterday. All's good, right? Nope. I mow today for about a half hour and the engine begins smoking then stops and won't start. Dealer comes back out and thinks it "hydro-locked" whatever that means. So, maybe the problem isn't so much the mower (though it has it's faults, e.g. the bolts), but maybe the dealer?

I'm hoping the dealer doesn't try to say this is somehow my fault, but given what's happened so far nothing would surprise me.


#11

K

kraky

Wow.... I haven't got a clue what hydrolocked would mean.....this is a Kawasaki engine?


#12

B

bertsmobile1

Neither oil nor fuel can be compressed very much so when the piston tries to force 2 cu" into 0.01 cu" it stops dead and the engine is hydraulically locked.

Before they pick up the mower quickly check the dip stick.
Sounds more like they forgot to replace the oil before they sent it back to me


#13

K

KenV

It is a Kawasaki. I checked the oil before mowing a few days ago and it was fine. After the engine stopped I checked and it was good. When I was mowing there was a distinct noise and a puff of blue smoke. At that point I rode it back to the garage. Checked the oil, etc. and restarted the engine to see if it was still smoking. Then the engine froze.

I'm really hoping I can contact someone from Hustler. The more I think about it the more I believe the dealer is the source of the problem. Plus, I don't know what further damage is being done. At this point the entire engine is suspect along with anything else on the mower.


#14

B

bertsmobile1

kawakasi push rods are really thin and bend real easy but that usually would not cause and engine to sieze
However one falling into the engine could and do a reasonable amount of damage to boot.

Right now, start journaling everything exactly as you can remember, dates, time and in particular operating hours.
What was said to you what you said to them.
Start emailing the dealer rather than phoning so you have a written record of what is said & done.

There are way to many shonks out there who just take the mower out of the box, fill it with oil then deliver in place of doing a proper predelivery.
They make it hard for the honest hard working ones who do things properly and push customers towards cheaper on line & big box stores.


#15

Carscw

Carscw

It's not the dealer. It's the Kawasaki engine. I had three of them do this under 200 hours. Toro worked with me and put a Kohler on it.
You don't see it much on this forum but on others it's almost every day. A Kawasaki blowing blue smoke.


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