LT 160 slows going up hill

:MTF_wel2: , firefighter4u!!

The drive belt is a possibility, but it's more likely the hydro. The fact that it only slows a little is encouraging. Those little hydros only put out about 2.75 hp to the rear wheels, so hills will have an effect on speed, as will mowing grass heavy enough to slow the engine.

At 300 hours, it's due for an oil change. There is a procedure for changing the oil in a Tuff Torq K46 hydro that starts with removing the hydro from the tractor. They weren't designed for oil changes but they can be done with enough patience. There are threads about doing just that if you do a search.

Ok, thanks for the info! Its definitely not too thick of grass.... I'll start with the oil change and keep my fingers crossed! I thought I scored with a good deal on this but looks like i'll be putting a little more time and money in to it.

Spent last night trying to convince my wife I should trade it in on a new one!

Could be the drive belt, certainly worth checking first. Your LT 160 transmission is a Tuff Torq K46.

If this machine was used for mowing slopes by the previous owner as well as you, with 300 hours on the clock it is possible the 10W30 weight oil is heating up and breaking down. New specifications from Tuff Torq for replacing this oil call for 5W50 synthetic. Of course that is if you eliminate all other possibilities such as the drive belt being worn out.

As mentioned, there is information on the oil change procedure located in our JD stickies section from member stladrill. Some members have had luck doing this, others such as myself, ended up having to order parts from Tuff Torq and do a part replacement of the internal pump/motor to get better results and a few more years service.

Best wishes in what ever you decide upon.

Guys - thanks for the info... I have determined through my searching that this seems to be a common problem. I think I'll start with changing the belt and probably doing the oil change hoping that gets me through the summer and then perhaps I'll undertake the rebuild some time during winter... I actually found a Youtube video showing how to do this also.

What a wealth of information on here!

Well I decided to jump in head first and do the rebuild. It actually went better than I thought - although I am not going to beat my chest in victory until its fully assembled and moving! My biggest dilema now is that I cannot find 5W-50 oil anywhere. I know I can order from TT, but one would think it would be available locally. I've tried AutoZone and Advanced Auto with no luck. Anyone have any other suggestions?

ok, after a full mowing of my yard today I am not waving the victory flag but waving the white flag.... I changed the pump, motor and filter... added two quarts of 5W-50 synthetic oil and installed the drive back on the mower. I mowed for about 20 minutes and there was no improvement while going up slope. I stopped mowing and let the mower sit for about 45 minutes. I then started it back up and mowed for another 15 minutes and it was worse yet. I turned the drive off to the mower deck and it seemed to traverse the yard better, but I assume that is natural. I am stumped, any suggestions???

I understand why you ask that... I don't know the exact slope angle but my neighbor has no issues mowing it with his D140. I'll post photos of the yard in a bit and perhaps it will give a perspective on the angle. Like I said the mower actually seems a little slower going up slope than before I did the parts change. I'd like to think I'm not asking too much from it!

a couple photos of my back yard...

That doesn't look like much of a hill. I have a JD LA 145 (cheap lowes machine) and I had the same problem climbing my hill that's steeper than yours. I ended up mowing across the hill instead of up and down. I had to disable the seat kill switch so that I could scoot over and lean on the fender up hill so that I wouldn't roll it. I learned that I have to keep the rear axle as cool as possible. Mine had grass collected on top and around the cooling fan of the rear axle.
Since yours climbs better with the mower deck disengaged, I wonder if it's more of an engine power issue? When mine got hot, it didn't matter if the mower deck was running or not, it gave up and wouldn't climb at all. You mentioned that yours didn't want to climb even after you let it cool down. It does seem like you got too good of a deal, so maybe previous owner did get rid of it for a reason?
Maybe look at plugs, valve adjustments, compression.....Mine has a cylinder that isn't working very well. The plug and valve cover on the right cylinder heats up to operating temp, but the left side stays relatively cooler (I can leave my hand on the left valve cover after shutting it down from running for 5 min and the other side I can't touch at all) that might be an easy check on yours too. Even with one cylinder not working very well, it still mows fine but I'm sure the engine is down on power. It's probably always been like that so I didn't notice until enough hours on it that it started running bad.
Good luck, I hope it's nothing too serious!:MTF_wel:

couple more... I changed the plug and oil/filter a couple of weeks ago. The area around the transmission is very clean (the whole tractor seems in good shape i.e. no rust to speak of). I don't know... I'm stumped at the moment.

Some of the older 100 series have a belt guide that bolts in with a single 10mm bolt on top of the frame, I had one get bent down during instalation and didn't realize that had happened. When I ran the mower it broke the blades off, just happen to find a fan blade on the ground a couple days later, luckily I hadn't run the mower hardly at all before I found the broken blade. Check your fan and make sure it didn't get damaged by the belt guide. Without the cooling fan the transaxel heats up quickly.

One thing that I just remembered, after I mounted the transmission, I pushed in the free wheel lever all the way in and it felt like it was vibrating against something. I pulled it out about halfway and that vibration stopped. Is that something that needs adjusted? I don't remember it doing that before I I removed the transmission... but I don't remember what I had for dinner last night either....

perhaps when I mounted the transmission I placed that free wheel pin in an incorrect position on the lever mounted on the transmission (if that makes sense)? I'll take a look at that tomorrow.... But doing some thinking, if I push it all the way in (until it can not go further) something rubs/grinds (internally) that causes it to vibrate and makes sort of a chattering noise. So that is not good and if I pull it out to the point it doesn't vibrate, that is not good either? :dunno: I have no idea....