LTX1050VT barely moves... belt or hydro?
 

XLT1050 VT with Hydro Gear 618-0319. 2009 model with 300 hours on it. Hydro makes noise...load at first but then gets quieter. I decided that this is normal noise. Tractor drives slow and any effort, such as not going down hill, causes it to slow to a stop almost. Hydro is full to within 3/4 inch from top. I was told that these sealed, maintenance-free hydros usually are very dependable and that air in the system is unlikely the problem. The belt being loose is more likely the problem.

I climbed under and examined the belt area. The brake pedal must be pushed down at least half way before tension on the belt is released. If I pull on the belt it take very slight effort to make the tensioner pulley move. I wonder if this is a sign that the tensioner spring is weak or stretched? How do I check for proper tension on the belt especially since the tensioner moves so easily as to cause slack in the belt? What is the proper procedure to check tension? How should I examine springs? Any advice is appreciated.

I'm not familiar with that model.
I have seen many LT1050's exhibit those symptoms and it's usually worn bushings in the foot control linkage.

have someone else watch the fan and pulley on top of trans. when the tractor stops moving to see if the pulley is still spinning

2 questions...
Guyina4x4: How can bushings cause lack of power to wheels? Possibly slop in linkage is causing control arm on trans to not move far enough?

DaleC: Yesterday I jacked up the read endand started the tractor. Without moving the pedal the belt was moving. But I did mot check the fan.

I'll go out now and come back with some more details hopefully. Thanks.

With F/R pedal in neutral position the fan spins. When pushing the brake pedal down the fan stops.

put a load on it [driving tractor] and see then if the belt is slipping the fan will slow down

Gonna be hard to do that but I'll figure it out.

When was the last time the belt was replaced?
And are you sure the belt is still routed between the idler pulleys correctley?

When you press the brake pedal, it removes tension from the belt. If possible, remove tension from the belt and spin the hydro input pulley by hand. It should spin nice and smooth. If notchy while spinning, then there's a strong possibility that the hydro is on it's way out.

That fan/pulley is turning a hydraulic motor inside the tranny. When things go bad in there it is because the flat surfaces of the motor's cylinder block and the flat surfaces of the motor's center section are no longer smooth and cannot maintain hydraulic pressure between them. The only way to know that that has happened is to disassemble the tranny. Spinning anything by hand will tell you nothing.

The resistance that the hydo provides to the drive belt system is enough to make even good belts slip. Belts stretch with age and when they stretch they slip even more. Replace the belt and eliminate the obvious.

With the brake pedal pushed down it takes a little effort to turn the fan blades. There is absolutely no free wheeling. And when I release the brake and go in forward or reverse I see no change in fan speed. So, I assume the tractor is scrap?

The only thing that alters fan speed is the speed of the engine via the throttle.
The fwd/rev pedals vary the speed and direction of the tractor by altering the flow of fluid inside the transmission, regardless of fan speed.

The fan speed NOT atlering means the belt is not slipping...correct? Should the fan turn freely by hand? Mine does not. It takes a couple of fingers to turn it.

I'm having a hard time understanding why you are so obsessed about the fan.
You cannot spin it with the flick of a wrist like you could the blades of a window fan. You are trying to spin a pump full of oil inside of there.
Unless you are Superman with super vision I don't know of anyone that could look at a v-belt spinning many hundreds of RPM and tell you it is slipping.

Obviously obviously the belt may not be slipping until you put a load on it and then it slips. I don't know how you can apply the load to the hydro of putting the tractor in motion and at the same time view the belt and be able to tell that it is slipping.

Normal procedure to shoot a problem (for me at least) is to assume that the things that are expected to wear out (such as a v-belt) have worn out, and you can't always tell by looking at them.. Your description of your problem in your opening post would make me suspect the obvious. You were asked in post #8 when the belt was last replaced but you didn't answer. Persue the fan spinning method if you choose, I'm done.