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My parents bought a Cub Cadet RZT SX w/ the 46" fabricated deck several years ago. We all like to mow with it and find the steering wheel zero turn to be just right thing for mowing their sloped and angled yard. The only issue we had corrected under warranty was a loose stator wire that kept the battery from charging and shutting down mid stream when mowing. We do all of our own equipment maintenance between our place and theirs and have had no problems with a quick 2 qt oil / filter change and a few grease fittings. It's been a good mower and my mother even feels comfortable on it. I read through the manual and did not find too much information on hydraulic wheel motor maintenance which got my curiosity going. I knew when my parents bought it that it was a lower end unit - but comfortable for them and sufficient to do the job they needed. Besides they were tickled with it and no one had any right telling either of them that they bought a cheap mower lol. Changing engine oil and filter, cleaning / replacing air cleaners, greasing and cleaning are all about maintenance but what could I do to change at least the hydraulic fluid out every 200 hours or so? When we were shopping for a PRO level Cub Cadet the dealer(who sold my parents their RZT) brushed me off when I asked about changing the hydro fluid on the Hydro-Gear units without an external filter. I was told - no can't change any fluid without tearing them completely apart - basically a lifetime fluid unit - which of course I didn't believe for care for that kind of advice. I got the information off the pumps - they are a Hydro-Gear ZC-DMBB-CAGB-24PX unit. I called Hydro-Gear direct and they confirmed what I thought all along that the fluid on these lower end pumps are completed by sucking the old fluid out via a pump and pumping the new 20w50 synthetic oil back in (approximately 56 oz in each pump). There is an access hole in the RZT frame above the top of each pump where you can remove the 1/4" hex bolt to drain / refill each pump. On these particular units - there are no magnetic plugs or filters to content with. Just suck out the old fluid and pump in the new. The other method is remove them completely, tip them upside down, drain completely, refill and then re-install. The later is probably the preferred method and would get more old fluid out - but even changing half the fluid out is still better than no change at all. So the pump method is our plan. I would have liked to have attached the service manual for the ZT series Hydro-Gear pumps that I received today from Hydro-Gear but the file size is too large.

There is a filter in the EZT transaxle.

By the way cool name. Hope your cub is still running good. Ive rebuilt a few of those pumps in the past and it gets a little pricey. The dealers sit back and wait for it to happen so they can sell another. The trannys are always the most neglected and forgotten component on all these mowers. At some point it would probably be a good Idea to change out the filters especially after the initial break in.. Just a matter of getting the pans off the bottom. Heres a video with some good info if you ever decide to do it.

Cub Cadet Z Force Hydro Transmission How To

Cub is still running good. But I agree - the dealers don't share any information about a drain / refill / filter change on the these lower end models. They are perfectly good homeowner models and do a nice job. Like anything mechanical - everything needs maintenance at some point. I bought my wife a 560 Pro KW S Cub and she loves it. It has the Parker wheel pumps and I already have the filter / fluid kit from Parker to do the maintenance when the hours warrant it. Many thanks for the link to the video - I'll watch it.

Ferd Turgeson said:

Cub is still running good. But I agree - the dealers don't share any information about a drain / refill / filter change on the these lower end models. They are perfectly good homeowner models and do a nice job. Like anything mechanical - everything needs maintenance at some point. I bought my wife a 560 Pro KW S Cub and she loves it. It has the Parker wheel pumps and I already have the filter / fluid kit from Parker to do the maintenance when the hours warrant it. Many thanks for the link to the video - I'll watch it.

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How many hours do they recommend between changes on the Parker Torques Pac. Their oil is HT1000 and is touted to be a 1000 hour oil. It is terribly expensive but goes for 1000 hours instead of the 500 with other oils. Parker does give a list of alternative oil but rate them at 500 hours.

If you PM me - I'll email you the manual. I can't upload here due to the mega sized 2.6 mb file size. I ended up going to a Parker distributor for the kit with the H1000 oil (one gallon), the filters and magnetic plugs included. Pricey - but I plan on changing everything out at 300 hours and then every 500 hrs afterwards - just because. It's a residential mower so it will see 60 - 70 hours a season. I have not mowed a blade of "lawn" grass since I got her this mower and don't plan on going back anytime soon - so I want to give it every chance to run for 20 years lol.

Ferd Turgeson said:

I have not mowed a blade of "lawn" grass since I got her this mower and don't plan on going back anytime soon

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Totally agree. My lil woman really likes her vintage B&S Flathead MTD 22" (we bought new) she doesn't want me using it, & that's a wonderful thing..I just take care of it. She does the front yard.

