Westwood 1600 ride on mwer

[Hairymary]

Hi
I have a ride on mower about 8-10 yrs old in good condition, that loses traction when it gets warmed up and is getting steadily worse. Must be the hydro-static drive,- does anyone know of any history of this malfunction? Also, it easy to fix/replace ?
Thanks
Mike

 

[Burnerman]

Before you jump in, just check that the drive belt(s) from the engine to the hydrostatic axle are intact, will you, and that all tensioners are working as they should.
The hydro drive does have an oil reservoir and you need to check this before its game over.
No problems with replacing the axle, but do check out the price.....
John

 

[Hairymary]

Thanks John
The drive belts all seem ok
I will check the gearbox price although I suspect the cost will make it prohibitive (could be in the order of £900 ). Do you/anyone know if the gearboxes can be dis-assembled and fixed?

cheers
Mike

 

[Burnerman]

I can't really help you there Mike - the last time I had to change a rear axle (non hydro though) there were no parts available anyway so that was a non starter.
If it was mine I'd take it to bits just for the hell of it, but that won't get your grass cut.......and I don't know anyone that does this.
Be lucky with any searches!
John

 

[Nick98]

This isn't my area of expertise but a very good mate of mine is a mower technician and so I have asked him. His feedback is that this is not unheard of on this machine, especially one about 10 years old. There are three possible options as follows:

1. If you are lucky it may just be poor oil quality, or low oil level, in the back axle. Depending on which axle you have there may be a drain plug on the bottom of it, in which case drain the oil and refill (see later). If no, then when you lift the seat up there may be an access flap underneath (depending on age of machine). Lift this up and you should see an oil filler tube for topping up the axle. Ideally you need to drain the oil and refill with 5-30w fully synthetic engine oil. The axle takes about 2 litres but initially fill will 1.75 litres, jack the mower up so the back wheel are off the ground and then (with engine running) alternate the hydrostatic drive between forwards and reverse for a couple of minutes to bleed the system. Then lower to the ground and top up. That may fix it. If you cant drain the oil then just top up with 5-30w using the top up tube and bleed as before in case its just low oil level. If you are really unlucky then you have neither a top up tube or a drain. In which case on the of of the axle there is a filling bung, remove that and fill using an old EP90 gearoil bottle (litre bottle with plastic tube on it) or some other home made equivalent like a washing up liquid bottle and length of fuel hose etc

2. If that doesn't work then the pumps in the axle are shot. You can buy an overhaul kit for this machine but the kit alone costs about £400, if you are a fairly competent mechanic its about a days labour and you will have to take the axle out to strip it.

3. Alternatively you can buy a replacement axle. Unfortunately they don't make the axle for your machine anymore though but they do supply an alternative. However its not a direct replacement for your machine so you have to buy a conversion kit as well! The axle and conversion kit is about £900.

Unfortunately he thinks the mower is only worth around £500- £750 in working order so unless you are particularly attached to it option 3 is uneconomic. As for option 2 then it is still worth it if you can do it yourself. If not then a days labour for a mower mechanic would also be required taking the cost close to the value of the machine.

In conclusion try option 1 (oil change/top up) and hope it works. If not time for some big decisions!

Hope that helps you out?

Nick

 

[Burnerman]

A useful post and thanks, Nick
I seem to remember Countax used to recommend ATF fluid, but I could be mistaken here.
John

 

[Hairymary]

Thanks Nick some good advice here. According to my manual the hydrostatic unit is a Sundstrand 318-0750 Hydro. Searching on the web for any info on this didn't bear any fruit, however.
I think I will investigate option 1 (and then may get drawn into option 2). However a full replacement option 3 doesn't make any commercial sense, as you infer.
I have checked under the seat and there is a filling tube but no sign of a drain plug!

In the mean time, I have taken off the heavy grass collector unit from the back and this has made a big difference to the traction. This should buy me a bit more time.... Perhaps should get the wife to cut the lawn as she is lighter than me!

Thanks again Nick and John
regards
Mike

 

[Nick98]

Mike

I'll ask my mate the question about the axle type and get back to you with a answer here!

Nick