Thank you Oak for chiming in. Looking at your many past contributions, you seems like a master at these machines. A master is what I may need in this case!
Yes, the steering moves back and forth to the limits just fine. I tried angling it back and forth some as I was able to get my limited travel up and down the trailer. As far as the deck lift goes, I can't test that completely, but I believe it works ok. When I purchased the mower, I removed the deck because it was too wide for my trailer. One of the lift rods that connects to the deck brackets was broken and I replaced that. Both brackets seems to go up and down as I would expect them too.
When I had the rear lifted last night, I turned the rear wheels quite a bit. I was hoping for a clue like an obvious noise and I also expected for at least the same kind of mechanical limits on the amount of travel. I figured I would only get about one full rotation and then stop, but I didn't get that. As one wheel turns clockwise, the opposite turned counter clockwise. I could not get both to turn the same direction. I sort of understand the concept of how a diff works, but if both wheels turn at the same time when driving, why can't I turn them both the same when lifted??
My wife held down the diff lock pedal, and that would prevent me from turning either of the wheels.
Is there anything outside of the transaxle that could limit this travel? I'm assuming the shaft running from the engine to the transaxle turns constantly while the motor runs, correct? I'm just trying to think of anything mechanical that could bind this besides the transaxle. Is the gerotor the same thing as the hydraulic pump? I wasn't for sure where the pump is, but was assuming the shaft with the plastic cooling fan on it was connected to the engine and hydraulic pump. Sorry, still learning the ins and outs of a hydrostatic transmission on a mower. I work on the new Chrysler 8 speed transmission at the factory in Kokomo Indiana, so I would think I could figure this bugger out too! I'm going to review the link to the service bulletins today at work if I can sneak it in so I can get a better handle on the mechanical brains. Must wait for the coffee to kick in first!
When I removed the seat for repairs, I took the time to blow off the debris from the mechanics underneath. There was quite a bit of dirt and grass build up. Some of the dirt was a teeny bit wet from what I suspect is hydraulic fluid. I have this parked in my garage and so far not even a drop of oil has dripped through the trailer floor onto my fairly clean cement garage floor. The trailer floor is that caged wire type so any leaks will fall thru it. Otherwise, I added half a quart of fluid to top it off, which indicates it must have a small leak somewhere!
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