Picked up an 1811/Problems/Introduction thread

[Jwrandolph]

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.