And I do the sides & all the back on my Z.

We have been married 39 years now and she never mowed a lick of grass on a riding mower - ever. All push mowing even at home before we got married. When we built new in 1996 on our current place and we were both younger - she could now the entire grass yard - not flat either - with our 19" lawn boy utility mower on 2 tanks of gas. She tried one of my hand hydro John Deere 140's but couldn't get the knack of the hydro lever and not using any brakes. My '69 got away from her one day and she plowed over some of her Rhododendron bushes - right down to the ground and that did it for that. In her defense, the manual steering on the 140 and a tad of steering slop - makes them a little monster to mow with in and around tight spaces. Now when she retired, she traveled locally with me and we stopped at a local Cub Cadet dealer with a 560 PRO sitting right out front. The sales guy and I had to practically drag her on the mower for her demo and first test ride. She loved it - I bought it for her on the spot and they delivered it the same afternoon. Now she won't get off it. Headphones, big drink in the holder and she's good to go.

Ferd Turgeson said:

Now she won't get off it. Headphones, big drink in the holder and she's good to go.

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Good one.. That's why I keep my lil woman away from my Zero. She wouldn't want off either, & I can envision me ending up having to push mow the front then... Doh ! LOL

I have to admit that I get a kick out of her on this mower. Although the 560 is the baby of the PRO line up, the 27 HP Kawasaki makes her feel like she is running a Big Bud tractor at full bore. The biggest thing with me is that she is confident and feels safe on it. The steering wheel models - which lots of folks don't like - makes all the difference on some of the sloped areas of the yard - but to each his own. She likes to stay busy outside in nice weather and has never recoiled from - as she puts it "doing my share". Of course, she was a trifle skittish in the beginning - there was a definite learning curve, but she is a real pro at it now. In the big scheme of things - as long as she is happy and I get to play with old chainsaws while she's mowing - what the heck!

She sounds like a keeper.. Very Cool. & I agree with your logic.

Ferd Turgeson said:

I have to admit that I get a kick out of her on this mower. Although the 560 is the baby of the PRO line up, the 27 HP Kawasaki makes her feel like she is running a Big Bud tractor at full bore. The biggest thing with me is that she is confident and feels safe on it. The steering wheel models - which lots of folks don't like - makes all the difference on some of the sloped areas of the yard - but to each his own. She likes to stay busy outside in nice weather and has never recoiled from - as she puts it "doing my share". Of course, she was a trifle skittish in the beginning - there was a definite learning curve, but she is a real pro at it now. In the big scheme of things - as long as she is happy and I get to play with old chainsaws while she's mowing - what the heck!

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Nice stage Name..! Kinda a dyslexic turnaround of a Gold&silver dude I listen to on the internet airways... i got a 54 inch RZT-SX with the Kawasaki I've had a handfull of years, gotta say I'm happy enough with it keeping up with 3 acres of hilly terain. Thanx for the insights on the hydro service. Found this sight cause i just sucked up a branch into myright side Hydro fan and nuked it. Looking for insights on how to replace it. Will i need to drop the entire hydro unit to get to the Pulley Nut? Thanx..

What model Hydro Gear pump? Have you looked at any diagrams online?

Yep, the Hydro-gear is Hydro-Gear ZC-DMBB-CAGB-24PX. Looked over their website, and the service manual. Guessing I'll be dropping the unit, was hoping for a video for the Learned Impaired such as myself.
Looking at your service posts on it, Looks like they claim the unit will never need to be serviced, LOL.

Sealed for life is what the mower companies want so they do not have to carry spares for them
Sealed for life = SHORT LIFE
Changing the oil = Long life
Now days most trannys will outlast the mower they are installed into if the oil is changed somewhere around the 300 to 500 hour mark
Very few residentials will go 500 hours now days without requiring major repairs so you just go out and buy a new one and the shareholders get another bottle of booze from you .

Sealed for life really burns me up. I am going to suck out and refill a with a quart of the 20w50 every season now - just out of spite lol.

Ferd Turgeson said:

Sealed for life really burns me up. I am going to suck out and refill a with a quart of the 20w50 every season now - just out of spite lol.

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Unless you are fastideous about cleaning the fillport you will do more damage than good

True.........

Pretty straightforward to see the fill port caps on each pump from above so I can keep the areas clean.