Thanks for the update:thThumbsU

 

All was fine until I went out one day with the tranny release lever only partially engaged after having pushed the thing around the shed. I was running for about an hour before I realized what I had done.

So I'm confused, what killed your original tranny? Pushing it around (by hand) with the reverse lever partially engaged? Or running the tractor under power with the reverse lever partially engaged?

 

He said release lever not reverse.

The release lever on these trannies pushes the motor rotor out of contact with the valve body thereby breaking the hydraulic lock. The contact point is just the head of a hardened pin and a hardened washer. I wonder if these wore and put a bunch of metal into the unit ?

 

I believe you're not even supposed to run the engine with the release valve pulled out... So driving the tractor in combination with the slope he described (and the towing) is what wrecked the transmission in the first place. Good to hear that it was upgradeable and that it works great now. I think the trans is now comparible to the X310, X320, X360...

 

Having had one of these trannies apart, I can't see how running the motor with the release rod pulled out could be detrimental to the tranny. Also, how long would you do this ? The tractor won't move an inch so you would go "oh yeah" reach around and push the rod in and go on your way.

 

I can speak from experience that it will work with the release lever only partially returned to the engaged position. The question is whether or not that causes harm. The JD manual indicates yes; the TuffTorq rep says no, because he claims that even though the lever may not be returned to the full in position, the way it works mechanically is that it is either engaged or it is not - there is no partial engagement. I just know that things went to **** after I ran with it partially engaged - maybe coincidence. Speaking of which, I managed to do it yet again this weekend :banghead3 It visually appeared engaged, but I found it was against a detent and still needed to go in further. We'll see if I'm in trouble again. raying:

 

About how much was this?

Our K46(JD X300) is doing the same. We REALLY need a bigger mower, but alas, my cousin for some reason believes having to run the JD X300 6 1/2 hours to mow the lawn is "fine".

I have a feeling the K46 is destined for complete failure. Right now, if running for more than an hour it won't make it up a 20 degree incline. Even if I start at the incline...mowing that area takes 2 hours...with this mower.

 

What was the cost of the upgrade?

 

Regarding cost, the prices I am referring to here were as of Dec 2010 so they may be higher now. Duane is the guy that does the work. He installed the K46 rebuild kit you can buy from Tuff Torq ($374) plus $101 for labor and shipping. The basic rebuild was $475.00 which also gets you a drain port. If you want the K57 upgrade, that adds $89.00. Going to the K57 adds a charge pump to improve oil flow and some other parts enhancement. They can send you a pre-configured shipping box for an additional $13, which I used. So, my total came to $577. That does not include the cost of shipping the unit down to them (about $30), but it does include UPS ground return shipping. At that time a generic new K57 on the Tuff Torq site listed for between $800 and $900 (not sure how it is configured), and a Simplicity spec'd K57 was $1018. If you read the Tuff Torq literature, the K57 is the same basic unit as the K46 just enhanced for additional durability and rated for up to 22" tires. A brand new T40/K46 from John Deere for my L118 is $655 plus shipping, so in theory, I should have a better unit now than I would get new and for less.

I figured the additional upgrade cost and $100 for letting someone else do the work of installing the rebuild kit were worth it especially when compared to the price of a new build K57.

 

Hi guys!
maybe instead of upgrading You could try something like this..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDnUgr2SOhE

 

T40/K46 to K57 transaxle upgrade experience - Update

Thought I'd provide an end of season update. Since, as I noted I had left transaxle release out earlier in the season and I was still concerned the unit did not have enough oil after shipping (it had leaked a bunch during shipping and we had to top it off), I decided to drain the unit and do a complete refill. The unit was doing fine after 75 hours of use since the overhaul, but I wanted to be safe. The oil that drained out did not look healthy. It was a milky brown - like coffee with milk in it. Not sure if that is normal. We completely drained it and refilled with the recommended synthetic 5W-50. Worked all of the air out of it and it was fine right away. I cut the lawn this evening and performance seemed the same. Still fine.

 

So I'm approaching 200 hours and the end of my fourth season on the rebuilt transmission and still seems to be working fine. I have noticed some increased shuddering while making tight turns so I'm going to drain and replace the oil again before next season. I'll check in with the Tuff Torq guys to see if that is a big issue. I'm wondering if the K57 changes cause issues with the 18" turn radius the tractor is originally rated for.

Has anyone else contacted the guys at Tuff Torq for a rebuild? I have had a few folks on here ask me through PMs on how to hook up with the Tuff Torq guys, but have not heard back as to how things went.

 

Well it's been another several months, and it's probably not mowing season for you yet, but how's the tranny still holding up?

 

As noted in my November post, it was good at season's end. Started it for the first time this season just this past Saturday as it was the first time I had a clear path to my shed since the snows started sticking around in January. No issues going up the 10 degree slopes around the yard.

