Picked up an 1811/Problems/Introduction thread
 

Hello all,

I recently picked up an 1811 Hydro to mow my yard with. It has higher hours on it, but I will not be beating it or putting a ton of hours on it as it will only be ran for roughly an hour at a time as my yard is not that big. My hopes are to get a couple years out of it and when it comes time to be able to sell it for whatever I can and put that towards something better, and hopefully bigger if I can get another house with more land like I plan.

I do know that it needs a few things, some sooner than later. First, I need to address the broken PTO belt. I think there may be more to the broken belt than just blaming it on age. I was mowing, and every now and again, I smelled a hint of burning rubber. Also at one point in the yard where I crested over a small hill and the deck pushed up due to the crest of the hill, the PTO disengaged. I pulled forward a foot or so, and re-engaged and it worked just fine. Another couple minutes into the mow, it threw the belt and chewed it up. I plan on ordering another and replacing, but if you have any insight on other things to look for to make sure it does not happen again, it would be appreciated.

Second I need to look into the brakes. My yard is a big hill, so even though I may not need the brakes at all time, I certainly would have more peace of mind knowing I have a way to at least lock the wheels up or safely park on a hill. As it sits right now, I push the pedal down and it just stays there, and will not spring back up. When it is pushed down, the tractor will not stay put if parked on a hill so I am having to chock the wheels for now. I have not even pulled the wheels off to take a look at the pads or linkage yet.

Everything else will be done once fall has come and the tractor can sit for a few weeks while I take my time going through it. Some things I plan on doing are probably re-paint the deck, maybe the whole tractor, change all fluids, mainly focusing on cleaning out the hytran fluid as it is old, and whining pretty loud. I know it will always probably have a whine of some sort but I am hoping to reduce the whining and ensure it has the proper amount of fluid.

Beyond any input for my two immediate issues above, I am trying to find a repair manual (not the owners manual) for my model so I can read over it before working to potentially save a little time and frustration. Also, what are the best places to get parts from? For my four wheeler, I have a cross reference guide for a lot of parts including brake pads, half shafts, lights, filters and fluids from a local place like napa, is there anything like that for these tractors? My main parts needed immediately are the pto belt and brake components.

This will also serve as my welcome post to the forum. I grew up learning on my dad's cub cadet super, where I was mowing a few acres at roughly 8 or 9 years old. Ever since then, I have always had a soft spot for cubs over the others (not that they are bad). I may end up making the one I just bought look nice and do a mild restoration on it just for fun, but hope to get bigger and better down the road. I hope to lurk and learn a little and if applicable be able to contribute and help other.

If you have a 46" mowing deck on that tractor, make sure the PTO belt is routed right. One goes to the center of the front hangers and one goes to the outside of the left hanger. The deck will run with both runs of the belt between the front hangers but it will burn the belt up and do what you describe.

Also, use either a Cub belt or a belt made to run in differnt directions. Forget what you call them but they cost more than the run of the mill belts. The run of the mill will not hold up long.

Mike, It is a 50" deck. I will probably pull the deck off tomorrow and I can take photos if necessary. The routing for the belts on the deck all look in okay condition, it was the actual belt that drives the main pulley from the PTO to the deck that jumped and shredded.

Thanks for your response.

Welcome to the forum.:beerchug:
You wrote; " change all fluids, mainly focusing on cleaning out the hytran fluid as it is old, and whining pretty loud. I know it will always probably have a whine of some sort but I am hoping to reduce the whining and ensure it has the proper amount of fluid."

This would be something to take care of now, rather than later...:bigthink:

PM me your email address and I will send you all of the manuals that I have for an 1811

Noted. I will check the fluid level when I pull the deck off. I will look into ordering the gasket and get the fluid drained and replaced asap.

Manuals were sent to the email provided. Let me know if you need anything else.

Sorry, it has been a very busy couple of weeks but I did receive them, and I really appreciate it. I am hoping things will calm down in the next few weeks and I can get time to read through them, and tinker on my mower a little bit.

I have been mowing with it a little bit, and I am still having problems with the PTO disengaging. The new belt I put on is running fine, so I do not know if its a wire shorting out temporarily disengaging it or if it is a bad switch, or potentially a bad PTO unit. It runs great when it is running. I have noticed that it usually disengages when I am going downhill (very weird, I know). The previous owner has taken out all over-ride switches etc such as the seat safety switch so lord knows what kind of hacked up wiring is on the mower. The other weird thing is when the PTO disengages, I do not have to turn the switch all the way off, then re-engage the switch to activate the PTO, I just push it back up and it kicks on. I was trying holding the PTO switch all the way up when going down hill to see if I could narrow the problem down while cutting, but unfortunately it started to rain so I put the mower away.

