HDS 2135 ground speed?

[Ozcubowner]

Here in Australia we only got the 2135 ,2155, 2185 all hydros of course , they all were Kohler powered however the documentation does mention Onan but no mention of B&S
There were also 2130 and 2150 models
At the site listed it has manuals for 2160 and 2165 both with Vanguard motors
https://www.cubcadet.com/webapp/wcs/...&serialNumber=
HDS 2140 , 2145 , 2146 had Cummins /Onan motors 14 HP for part of production , see following
https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/c...ttalk&th=41796
Oz

[cubs-n-bxrs]

I acquired a 2185 about 7 yrs ago and it had a 18hp Command Kohler in it. Repowered my 682 with it. The rest of it went to the scrap yard. I also had a 2135 givin to me along time ago. If I remember correctly the 2135 had a 12.5 onan engine in it. Engine always ran good. The rest of it was junk. Would not waste my time on them.

[yardiron]

I keep reading that the 2000 series is 'junk' but other than rotted out decks, most I've found need nothing but basic maintenance.
Things like dry rotted tires, dead batteries, broken belts and such.
The decks I've seen look pretty low end but the machine itself don't look that bad.
Its shaft drive, they all seem to use pretty solid engines, they have metal hoods, and a decent looking frame structure.

The down sides I've seen are the smaller tires on the smaller engine models, the thin decks, and I've not yet seen one with a good head light lens on it. They must of made the headlight lenses out of real crap because out of the about 50 or so of these I've seen so far only one had its headlight lens, and that one had it taped and tied in place. Its not just CC that has headlight panel issues, I've got two Simplicity machines about the same age on which the headlight assemblies fell out while mowing and got run over. The tabs that held them in place broke off after about three years and the lens just fell in front of the mowing tractor. I never knew it fell off till I parked it when I was done. On the second machine, I taped the lens in place as a precaution so when it gave out, it only flipped downward and stayed attached.

My biggest concern is the transaxles in these, I have no clue how much they will take. I'm only using it to move small trailers around the yard so I doubt I'm doing much to hurt it.
I did use the 2135 to drag an old Farmall 140 with a locked up rear out from behind the garage last week but it really surprised me and it pulled that thing out to the driveway with ease. I'm only really using it to move things I can't lift or things that I won't chance with a hand dolly due to the slope of the yard. I did the job for years with an old Noma tractor from the 70's. I gave up on that one after the fuel tank kept filling up with rain water. It turned out one of the screws that held the tank in place had rotted out and was letting water in. (I'll never understand why they put the gas fill on any tractor or outdoor machine out in the open where it gets rained on?)

At least on the 2135 there's room to put a coffee can upside down over the gas cap so the vent hole don't take on water.

If this rain ever ends I have to pull the fender pan off the 2130 to replace the fuel line and to reinforce the pan where the seat attaches. The hinge area is cracking all around the edges on this one. I'm thinking of adding a pair of 3" risers there to get some more leg room on this thing.
I did that to my other machines and it made a huge difference.

[Ozcubowner]

I would suppose that those who think the 2000 series are junk maybe never owned one or if they did performed little or no maintenance
My HDS 2155 is still going strong 21 years old now owned by a mate
It has regular maintenance
Oz

[cheesedawg82]

I tack welded the seat and springs from a 1330 on my 2166. the ride height was pretty awesome for me, so was the comfort with low pressure ATV tires. but the kid couldn't drive it anymore. At the moment I've got a blanket and intentions of building a little bench seat for it, but I don't think you'll complain about adding a 3 inch block.

[yardiron]

I'm thinking of just making up a square box out of 3 or 4" c channel to mount between the pan and the seat hinge It'll both raise the seat and give me a small storage box for a chain or strap and things under the seat.
I've also got a few lengths of old trailer frame here I can use, not quite as heavy but good enough to make a seat riser with.
Of course, more height may make it a wheelie machine if I'm not careful, especially with how the 2135's hydro tends to misbehave at times.

[cheesedawg82]

Whatever you have in the free pile ought to do just fine.

[PeterJ]

Originally Posted by yardiron

I'm thinking of just making up a square box out of 3 or 4" c channel to mount between the pan and the seat hinge It'll both raise the seat and give me a small storage box for a chain or strap and things under the seat.
I've also got a few lengths of old trailer frame here I can use, not quite as heavy but good enough to make a seat riser with.
Of course, more height may make it a wheelie machine if I'm not careful, especially with how the 2135's hydro tends to misbehave at times.

