TylerFrankel1
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2020
- Threads
- 16
- Messages
- 124
Hello Everyone! I'm making another post on the old Troy-Bilt Bronco Lawn Tractor I acquired earlier this year, saved from the scrap. It's a 13aj609g766 2005 mode. At first I was having drive belt issues, slipping, etc. I believe I have fixed it, everything's been incident free for a while. I replaced both belts, 2 idlers, and sanded on all the non-idler pulleys (the ones where grip is important) to remove glaze. I also set up the vari-drive mounts with nuts and bolts instead of the pitiful metal screws that were holding it in place before. It's been pulling great, no slipping for a while now even after long use. I've since replaced the deck with a good used one, installed headlights, re-painted the unit, replaced the muffler, essentially restoring it. The brakes work better after some adjustment. The steering got a new bushing. It's been pretty good.
Only one thing... a couple times after a long day of mowing, I hear a squeak coming from the transaxle area that starts getting worse as time goes on. When this happens, I can tell there is a great deal of rolling resistance compared to normal. When I mow, I drive around my neighborhood on the tractor and cut various yards. I put the mower in neutral down hills to get around faster. Normally I'll fly down hills reaching almost 20 MPH. When the squeaking starts, I barely pick up speed down hills and lose momentum quickly. The transmission assembly also gets hot to the touch. Obviously I'm missing lubrication somewhere. I'm betting the bushings inside are worn after 15 years, and I don't know a ton about metal properties, but I wonder if brass expands significantly when heating, causing this. Anyway, I'd love to pack the transmission with fresh grease, but of course, these cheap transaxles have no fitting. I also can't get the wheels off to replace bushings because the wheels are rusted on badly. I know you can take the axle off with the wheels still on, but you can't slide the bushings on and off with the wheels on... I'm probably going to invest in an air hammer and hope that helps. Before I do this, does anyone have experience with this and know better what's happening or a better way to deal with the issue? Thanks
Only one thing... a couple times after a long day of mowing, I hear a squeak coming from the transaxle area that starts getting worse as time goes on. When this happens, I can tell there is a great deal of rolling resistance compared to normal. When I mow, I drive around my neighborhood on the tractor and cut various yards. I put the mower in neutral down hills to get around faster. Normally I'll fly down hills reaching almost 20 MPH. When the squeaking starts, I barely pick up speed down hills and lose momentum quickly. The transmission assembly also gets hot to the touch. Obviously I'm missing lubrication somewhere. I'm betting the bushings inside are worn after 15 years, and I don't know a ton about metal properties, but I wonder if brass expands significantly when heating, causing this. Anyway, I'd love to pack the transmission with fresh grease, but of course, these cheap transaxles have no fitting. I also can't get the wheels off to replace bushings because the wheels are rusted on badly. I know you can take the axle off with the wheels still on, but you can't slide the bushings on and off with the wheels on... I'm probably going to invest in an air hammer and hope that helps. Before I do this, does anyone have experience with this and know better what's happening or a better way to deal with the issue? Thanks