The Newest Restored Garden Tractor in America, Husqvarna GT48DXLS, the Build.

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

Going back in time to JUN2018, Rebuilding my very expensive $3,000 piece of lawn furniture, into the Garden Tractor I thought I bought.

The chassis failed at 63hrs, 11 months after purchase. I now have 183.6 hrs on the meter, the first 100 hrs after rebuild, spent, exclusively using the Johnny Bucket. The JBJR is well built, and capable of more than they represent. Thank you, to Johnny Products.

JUL2018-

Turning a GT48DXLS into an actual Light Duty Garden Tractor.

I want to show the process as it unfolds as best I can, mistakes and all, to hopefully inspire someone in my position (with a buckled frame) that finds himself on the fence, questioning, if you can do this, or to just pay the $500 to $600 as quoted from the Dealer to have the same problem frame. It is my hope that the answer is "if that guy can do it....so can I".

This build will start with a $70 Harbor Freight canopy for shade. The Temperatures in July/Aug here in Florida are a Brutal 90F plus 80% to 100% humidity with a thunderstorm 4 times a week to interrupt the personal sweat shower.

My tractor is in pieces on the back porch, lawn, and canopy.

There are I think 27 or 28? sections or postings to get this whole thing up. If there is a detail you are interested in, let me know. Chances are, I have the picture, or the answer is still coming. I will be getting my originals that I archived on CD's, It was a big project.

Here is the new TS/ GT Chassis, (To be clear, UPS only charges $13. in shipping to your door from Husqvarna, Husqvarna charges the Dealer $90. in special freight to ship to your Dealer. I went with UPS)

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

01JUL2018,

The 1/4" x 3" x 60" flat bar being prepped for the fabricators. The 2 rails are 25 lbs, the frame is 26 lbs.

I'm using HF transfer punch set, they were sized correct to ensure that the center would be dimpled to keep the over 50 holes as accurate as possible, thanks to machine forums.

A look at the rest of it in waiting on the porch with the complete manual I constructed of the Tractor, Kawasaki, Tuff Torq, Parts list's, Trouble Shooting and Transaxle Maintenance, all laminated. The reason for laminating? Greasy fingers, torrential rain, and torrential rain. I got tired of wet soggy pages I would have to remake.

This is the HF 12 speed drill press I bought for the job. The holes were to be drilled at 250 to 400 rpm with plenty of cutting oil to keep the bits cool so they would not dull. I also bought Cle-Line 15 bit set, 135 degree split points that were well worth the money for a project this size with 1/4" steel. They were cool to the touch and didn't dull (another piece of good advice, I was tired of bits going dull to quick). The oil I used was 30 wt, and dispensed it out of a $10 oil can that had a long spout. I just kept the bits oiled and used a steady hand, with a lot of patience. (all day plus the next morning)

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

01JUL2018-02JUL2018,

More project pictures,

Those are 3/8 bolts holding that wood on solid for flat drilling surface.

I ended up drilling most holes 2 sizes over with the edges deburred on both sides. My logic on this was that as careful as I was, I noticed that the holes would still have miner alignment issues. I wanted the fabricators to be able to weld without having to chance fixing my work (they are pro's I'm not!). I also made sure that the bar would be perfectly flat on both sides with out it biting me when I was bolting it back together (guaranteed no burrs)

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

02JUL2018, 03JUL2018

More project pictures,

My part is almost finished!

By the way, I did wipe them down in WD40 to keep them from flash rusting.

I'm getting these ready to use paint to color the square holes that are going to be punched by the pro's for $1 each, well worth it!

That's 3M painters tape. I used an ex-acto knife to cut out the squares and black spray paint. The surface was prepped with acetone and denatured alcohol.

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

04JUL2018

next was to prep the frame for welding using any number of tools to sand paint away from all potential spots to be welded by a minimum of 1". I did all the sides and 2" just to be sure. The best tool was the 3M Roloc Bristle Disc (green) 18527, 3" with a die grinder for the 15,000 to 20,000 rpms. They are great for head gaskets too, they don't harm the metal and they are truly fast and easy. The corners and edges were done with a Dremel.

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

17JUL2018,

My modified frame is back and I had the brilliant idea to paint this myself with rattle cans.

I was using the mouse to scuff the surface, not clean to bare metal.

Below is how it turned out with 4 layers of primer 92-94F and 90%+ humidity.

Yep, bad idea. It was terrible. The paint would dry hitting the metal and that soft surface is the powder like feel that would just rub off. Too Hot, To dirty, and TOO Much humidity to paint.

I opted to have powder coaters in Tampa (another hour + away) get the job done right.

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

30JUL2018,

$100 at the powder coaters and it was well worth it. The original quote was $150 but it came out at $100.

More coming,

Kyle_in_Tex · Jul 18, 2019

Did the johnny bucket cause the frame to buckle? Or did it happen without the johnny bucket?

Anyway, neat that you are getting it fixed back up stronger and better.

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

12AUG2018, Time to transfer the motor and transaxle to the new frame. I created a way to safely hold the motor until I installed it.

this was easy and I could quickly roll it around out of the way. The movers dolly is HF, been used for many things.

The bolt at the bottom of the motor shaft came out easiest with a impact wrench while using the old belt on the drive pully (twisting it tight so as to not allow slippage and to not do anything damaging to the pulley. The HF air tank is modified to be able to use air tools but won't last long. I get about 3 or 4 good uses with the impact.

