Doug I just read the Garden Way went bankrupt on 2001. Since these were made by Troy Built the parts or manuals are probably comparative.
Yeah Jim, I'm sure that there's a lotof Troy built mowers just like this that are more common brands. I just don't know which ones.
Hi Doug is the hydro giving trouble? For the most part they are serviceable kind of considered throw always, Having said that I have added oil to a couple that helped when climbing hills on really hot days and its been working fine ever since I used 15-40 engine oil most of this light duty hydro use like 30 wt engine oil
Many of these hydros are Hydro-Gear or Tuff-torque units there might be a data tag attached to the hydro some where
I didn't really know if the hydro was having issues, Gary. I did start the tractor and drive it up to my trailer to load it when I picked it up. A friend of ours bought a house and this tractor was sitting in the yard when they moved in. Had been sitting a long time. This hydro is a "Hydro Gear". Follow up after answering the comments.
As said Troy Built made these so I seen. There's a number of u tube videos on different ones so there might be one you can compare to.
Also Parts Tree had listing for a Gardenway "Sam Club" model.
Parts lookup and repair parts diagrams for outdoor equipment like Toro mowers, Cub Cadet tractors, Husqvarna chainsaws, Echo trimmers, Briggs engines, etc.
www.partstree.com
Bill, the tractor in the video is almost identical to this one except the brake pedal is mounted a little different. I had run across that video and the Parts Tree link while I did some searches. Ran into one on the deck removal too. It still didn't help me learn about how this thing works, and adjustments to the cutting deck, or hydro information.
Lots of great advice there Doug. You tube is a great resource. My YT16H Ford tractor uses 20w motor oil. So when I need oil in it I put 10w-30 to top it up. Works fine. Gary’s idea of 15w-40 is good too.
Noel
Yes Noel, the advice here is priceless! I appreciate every comment!
I had several of those sealed hydro tractors out back at the old place.... so far just 1 at the new place...... if they dont work properly there is no point to working on them.... with the time involved to remove/rebuild/replace them the billed hours soon become more than the value of the tractor.
There is a screen inside most of them BUT.... if there is anything at all in that screen then the transaxle has other issues that are creating that debris.... on the other hand if the screen is still clean then its probably safe to assume there is no major internal problems.
Makes sense that if the screen clogs that it is debris from the internal parts, Lance. I was rolling the dice that maybe this thing could be put back to work even though it has a lot of simpler problems.
I really appreciate all of you taking time to give me some advice on a tractor that really doesn't fit this forum! This place is the best!
I finished putting a new drive belt and deck belt on. I did find part numbers for those with the help of that Parts Tree site. I didn't order them there though. The deck went back on ok, but there is a tensioner spring that was a bear to get back on.
Then It was time to try to fire it up. The deck blades are still spinning with the deck up in the off position. Noticed that before the engine fired. Quit that and took that tough spring back off and put a weaker one on it. The blades would not spin in the off position then.
Fired up the engine and it was flooding bad. I figured that the chinese carb was a piece of crap. Never had a problem with one before, including the one on my '55 GMC. I took the air filter off to look at the carb better while running and it fired up and ran great! The carb came with a air filter element and a sock. I took the sock off and put the air filter back on. It still ran great, so that sock must be too restrictive. Adjusted the idle and idle mixture by ear and decided I better try to drive it to see how the hydro works.
Drove out into the windstorm and everything seems to be working great! Hydro responds well in forward and reverse and the speeds are smooth. It can barely creep or go pretty fast and everything in between. Reverse is a bit fast but throttling down worked fine there too.
I figured just as well try to test mowing. It seemed fine in shorter grass, so I headed for the drain field where the grass suddenly has jumped up to 5 or 6 inches! Nope, the belt slips too much for that.
I need to find out how to adjust the deck belt tension tighter for mowing and still have the blades disengage when the deck is raised.
At least the tractor runs good and the hydro seems good! The transaxle is a "Hydro Gear" brand and the sticker also says "Made in the U.S.A." That might just be the sticker itself though---LOL!
DAC