I'll drain and replace the tranny oil in the next few weeks before the yard work starts. I'll post an update after that.

 

I took the transmission down yesterday and drained the oil. The oil looked much better than it did first time I drained it. In fact, for two seasons worth of use on the latest fill oil, compared to last time, the oil looked great. However, the volume was clearly lower than I filled it last time and there was oily sludge around the exterior of the casing making wonder if some boiled out at some point.

I refilled it and today went out and aerated the lawn (125 lbs plug unit plus 100+ lbs of weight blocks Sears.com. It ran like a champ. I hadn't thought about it until now, but I did not notice any shuddering while making tighter turns, but then I also did not make any turns as tight as I would during mowing. I'll have to watch for that next time out. The lawn is starting to pick up so I will be mowing in the next week to two weeks for sure.

 

I had the mower out for the first mowing of the season this past week and paid attention to behavior during sharp turns. The shudder still occurs so I'm guessing that the condition has probably been there since the upgrade. I only have to back off the turn radius slightly to get it to stop so I won't worry about it going forward. So, back to the annual lawn cutting routine. :thThumbsU

 

Oops

I just figured out that I have been draining and refilling via the vent port as opposed to the fill port. No wonder I never saw the magnet that needs cleaning. Now, I'm sure the case is overfilled and was likely overfilled the last time I drained it and refilled. So, what is the risk of running it overfilled? Will the excess vent when it heats up?

 

The TT site has a diagram that shows how to check oil level at either location. You are probably fine.

 

Thanks. Found the diagram. You're right, I'll probably be fine.

 

I am considering doing this upgrade soon. My craftsman mower (YT4000) has seen about 5 seasons of mowing in addition to 5 winters of towing of a 10 CF trailer carrying about 25 CF worth of fire wood.

I haven't noticed any slipping or poor performance out of k46 yet, but i am sure the oil needs changing, so if i am going to go to the effort to pull it out, might as well consider the upgrade.

I have been on the Tuff Torq site a lot and i wonder just what gear-set i have in this transaxle. My tractor came with 20" wheels, but I have seen similar tractors with 18" wheels and both had k46 transaxles. I have my suspicions they dont have different gear sets. Did you verify what gear ratio you have? Did you consider installing the auto-locking diff? I see that is available on the k46 and k57. That may make for pulling on a slope a little better for me.

FYI, Amsoil signature series oil is available in 5w50. This oil is a little pricey...12-15 dollars a qt, but it is an high quality extended life synthetic oil. In a car, good for 25K miles before changing. Not sure how it would do in the trans-axle, but i am going to use it.

 

All T40 transaxles have the lower gear ratio, and some K46 transaxles do also. I think TT used the T40 designation for Deere to make it more obvious which units had the lower gear ratio. I have the ratio info around somewhere, but I am pretty confident that the lower gear ratio results in the T40 having an axle speed that is 11% higher than the units with the higher ratio. That is the same ratio as the circumference of an 20" OD tire compared to an 18" OD tire. The T40 (and K46 units with the lower ratio gearset) are limited to an 18" tire, giving the tractor the same groundspeed as a tractor with the higher ratio and 20" tires.

Look at the parts list for a T40 on the TT website and get the part numbers for the intermediate gearset and the gear that is next to the brake disc. Then look up the parts list for your transaxle by full model number and serial number. If your transaxle has the same part numbers then it has the lower ratio gearset. Those gearsets are the only difference between any K46/T40 transaxle, other than axles and the option for the limited slip differential.

BTW, the gearsets are interchangeable so it is possible to change the ratio of a transaxle.

 

Well, this past weekend, while it was about 90 outside, cut my lawn and wouldn't you know, my L118 was a bit slower going up the hill in my lawn. It was fine on the flats. Wednesday evening I went back out to cut again. The temperature was around 80 and this time the up hill speed was fine. So clearly, heat is a major factor. Given it is this late in the season, I would not be surprised if the transaxle cooling fins are dirty. I wish there were was an easy way to see them without having to get under the backend of the tractor.

So, I will likely change the oil out for a heavier weight as a few others have done. I'm currently running with the synthetic 5W50. If I run into more trouble, it will be time to either consider doing the K66 upgrade or getting a new machine. If I get new tractor, I'll be investing in a garden tractor.

 

Zombie Post

I was toying with the idea of tearing apart my K46 and doing the K57 upgrade. So I emailed Tuff Torq and they said

"Hello

Unfortunately, the gentleman that was doing the K57 upgrade is now retired from the company and we are no longer offering that service. I do apologize about that.

You may place your order directly on our website at www.tufftorqparts.com. Please click the Tuff Torq logo at the bottom of the website page for ordering assistance.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,"

I'm Wondering am I able to order parts from the K57 and install the charge pump my self or was this a case where I needed to ship the transmission to them to modify it to work?

When I further asked if i could just get the part numbers for the upgrade the response was :

"Hello

Unfortunately, it is not available.

