Hello - anyone familiar with the transaxle on the 1848HV Sabre by John Deere? According to Tractordata.com, it is a TuffTorq K62. My question is this - is it serviceable and if so how difficult is it? My tractor has become sluggish over the past couple of seasons and I'm wondering if I can extend the life of my machine by doing some minor service to the transaxle.
I have a concurrent post on the Backyard Round Table forum on what tractor I should buy in case this is not a viable option.
I'm sure all transaxles are serviceable by those mechanically inclined, but for the rest of us, how difficult is it to do on a K62?
If you were more inclined towards making it a project, I'd offer you the k66 I pulled from my slightly larger scotts tractor, for free (it will need a rebuild, but it would still be cheaper than buying a replacement transaxle), along with the mounts and linkages. Based on your username I'm only a little over an hour from you, and we always like a good excuse to go to blackwater falls... lol
I ended up swapping in a k70 from a gt275 into my tractor, so the k66 is just collecting dust. (And yes, to those that followed my project thread, I have been slacking on progress updates, lol)
What do you mean by service? Change the fluid or change out the pump and motor blocks?
I assume that you have confirmed that you have an issue the transaxle and not a bad belt, pulley or input shaft?
I'm not familiar with your specific tractor but there is a good chance that you don't have a drain plug and will need to pull the transmission out to do any service to it. Once the transmission is out, changing the oil and replacing the pump and motor is pretty straightforward. I am guessing that you would be looking at an hour or so to remove the transmission, assuming you have tools and a jack.
Looks like depending on your serial number, you might be able to add fluid to it but there is no mention of changing it in the manual.
I bought an LX178, a 1994 model several years ago. When I got it home, I jacked it up and found a drain plug!! YES!!! I took it for a ride, warmed up the 30 Weight oil in it and pulled the plug.....blacker than the ace o' spades. I'm glad I did that because last summer I was going to drain it again and it's staying clear. I put the plug right back in and topped her off. For my transmission, only adding is recommended, but dang, if you've got a drain plug, for goodness sake, use it. Now if you do, you'll have to purge the air out of it. You can find out how online.
Thank you; according to this document from Tuff Torq K62 Oil Changing Procedure, there is a way to change the oil, but like denverguy says, I think I need to remove the whole transaxle to do so. However, I tend to agree with you, if there's a way to do it, why not!?
Yes, just changing the fluid; and no I have not confirmed this is the issue. Not sure how to do that; the mower keeps running and cutting grass going uphill but slows way down. On a flatter piece of ground, it is quicker, but still seems to be a tad slower than it once was. I know that's not real technical, just not sure how to describe it.
If you were more inclined towards making it a project, I'd offer you the k66 I pulled from my slightly larger scotts tractor, for free (it will need a rebuild, but it would still be cheaper than buying a replacement transaxle), along with the mounts and linkages. Based on your username I'm only a little over an hour from you, and we always like a good excuse to go to blackwater falls... lol
Hey, appreciate the offer! Unfortunately we are just a group of Davis' located in West Virginia on the southern end, lol. I haven't followed any of your previous threads, so if that ever were an option to upgrade the tractor's transaxle (assuming that's the problem), how easy/difficult a job would you say it was for you?
Tractor Data wrong again it's a K61 But anyways see Item 27 that is were You drain Plug is and You Can refill the Transmission thru Item 15 or Item 17:thThumbsU
Thank you, sir! I've read quite a few of your posts in other threads prior to my first actual post and appreciate your insight and your sharing of that with the rest of us. Thank you for your service as well!
I would assume since it can be filled from the top, that one would not have to remove the transaxle or purge the air as would be the case with the K62. Would that be correct?
I'm going to suggest that you change the oil and pray that it solves the issue, and at least provides and improvement. Based on the condition of the oil, there very well might be an improvement, but your symptoms of slippage going up hills is a classic condition suggesting the motor block cylinders bores have stretched and the oil is bypassing the pistons underload. Very common issue.
Now, there is one other possibility to check is the output shaft pulley to make sure the pulley isn't slipping and the teeth are getting ground down. Sometimes you'll get lucking and find the pulley is going by the shavings. Check that too while doing the oil change.
I will say that if the pulley is good, and you notice an acceptable increase in performance, just be careful with it to enhance the life. Instead of going up the hill, try to cut side to side. When you notice the slipping, again, that means the oil is bypassing the pistons due to the cylinder bores going out of round. When the oil bypasses, due to the shear, the oil overheats and exasperates the problem further. That is why you will often notice the tractor will seem to run better immediately after a cold start but will get progressively worse as the machine warms up.
The full rebuild isn't the most difficult job in the world, but it is costly. If you have the latest revision, you will be much better off as you will not be forced to upgrade a bunch of additional parts as well. The last K61 I rebuilt, took ~$550 with the oil and all parts needed directly from TT.
Heat is the achilles heel of these transaxles. It's crucial to keep the housing CLEAN and not allow grass, mud and debris from accumulating. And, of course, keeping up with recommended service.
Thank you, sir. Really appreciate the tips and what to look for. I'm hoping to work on the transaxle oil change within the next week or so and going from there. Now, I've done some reading and discovered Tuff Torq recommends in their literature replacing the factory transaxle oil with a 10w30 or a Tuff Tech premium hydrostatic drive fluid. I've read where other users have contacted TT directly and were recommended a 5w50, and still others who (on their own) have used a 15w50 or something else similar with great success.
I don't want to cut corners, but don't want to have to buy the premium hydrostatic drive fluid if something else works just as well. What would you recommend?
Thank you all - also called Tuff Torq parts & service number in the meantime and they said either 10w-30 or 5w-50 would be fine. So I picked up some Mobil 1 10w-30 full synthetic and will try to work on that this weekend.
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