Cub Cadet hydrostatic drive

[otlski]

Hi Folks,

I just bought my first riding mower after 42 years of pushing a mower around (counting being a kid). It is this one.

Cub Cadet XT1 Enduro Series LT 42 in. 18 HP Kohler Hydrostatic Gas Front-Engine Riding Mower-LT42 - The Home Depot

I assume my Cub is built by MTD so I posted here. My lot is not flat but the Cub Cadet handles the up hill sections just fine. There are several places where the land twisted, where say the front right wheel and the rear left wheel briefly take most of the weight. If I stop in those areas, I get the dreaded open differential phenomena where the rear wheel with traction does nothing and the other rear wheel spin but with no traction. This sort of surprised me.

I had somehow "expected" that a hydrostatic drive would act differently (no pun intended), and that there would be an architecture inside that would sense torque and distribute at least some power to the wheel with traction. This does not seem to be the case. Rather it acts like the tractor true has an open geared differential and the hydrostatic part of it ends upstream this. I guess I expected the hydraulic part to be almost out to the wheels themselves.

So how wrong am I? How is it supposed to work? Are there two hydraulic motors in series? Is there something wrong with my riding mower? Is there some kind of viscosity fix?

Thanks.

 

[Norm W]

Hydro takes the place of the clutch and the transmission. The differential is the same, unless you have a differential lock, as any other garden tractor.