You may place your order directly on our website at www.tufftorqparts.com. Please click the Tuff Torq logo at the bottom of the website page for ordering assistance.

Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,"

Anyone have any information on this or have I hit a dead end?

 

Fink, you have a PM.

 

Although I like upgrading stuff like this at this time I think anyone is better off buying a heavier duty garden tractor if their t40/k46 isn't holding up. For the cost of the upgrade parts you can often find a GT needing a motor or even just a carb rebuild. Take the motor off your unit and install on the GT, fix up a muffler and you are set.

 

That being said, I have taken apart one of these trannies and resurfaced the center case assy where the rotors wear grooves and had the tranny work as good as new when put back together. When the grooves get worn you end up with a lot of leakage at the rotor / case interface and this leakage makes the tranny weak.

On my particular trans the thing worked mostly fine but you could push it very easily without engaging the 'freewheel' rod. Since the 'freewheel' rod works by pushing the driven rotor away from the centercase [ thereby breaking the hydraulic connection ] it seemed likely to me that the centercase faces were grooved out. The grooves weren't very deep but it obviously needs to be FLAT. I also think that one of these rubbing surfaces wasn't square to the rotor as the grooves were deeper on one side.

I have felt all along that a lot of the t40/k46 issues were more QC related than anything else. Some seem to last many hundreds of hours and some don't make it to 100 hours.

 

As for me, I've decided to give the L118 to another family member and buy a garden tractor or SCUT. I'll let the family member know that it could come down to having to replace the transmission at some point for around $700, but that would be less than buying a new lawn tractor. Currently they don't have a lawn tractor at all and transmission aside, my machine is in good condition. I always wanted the ability to put a snow thrower on my machine and given the slope of my driveway and other demands, I've decided a heavier duty machine in order. Plus, I've got the wife's blessing to get a bigger machine!

 

Heck, buy a belly mower for that New Holland !!

 

Interesting story there, the fact that my dad keeps the TC29 aside. When we went to buy it, it did have a belly mower with it. The dealer, though, was advertising the unit price without the mower; they wanted an additional $550 for the mower. Dad didn't really want it, but he tried to get them to throw the mower in for free just the same. They wouldn't budge on the price, so, we didn't buy the mower. Since then, he was able get a JD 318 for dirt cheap for his lawn work from a neighbor retiring to a condo in Florida and then this year bought a rotary cutter to hang off the TC29's 3-point. He uses the cutter to keep the brush down outside lawn.

 

I got the same answer from tuff torq when I asked. If you find the parts list for the 67 swap you can still order all the items you need.

I swapped in a k71 to replace my k46. Relatively easy swap too. New belt and shorten the drove linkage. It's a tired unit but much stronger than my k46.

 

Towing a load of wood up a hill a few times would get that k46 good and toasty. Yeah, wither the lever was partly out or not. It was going to live a short life. Maybe if a person some how made a oil cooler and a fan upgrade, it maybe up to that task. But yeah, pretty much designed to mow.

I fried my first k46 several years ago. What happened was, I figured the rearend in these tractors were more than meets the eye. Didn't have much knowledge on them at the time. So after a big wind storm. I had made a hitch for the back end of a L100 tractor and hooked up a 12ft landscape trailer behind it. Did ok, while trailer was empty. But when the trailer was full and I tried to climb the septic tank mound. It fried, I mean you could smell hot oil.
After that, I debated wither to rebuild it, or upgrade it. Decided to use the engine and repower a even older deere. The L100 was parted out.

If I had the tooling, and make a cheaper better rearend for cheap. I would be a zillionaire in no time. Make a kit for light tractors and for x300's. All the L's, LA's, simplicty's, and, mtd's. I would sell k66 rearends like hot cakes. The k57 is probably a direct replacement. From what I've read, the k66 is a tad wider and some times needs modding to work.

Keep a eye out for grass stuck between the fan and the transaxle. You keep that clean so the fan can do it's job. That k57 may out last the tractor. The way it should happen.

 

.... From what I've read, the k66 is a tad wider and some times needs modding to work.

I'd be interested in a reference for that. I did the K46/K66 swap and the K66 is, if anything, a tad narrower since it lacks the unused four mounting holes at the ends of the K46 mounting arms. However, there may be other units out there which lack them. Anyway, just curious about reading where the K66 was found to be wider.

Paul

Comparison pic for reference. K66 in foreground, K46 in back.

 

A while back, some guy did a swap. He said, some thing was wider. Not sure if it was the axle or not. But he changed the mounts and did some thing to the battery box to get it in there. But once he had it done, He mentioned the rear tires stuck out further. I guess forward speed was faster. Looked like a good setup when he was finished.

Looking at your pictures if anything, looks narrower. That shock absorber or whatever is, looks like it may need work to fit. How did you deal with oil checking and stuff? You still drop the rearend for that.