Garden tractor acquisition

[kevm14]

Ha. Quora says:

Is non detergent 30 oil the same as SAE 30w oil?

Carl Griffiths, Former Founder Fellow of Inst of Diag. Engineers
Answered Jul 24, 2018

Er! Sort of! You will find it VERY difficult to get non detergent motor oil, except for some aircraft supply stores.
Now lets look at you question:

1./ There is no such thing as SAE 30w! The SAE J300 spec refers to SAE 20W and below and SAE 30 and above. There is no low temperature requirement for SAE 30, only a viscosity at 100 degrees C.

2./ 30 oil or 30 weight oil means nothing at all! It is just a lazy way to say SAE 30 motor oil.

3./ A few, and I mean a very few older engines specified non detergent oil. Of these few, only a very small percentage will actually be harmed by a detergent oil, or even a modern fully synthetic oil.

I had a friend who used normal Castrol SAE 30 in his Lycoming aero engine strictly against regulations. His engine lasted much longer between overhauls and showed much less wear and deposits compared to the approved oil. If he was found out, he would be grounded by the FAA!
If you REALLY NEED SAE 30 non detergent oil, you can buy ISO 100 straight mineral industrial oil which is identical or Use ISO 100 R&O hydraulic oil with you may find easier to get.

That's probably what it really wants, ISO 100 hydraulic oil. Not an automotive detergent 30 weight. This is all very interesting (to me).

Another answer:

SAE30 is a single grade oil. It is most commonly used as the hydraulic oil in tractors and other agricultural machinery.

Oh, and still not sure on the axle/diff but possibly 10W-30....yeah. I think I'd be more likely to change that, too.

[kevm14]

This might be it right here.

http://www.peerlessgear.com/EpiphanyWeb ... aspx?ID=98

They call it a final drive which is a reasonable name for what it does. Inside the doc they also use the term "transaxle."

Can be bolted to an Eaton Model 11 (like that guy was trying to upgrade to, this checks out). Or a Model 7. With the Model 11, it can provide up to 400 lb-ft of torque to the axles (and remember the Model 7 hydro can do up to like 4 hp). That's sweet.

Max tire diameter of 23". Mine are 20" though the snow thrower manual referenced a machine with up to 23" tall rear tires (maybe 6000 series) so again, these numbers are all making sense.

Up to 600 lbs load capacity. Max input speed, 3,600 which again is not being met because the Model 7 gears down and outputs somewhere in the 2,150 rpm range with a 3,600 rpm input, which I determined it isn't even reaching since the engine pulley is smaller than the hydro pulley. So this is all not being super stressed. What's also interesting is I could gear up the hydro unit to 1:1 and everything would still be within spec. Just a hypothetical lawn mower race type of comment...

Says 20W30 hydraulic fluid. Since it is designed to possibly share oil with the hydro, it seems to me that I could use the same SAE30. Or maybe I'd use a detergent oil? Getting closer I think. But NOT gear oil.

Overall, I think I can say the transaxle components are incredibly robust on my machines which I kind of already figured out by accident that summer I worked on my driveway and towed all kinds of weight with my Simplicity. The good news is I don't think I need to worry about anything for snow duty, even going forward and backward continuously.

I'm wondering if the Model 7 and Peerless 1300 series is still a combination that is sold today, just because of how updated the material seems to be.

Also it is easy to be cynical and say, gee, they sure don't build them like they used to. The thing is, these machines were from an era where there was no $1,200 equivalent lawn tractor at a big box store. Between China manufacture and the components themselves, there was a LOT of cost that was taken out so people could have access to far less expensive equipment. It's all a balance. But I'll take my old stuff.

[kevm14]

Took the charger off the Deutz. The battery settled to like 12.8V which is equivalent to a full charge. Maybe this battery is healthy enough after all.

And with a full charge, the alternator had no problem driving it up to 16V like my Simplicity.

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1.72A at that voltage.

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Up to 16V even.

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Or nearly 16.1V now.

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1.6A at that voltage.

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So maybe this will all work out. I will say the 16V thing is only because the battery was 100% charged. I think it was barely 13V at full engine speed before I charged it. That's because it's more of a constant current than it is a constant voltage. A regulated high current alternator would be the optimal solution obviously.