If I remember right, the seat has two pivot holes on each side. If you move the pivot bolt to the lower hole it raises the front of the seat. I then added rubber bumpers to the springs to raise the rear of the seat.

Also, you might want to read the operators manual regarding the operation of the foot controls. To change direction from forward to reverse the brake pedal is supposed to be used.

Lastly, I bought mine last fall and it had 300 hours on it. The hydro fluid looked really clean on the dip stick. But, the foot control operation did not seem right. It would not stop when the forward pedal was released. When I went to replace the filter (which looked to be original) 5 of the 7 quarts of fluid came out and it was the color of graphite! Nasty! I removed the drain bolt and dropped out the last 2 quarts. I did this with the unit cold, because my intent was to just replace the filter. You then have to run the hydro with the wheels jacked up to prime the hydro, or it will not drive the tractor. As soon as I drove the tractor, it performed like I would expect a new one would. I plan to do a hot drain and fill, with new filter, IF the grass ever starts to grow this year. I use the Farm and Fleet universal fluid with the blue writing (as opposed to Hy-Tran type red writing).

I think it is a fun little Cub to own,
PeterJ

[yardiron]

The seat hinges only had one set of pivot holes, the right side was pushed through the seat pan with a crack over to the seat safety switch wire hole.
I welded a piece of diamond plate across the pan and made two inch taller seat hinge brackets using 3/16" steel. I tried just raising the two rear springs up but they kept folding over so for now I just made two stands with rubber snubbers.

The seat pan was hard to weld, it fizzled like rusty metal but looked fine other than the cracks. added a full size lower plate as well.

I have a 55 gallon barrel of universal tractor fluid here, will that work?
I talked to one local dealer and they said Hydro Gear recommends 20W50 motor.

When I drained out the old fluid, it looked more clear with a hint of blue. I refilled it with regular tractor oil. It feels the same as before the oil change.

If I hit the brake even ever so lightly after letting up on the forward pedal, the tractor stops very abruptly.

I pulled the pans off of both machines, the 2130 and the 2135 and there's no hydraulic cylinder on either side. I gave both machines a good pressure washing underneath, the 2135 was pretty clean with just some dust underneath, it didn't have any signs of ever even cutting grass, the 2130 was packed pretty solid around the transmission and inside both frame rails.

After seeing these with the fender pans off I can see how light duty these are chassis wise compared to some older Cub Cadets.

[yardiron]

I'm going to revive this thread because I'm still dealing with the same machine and same speed issues.

I bought a parts machine last week, another similar 2135 with the same motor, and same trans. The motor smokes pretty bad and the owner said makes a bad tapping noise from time to time.
It runs and moves normally though.

With my original 2135 still running way too fast, and as of yet not being able to figure out what was done to it to make it go faster, I decided to swap the transaxles.

After doing nothing but swapping the transaxles, the thing still goes way too fast. And the parts tractor, now also with a swapped transaxle still runs at normal speed.

The engine on the original machine runs at normal speed, it tops out around 3410 rpm, but I rarely run it over 2800 rpm. The transaxle is from a known normal machine yet it still goes way too fast.
I'm at a loss at this point.
The parts machine also gave me a deck for this tractor, which I've also swapped over.
One thing I noticed about the transaxle is that while it will go forward and backward at greater than normal speeds, it has no 'power' in reverse. It does fine empty or unloaded, with just my 350 lbs self on the tractor, it backs up with no problem, up or down hill. With the deck on it, it will not move in reverse, if I disengage the PTO, it backs up fine. If I connect a small wagon, it will not push the wagon backwards, even empty? I've been using it to pull my boat out from the back yard when I need it, it'll tow my 2,500 lb boat and trailer up to the driveway up about a 2/12 incline. Yet it will not back the boat back in? With any load, it just sits there, with the hydro moaning as if its doing big work but nothing moves. Unloaded, it'll spin the tires in reverse for three feet if I stomp down hard on the reverse pedal.
(If I step too hard on the forward pedal, it will flip over rearward or roto-till up about three foot of dirt). The Trupower AG tires on it are murder on the lawn.

I tried the other machine, and it backs up the trailer just fine. I swapped the transaxles back now, not wanting to leave a 900 hr trans in a 200 hr machine.
But the symptoms still didn't change.
A buddy hopped on it over the weekend, he was helping me put a roof on the new shed here and he was moving the dump trailer around to the side we were working on. He nearly had a stroke when the thing took off like it did.
Something I noticed while watching was that this thing leaves two equal patches of tire marks, both wheels always pull. Unlike most GT's I've owned which tended to just spin one wheel when they lost traction.