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scubaduderon

I bought my first Horse, how do I feed and care for her?....

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scubaduderon

I've been reading countless posts here and elsewhere on the care of the 417-A. I'm concentrating at this point on oils and hydrostatic oil and filter and I'm just all turned around. Mostly the turned around part is because a mechanic I work with insists that if I change the hydrostatic fluid it will never work the same. He means in a bad way.

 

I have some experience with this phenomenon as well and wonder what you guys think? I once had a Honda CRX that used 30W oil in the manual transmission. I had it changed out at Jiffy Lube at around 60,000 miles, and within 1000 miles the trans went. Bad throwout bearings and some other internal damage. I did some research and talked to some trans guys and they all said the new oil "shocked" the system. They claimed that the old oil had varnished up a bit in places and when the new oil hit it, it dissolved and changed clearances and such, just enough to cause trans failure.

 

My new to me Wheel Horse 417-A seems pristine and the hour meter reads 595 hours. It has no visible oil leaks anywhere, runs like a top and doesn't smoke or show any signs of failure I can see. The fellow I got it from had just bought it and decided he wanted to stick to collecting Sears Surburban Tractors. He claimed the fellow that sold the WH to him was meticulous with upkeep and only used the tractor during the winter to push snow with a blade. Other than that I know nothing about how often the fluids were changed or what was used. 

 

Interestingly enough, this tractor has a missing right headlight bezel and I found a post I think on here that talks about a missing right headlight bezel. I wonder if this is the same 417-A?

 

Anyway, I plan to use her for mowing in the warm months and pushing snow during the winter. I live in north central Illinois, where the temp gets down so sub zero temps during the winter and 90's during the summer.

 

I was wondering what you guys do? What would you change the engine oil to? Straight 30W? Rotella Diesel Synthetic 10W30? Any other thoughts?

 

Would you change the trans oil and if so with what? Should a phased approach be used, where I slowly change over the fluid over a season? Should I use Rotella HD? What do you do?

 

Also the lights don't work. It seems that the wires are broken off on the bulb side, so I'll be hunting for bulbs. It sure would be great to find that bezel too. I can get a new pair for $40. Is that what you would do? Are there any resources for parts that I should know about? 

 

Thanks again, and sorry if these questions are asked over and over. It's been a long time since I've had to care for a garden tractor, and have never owned a hydrostatic drive ever. 

 

Ron 

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JPWH

:WRS:  If I were you I would look at the home page. You will find manual section. You can download your manual for free. And there is a vendor list as well if you scroll on down. I don't know anything about your unit but others will be along that do.

Jay

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scubaduderon

Thanks for the tips! I need more to make my wife's standard description ring true. She says I don't do anything half assed, its always an ass and a half!

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SylvanLakeWH

:text-welcomeconfetti:

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953 nut
53 minutes ago, scubaduderon said:

had it changed out at Jiffy Lube at around 60,000 miles, and within 1000 miles the trans went

:WRS:       Sorry to hear this. Personally I wouldn't trust anything to those quick lube places. Not impressed with the concept of trusting my vehicle to people who are payed minimal wages and poorly trained.

The maintenance intervals called for in Kohler and :wh: manuals have proven to be very successful, Lots of us are working forty and fifty year old equipment.

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scubaduderon

Yes, I would like to follow the manual, but do not know what the previous owner used as far as oils go, or really anything else other than that this particular tractor seems to have no problems and no leaks. I really don't know if that matters! 

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cschannuth
54 minutes ago, scubaduderon said:

Yes, I would like to follow the manual, but do not know what the previous owner used as far as oils go, or really anything else other than that this particular tractor seems to have no problems and no leaks. I really don't know if that matters! 

 

I think the frequency of fluid changes is more important than the brand of fluids.  I have my dad's 40 year old C-161 that's always had the fluids changed according to the manual and it still runs like new.  Let it warm up a bit before applying full throttle after a cold start and idle it down for a bit before shutting it down and it will last a long time.

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SPINJIM

I always change the engine oil in a newly acquired WH, just on general principles.   But the trans oil depends on how well the trans is working, and the appearance of the oil.   Any 'milkiness' or dirty oil gets an immediate trans oil change.    With the low hours on your 417A, I would give low priority to changing the trans oil now.    Come colder weather, if the trans is sluggish, I'd consider changing then.    Drain as much oil as possible with the tractor level, then jack up the front to get more of the old oil to flow to the drain.  Let it drain overnight to get as much out as possible.   Then fill with your choice of oils, 10w-30 dino oil, or Mobile 1 5w-50 (available from NAPA).   Use the genuine Toro trans oil filter, not an aftermarket.   My 418A is running fine in warm weather but I plan to put in Mobile 1 in the fall when I put on the snowblower.  

 

Some used headlight bezels are available on ebay now for less than $40, but I would go with the new ones for $40.   The old ones get brittle with age.  The supplier of the new ones makes a lot of reproduction parts, and does a great job of it.   He's one of the supporting vendors here on RedSquare, and deserves to be supported.   

 

The headlight bulbs are available from Tractor Supply at a reasonable price, cheaper than anything I've found online. 

    Good luck,  Jim

 

Edited by SPINJIM
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scubaduderon

OK, for the trans I found a nice black colored filter that should work. It is a Stens 120-265, it is made in the USA and filters down to 16 microns. 

 

I guess for oil I'll use Mobil One 10w30 for the hydro oil. I can get that anywhere. 

 

I'm looking at the Operators Manual and not finding any reference as to what the gas filter and air filter are. I guess I'll hunt around here for a bit. I bet there is an engine manual for the Kohler KT17 to download!

 

Just ordered the bezel kit from wheelhorseman1000. Thank you! and thank you all for your help!

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