I picked up my tractor last weekend in an early winter snow storm. they replaced the shift fork and clutch pack assembly, which fell apart when they removed it, they had a replacement shaft made for the shift fork and changed the rear main seal, which was leaking oil. the mechanic told me he thinks someone tried to shift gears at a high speed and sheared off gear teeth as he found the teeth in the bottom of the tranny. total bill was $960 ..$560 for labor and the rest for parts,,,i had a heck of a time trying to get up my driveway in the snow....the turf tires are no good in the snow and the rear end is not a true positraction....at times only 1 tire would spin....

Uh, no, it doesn't have a "posi" rear end. No tractor does. They are all open differentials. Some have a diff lock, but not Lo-Boy's...

Whew. $960. I don't have that in mine, and it didn't run or even have a cluch in it when I bought it. At least it's home.

yeah well..it was a big bill but if I tried to fix it myself it would have been apart in my barn for 6 months since I am only there every other weekend...heck the first repair I had to do to the last boat I bought cost me about 14 grand...so I am way ahead of my typical toy experiences...merry Christmas....

I got to play with the tractor a little last weekend. I fixed the plow that came with it and got it mounted onto the tractor. I spent about 20 minutes trying to spread out a pile of stone that has been sitting in my driveway for a year now...it went better than using a rake...cut it short as I wanted to cut some firewood before it got dark..I did notice that the tranny is really loud now in 1st gear...I did not notice that in the fall when I was running the tractor..it sounds much different in 2nd gear...don't know if that is the sign of an issue or not...need to make some adjustments to the plow..it needs to be wider than the front tires so the tires don't ride up on the stuff I am trying to spread..more like a bulldozer..might give me a reason to buy a little mig welder...Happy New Year!

cg, glad you got it fixed. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to defer to the pros when time is short. I've done it many times and due to lack of interest, that's how I handle most automotive repairs.

I've wanted a Lo Boy for many years. Just don't have the room to keep one. Looked at a couple, almost fell for one two years ago. Now with retirement looming and our planned property downsizing, I'd have almost no use for one, to be honest, other than for show or to mess with.

I have played with the tractor a few times since I got it back from the mechanic and it is noticeably LOUD in 1st gear....any thoughts?

It's normal. Just how that trans and final drive is. It's all straight cut gears. The trans speed is fast and that is just how straight cut gears are..... noisy.

I did not notice it before and I drove around in 1st gear a few times holding down the shift handle..in second gear its nice and quiet..took it out for a little ride today....

Ive only ever driven two Loboys but both trannys are very quiet.

Just a thought on your noisy first gear, perhaps the gear on the broken shaft developed an unusual wear pattern. Now that it's in the right place, the mating surfaces aren't the same as they were before the repair, so that might cause your noise. My lo-boy has noisy final drives but my tranny gears are quiet. It is true that straight cut gears are noisier, you should hear my JD 420 in first gear!