Out with the old chassis,

In with the new chassis,

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

12AUG2018 more stuff

I decided to go with a Kevlar drive belt. The stock belt had less surface area in contact with the pulley.

the old belt;

the Kevlar belt, Minor difference, but I'll take it;

Having the belts stretched out;

This is the actual code for the drive belt, the one from Husqvarna is not actually terrible in price, the one for the fabricated deck is!

The deck belt (fabricated clear cut decks only) is 4LK1360 1/2"X136" (AK134).

This is the drive belt package;

notice the Ariens part #, it's common for many different makes and has a Stens # too.

Starting to fit parts together;

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

This is a very easy transaxle to perform oil changes on, the down side is that little reservoir bottle. The bottle is an expansion tank not under pressure. The pump fluid gets hot and expands into the bottle as needed and as it cools goes back into the pump chamber. So far so good.

The bad is that the bottle does not have a very secure way of sealing to the upper case. It can be bumped, leak, and you wont know because the clearest observation of that connection is through the right wheel and not the back.

If the Dealer installs it carelessly, in a hurry, your transaxle could be set up to fail from the start and remember what the warranty is? Good to check.

Mine did not leak but could have. I have an idea for this too involving a JD Dealer. From Tuff Torq the bottle and means to allow fluid to go in are up to the manufacturer, JD uses a hose to pipe fitting with hose clamps for a solid connection.

Notice the straight piece of plastic from the bottle to the transaxle. The end that inserts into the transaxle is plastic and is over an steel tube. The bottle pushes down on a flimsy mount that is supposed to cup it in place. The bottle can move back with vibration and the hard plastic seal will work its way out. I will fix this by next trans oil change and share pictures.

Until then,

If you still believe Husqvarna over the manufacturer (Tuff Torq) that the transaxle is maintnance free, here is the oil at 63hrs, and 11 months of use,

Just imagine what it would look like after the warranty was up......

Tuff Torq says, first 50 hrs, then depending on use, every 50 to 200 hrs or somewhere in between. I was told specifically, if using for heavy ground engagement work, in high temps, go with 50 hr changes. The oil has to be certified for "wet clutch" applications, meaning "JASO MA-2" API certified. The weight can be 5W-50 or 10W-50 synthetic, in the heaviest conditions and use, or their 30w oil in light use. Translate "light use" as mowing grass. "heavy use" as moving dirt in some way.

Its not about getting it cheaper, just having the right oil for the intended conditions. This is not an endorsement, just what I use for heavy, hot conditions, approved by Tuff Torq

I have attached the Official Tuff Torq K66 oil change procedure, recommendation, and their lubricant chart with part numbers. The K66 schematic and part list will be included later. All of them can be found on their page but these came direct from Tuff Torq in an email to me, with answers. Tuff Torq can keep their word too.

GT48DXLS · Jul 18, 2019

The rest tomorrow,

Cheers

tomplum · Jul 18, 2019

There you go, taking matters into your own hands. Good deal. BUT, I"m telling you right now- this better end with chrome wheels and zoomies...:thumbsup:

ChuckT · Jul 19, 2019

I admire your effort and understand your disgust at the Husquavrna frame being weak. I've got a 42" Husky and a 54" CC XT3-GSX. I wouldn't consider either one to be a bulldozer wanna-be. At most I'll ask the CC to drag dirt around to level the lawn for that I've got the Box blade and the JB lift for it.

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

14AUG2018

The drive belt guide on the transaxle input pulley was bent and able to dig into the belt. This is how I solved that problem,

Doing yet another re-fit, lots of re-fits until it was right,

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

14AUG2018,

Time to get the pedals, rods for brake and transaxle motion connected and adjusted.

Also the all important cruise control, I'm sure I'll find a use for it sometime?

More pictures and views, from this day.

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

This is how I bled the transaxle. Yes it is self bleeding but It is still recommended to bleed it first, so...

I put the bolt on the input shaft, switched the power speed in the drill to 2 (high) and ripped through one battery charge. The axles barely moved at first but after a few forward input at the pedal and reverse input while spinning the input shaft, it came to life. Bled, done.

another problem was the weak return spring on the brake pedal arm at the transaxle. It would have been ok, but it was slow and I had a 2 pound spring that I put on it that makes sure it is always to the rear (disengaged) unless I want brake applied, cheap upgrade that has worked well.

In the above pictures those are 3/8"x 2" to 3" Stainless Steel bolts and large oversized washers on the inside and regular washers on the outside, with nylon lock nuts.

The frame is reinforced with this in the most critical places. This adds one more extra layer of clamping force to the welded frame.

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

16AUG2018,

This is one of the two steering support brackets that had to be cut by 1/4" on each side, and welded to fit in the new frame. Cost on this was $159.86, for two new modified plates.

some extras,

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

16AUG2018,

When I added a 1/4" of steel to the inside of the frame, each side, it caused the steering support plates to be 1/4" too wide on each side.......

The axle now won't clear the frame on each side for up and down movement and is stuck by, yeah 1/4" each side.

I used my HF cut off saw for this careful procedure to go far enough but not too far. When I checked for clearance I had to re-install the whole thing and then uninstall (a few times). On these cast iron front axles, they have molded in to them top limit bump stops,

After the cuts,

Clarence solved,

And a look from the inside,

More coming,

GT48DXLS · Jul 19, 2019

17AUG2018,

some more frame re-enforcement,

Here is the forward/reverse input pedal rod that I replaced as a precaution. In case it was bent, it's cheap.