John Deere garden tractor hydrostat question, TimS? Others?

4020_1966

Member
I have been wondering about the cost typically to have one rebuilt? And is it something that other shops can do? My 2000 GT235 seems to still be fine, but at some point it will likely wear out. I have heard having Deere do one is very pricey but never a $ figure.
 

It's been a long time since I supervised the repair of a lawn tractor hydro but I remember parts can be expensive. Your tractor would require at the least 2 of these.
MIA880184 Cylinder Block - CYLINDER BLOCK CMP ADD 498.21 USD
 
Lots of folks part these things out (just check ebay) and one can buy several used transaxles for the price of using new parts and repairing one.
 
This question interested me because- my experience with lawn and garden hydro's was in the early 70's. I think I had two apart. One was a gasket/housing leak. If I recall correctly, the gasket was either not readily available, or not available at all, as the unit was not supposed to be serviced in the "field". I was concerned about correct thickness. So the boss mic'd the gasket, and showed up with a piece of what looked like a cereal box! He was the boss, so I cut it out, and put it in. Worked fine. I think it was an AC(Simplicity) HB112. Maybe HB212?

The other was a little NH(eventually Ariens) S-8. It was a different type of hydro with a large rotor with balls in it. The issue was a little threaded plug had loosened and fallen out of an internal passage.

Now my personal hydro exposure is at opposite ends - a 25 year old combine, and a several year old Ferris zero turn. Barring part failure, which I think is unlikely at this point, I don't expect them to wear out.

For any unit using oil power to create rotary motion, enough clean oil to keep it from getting too hot is the life blood. There are lots of steel pieces with close tolerances rubbing together in there to be sure, but they should ALWAYS be riding on a film of oil.

So, unless something is happening with hydro's I'm not aware of, I think most anything else you could concern yourself with would be more appropriate.
 
Same here for me, I have never had a lawn & Garden hydro apart, the early ones would wear out 2 mowers, but I have heard that some of the newer designs were not near as good, I have an LX 178 here and about the time I'm done mowing it "seems" to be getting a little soft,,but it's getting some age on it. I have had a few combine Hydros apart over the years,,mostly just simple things on them..
 
the usual failures of the hydros of lawn mowers/garden tractors is the result of towing them. Without the engine running there
is no lubricating oil to the rotating groups.

I have a 300 LGT JD that is 35 years only and still works well!
 
Look up Jim's Repair in Hastings, MN.

I had him rebuild a hydro and put a new engine in a 318. It's not cheap, but it was less than half of what a new X700 would cost me.
 
You have a "lawn tractor" with a cheap aluminum belt-driven disposable hydro, vs. the older "garden tractors" or the higher-dollar unit of today.
 
(quoted from post at 00:00:59 03/30/15) I have been wondering about the cost typically to have one rebuilt? And is it something that other shops can do? My 2000 GT235 seems to still be fine, but at some point it will likely wear out. I have heard having Deere do one is very pricey but never a $ figure.

Not to worry. That is a HD transmission that uses five bolts to hold the wheels on. As long as the oil is up to spec, clean and not over heated.
On the other hand with a light duty lawn tractor which uses a c'clip to hold the wheel on. Buyer beware. The lightweight cost cutter K46 used by many manufactures in thier low to mid level machines . A K57 is better but a K66 is minimum . Even Deere uses the K46 in the 100,200 and the in two low end 300 series tractors .
 

Change the Filter at least once every year or two..!!

I changed my old Bolens Hydrostats over to ATF 15 years ago and all three are still just fine...

They were new in 1977, when we were raising Christmas trees and have been worked as hard as can be...

Ron..
 

There is not much in a Hydrostat trans..

Pump, Valve control and Hydraulic Motor, and a set of gears....

Ron..
 
On this you are wrong Bob, the GT 235 is not the cheap disposable model. It was tagged GT for "garden tractor". It actually has the smoother stronger hydrostat than the 316/317/318 did. It has the larger solid splined axles with the 5 bolt hubs and not the thin axles and hubless rims. It came with the commercial grade Vanguard series Briggs engine, the lawn tractors did not get the more expensive commercial grade engine. It is tough and has done a lot of heavy work for me over the last 25 years.

I have seen the hydrostats from parted out ones on eBay etc but mine is fine, I was just curious for future purposes. Hopefully it will never be an issue but as things get older it can. If I have to spend a couple grand to rebuild it I will, just hope it isn't that much. Thanks for the input every one. I will save the recommended stuff for later.
 
Well, it the hydro is STRONGER than the ones used in the 316/317/318 you have NOTHING to worry about. I have never see a single one of those with major problems, unless run out of oil, or towed too far/fast.

(Might as well add late 140, 300, 312, 314, 322, and 400 to that list of older TOUGH hydros, as well!)
 
The 316/17... Were good machines with crap motors unfortunately. In the family we had a bought new 317. Was great for 4? years and it blew a piston out the side of the block. The replacement engine was 2500$ (with us installing it). At first I liked the onan engine but after I think 10 years it started to burn oil. At first it wasn't much, after a few years it used 1/2 quart of oil to do 3-4 hours of mowing. It wasn't much after that it threw a rod. Luckily it must have broke right at the crank, it never knocked or made a noise. It just lost one cylinder. Deere confirmed it but the replacement for it is again several grand. So it has sat in a old garage for close to10 years. Everything else worked when it was parked. I really wish they had designed them to use better a engine. I do really like the vertical shaft 2 cylinder Briggs that the 235s have.
 

Nothing wrong with a 316.


Original Model: KT17S 17hp Kohler

The conversion kits do not fit the tractors that had Onan engines in them.

NOTICE: The 317 tractors are bad for the driveshafts going out on them. When replacing the engine you need to evaluate the driveshaft. If there is any play in it at all, it will cause the main bearing of the engine to go out, which would not be covered under warranty. The driveshafts typically last 1000-1200 hours.

If you change or have previously changed the driveshaft you may have to cut about 3/4" off of the flywheel stub shaft that your drive shaft slides on,

356447-JD317-R1
Briggs
356447-JD317-R1 18hp OHV V-Twin with conversion kit to fit into a JD317 tractor Briggs & Stratton Engine
Engine-ASM
$1,400.00

Or

Original Model: Onan B43

We do not have a kit for this tractor yet. This kit requires several other changes that the tractor with the Kohler does not have. Here are the differences between the 317 that came with the Kohler and the Onan engines: 1. Drive shaft hooks up different 2. PTO shaft is different size 3. Mounting is totally different between engines and frames 4. Muffler does not outlet in same area 5. Wiring is different
Engine
There is no other engine available for this application
 
I think there's a bit of confusion here... Early 316's used a Kohler single cylinder engine, and later models used an Onan twin.

IIRC, the 316 NEVER used the defamed KT17 Kohler twin that the 317's all used from the factory.
 
I could have worded that better. I knew the316 was one cylinder different engine. I was under the impression that the317. 318 both had the engine failure problem. Ours started with the Koehler and was converted to the on an, iirc the kit did have a new drive shaft.I remember it was a pretty involved conversion. We were told that since it was converted to the onan that pretty much left us with pretty much didly squat for replacement engines. Anyone know of a reasonable priced replacement for the onan 18 hp in a converted 317? I wouldn't mind resurrecting it.having hydraulics was a convenient.
 

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