Any thoughts as to what the heck is going on, or a simple fix? I was thinking maybe just get a toggle switch, and re-wire everything with new wiring. Thanks again for the manual and the help you guys have provided so far.

You don't have to shut the switch off to re-engage the PTO. That part is fine.

The hold in relay is not holding. Could be (but not limited to):
Wiring
Bad switch
Bad connection
Too wide air gap on the PTO (this one is a stretch)
Poor connection at the ignition switch

You are just going to have to check all the electrical connections and find the issue. Best time to do it is when it acts up. Just one of those PITA electrical gremlin's that may not be easy to find.

Congrats on the 1811! I own one and it is my favorite machine to mow with. Look for a corroded, or melted harness connector on the back of your pto switch. Going downhill or uphill should not have any effect of the pto disengaging, unless like you say, there might be a wire shorting. On the pto belts, make sure none of your idlers are seized or tight, and that both mule drive pulleys swing free on the pivot shaft (specially the left side spring loaded one).
Pics, Pics, Pics! TB

The PO said that he replaced the PTO switch, so my guess is that it was giving him the same problems, and did not check the wiring. The wiring has been messed with because it has crappy connectors in random spots, the connectors are crimp style (I prefer to solder and shrink wrap all electrical connections). I am going to open the manuals that BIGMOZEKE sent me and see if there is an electrical wiring diagram, and just re-wire the whole PTO system instead of trying to play a guessing game on the wiring. Sometimes it just seems easier to go that route. I really think something is shorting out mainly going downhill because it is usually when I hit a bump. I go up the same hill and she runs like a champ.

If it only happens when you hit a bump, well that makes me think the seat switch is real sensitive or out of adjustment. The one on my 2072 is aggravating like that.

That has been taken out of the wiring loop. The PO took the reverse and seat disconnect switches out of the circuit. I really think it is wiring because like I said, none of the wiring or connectors are quality work.

Right when you mentioned hitting bumps, I immediately thought that it has to be a bad connection. Definitely do what jmech said and check all connections.

Interestingly, an old timer aerospace technician once advised me against soldering stranded wire (I had always done as you, and soldered the crimp connections). His training was that the solder fuses the wires together to a solid block. But this solid portion is then prone to fatigue failure due to vibration. He said stranded wire, properly crimped, was more reliable than soldered.

X2 on that. Quality crimps (I use non insulated ones), quality crimp tool, and quality shrink tubing. Soldering actually increases resistance.

And hey Jwrandolph, welcome to OCC!:beerchug:

OK, so there is no seat switch in play. Cut the key switch on--DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE! Flip the PTO switch, you should hear it click/engage. Start wiggling wires until it disengages, shouldn't take but a minute or 2 to do this. If you can make it disengage by doing this, you'll know about where the problem is. Otherwise you are going to have to trace it end to end. The whole disengages when it hits a bump scenario, sounds like something big is loose and tugging on a wire. Maybe you'll get lucky and find the problem quickly. Its possible that despite your wiring harness being hacked to pieces, there is only one "bad spot".

I don't think things corrode in space... or INSIDE of any type of anything really.... Crimp connections are fine doing wiring inside the cab of a car because no exposure to elements..... Plus, I'd hate to know how much vibration anything aerospace takes. Not really the same thing here. I strongly disagree.


Some jack-wad engineer tried to tell a bunch of techs that one time. We actually went out and made up a bunch of different wires. Some soldered and some not. Resistance was absolutely the same. Maybe he (engineer) just was bad at soldering.

If it really created more resistance on some super low level, I wouldn't think would solder complete circuit boards.


Solder and shrink wrap: NOTHING BETTER. Period. :beerchug:
Solved so many reoccurring electrical problems this way, I can't even count.

This makes sense Jon, and as a previous owner of British sport cars can attest to what corrosion does to electrical connectors. My understanding was that properly crimped connectors have a fused bond. (and am guessing there is a difference in crimp/crimper quality between aircraft connectors and tractor connectors)

As for vibration, I have no idea. He was not putting stuff into space (I was), but came from military aircraft where reliability is a big deal.

A google search found a lot on the topic. Some surprising recommendations.

Yup, initially. It's the continued action of the flux on the wire that causes the resistance to increase over time.

When electronic engine control came into the auto assembly plants and we had to diagnose/repair any damaged wiring, we were told to always use a solder repair vs a crimp repair. It was felt that due to the sometimes low voltages in these circuits (.2 volt) that crimp repairs could have higher resistance and/or corrode and degrade the circuit over time.

Shrink wrap over the repair of course.

In my private world, I've never seen a soldered connection fail, unlike some crimp connections.