[kevm14]

I also installed all of my parts.

New set screw for the PTO rod.

New shoe/ski for the left side of the thrower.

New belt guard.

Here is the belt guard. The bag said made in the USA, too.

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But I backed off the driveshaft tension which relieved the belt tension. I also backed off the pulley brake but I think it was pretty much all the way backed off before. I've got it just about right. With the thrower pulled up in the air, there is just a little drag on the belt from the engine pulley. I think it'll be alright.

Oh yeah and the belt was dragging on two areas. One was the belt guard I had just installed. I clocked it a little differently and that seemed to solve it. The other area was a little more severe. It was a belt guard next to the drive pulley. I had pulled it away before because it was rubbing on the pulley. Well it was so far away that another piece of it was actually rubbing pretty bad on the belt. This is partly why it was getting so hot before (but not the only reason). I clocked it close to the pulley as it is supposed to be and that is fixed, too.

So I think this thing is pretty much ready. The only other thing to play with is probably the lift rod spring collar placement. There is an initial adjustment but then it seems to depend on preference. Like how far up you want the handle to be able to lift it at the highest notch. Or whether the lowest notch actually helps keep it planted on the pavement, or below the first notch where it can just sort of float and additional pressure would require pushing on the lift rod continuously which would be a little annoying it seems.

[kevm14]

Lightly power washed my machines. And seats. Cleaned them with simple green, and rinsed again. Treated with the 303 stuff.

Then I just decided to drain the axle on the Deutz. The fill plug came out without a fight. And so did the drain plug. There was oil in there.

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It was pretty crappy looking.

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I got my manual pump and pumped some clean Delo 400 SAE30 in just to flush out a little. It took, I dunno, 1/2 quart? 3/4 quart? Anyway, pumped until it came out of the fill hole, and sealed it up. That was really easy. Like the easiest oil change ever. I should probably do my Simplicity now that I know it is this easy and I know SAE30 is a good choice.

[kevm14]

For the hydro this is a good anecdote:

https://www.answers.com/Q/What_kind_of_ ... lawn_mower

What kind of oil do you use in your hydrostatic transmission for my 4212 simplicity lawn mower?

I had the same problem When I bought my mower I put premium hydraulic oil in it. It would move until it warmed up. then would slip. I thought I was going to have to buy a new drive. I finally got in touch with an engineer at Eaton Hydrostatic, the place that makes the hydro units, and he asked me what oil I was using.

I told him premium hydraulic oil. He said "No wonder. You need to use 30 weight motor oil." I haven't had any trouble since. My mower is a 4211 Hydro, with an Eaton Model 6 Hydro unit that is attached to a peerless drive unit.

So if your unit is an Eaton Model 6 or 7, use 30 weight motor oil in it.

[kevm14]

Right headlight on Simplicity burned out. Haha.

I will see if the parts tractor has a working one.

[kevm14]

I grabbed the headlight that was not filled with water and swapped it into my Simplicity. Works!

[kevm14]

To continue the oil weight discussion, I finally figured out that SAE30 is equivalent to ISO100 from a viscosity standpoint. And if a "mineral oil" is called for, the correct SAE30 to run would be non-detergent. I'm talking about the diff/axle here. Well, I ran an HD oil which is Delo 400. I can't imagine that would hurt anything...

Non-detergent for the Eaton hydro may be more correct though, again, should I ever decide to do that.

[kevm14]

Started the Deutz. Took that same long amount of cranking again. Really not sure what that is. But it started and ran just fine. And it's good that the battery was still holding a charge.

I drove it around. The left front tire was down to like 7 psi (from 20) so that's always great. The other one was at like 15. Inflated back to 20...maybe I should try to jam some fix a flat in there.

Everything worked fine. Got sick of driving it around and put it back.

Oh, I think the left axle seal is leaking. It does look like it could probably use a seal and maybe a bearing. Not sure if I will bother.

Today I may install my impeller flaps to increase the throwing efficiency. Unless I decide that I don't like the mud flap I have and try to find something that is the same thickness all the way through. And I should wire brush and paint the battery tray area, too.