[rjcl004]

I recently replaced the main drive gears in my transaxle, they were shredded after 100 hours of operation. Now the unit will barely pull itself up a hill. I don't want to repair to same as new and only get 100 more hours and I don't really want to go to a k66 and tear up the rest of the mower with all that power. Has anyone ever rebuilt/upgraded to a K57? Someone at tuff torq will do it but the cost is about $600. Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed. Parts are about half the cost but am not sure where additional parts for k57 go.

Thanks for any help!
Rick

 

[Mark / Ohio]

Welcome to MLF Rick.

I've never saw the details (and I did some more searching tonight for it) on what is required to do an upgrade to a K57. Looks like maybe you can keep your original tire rims which might be part of the cost savings? Also perhaps the engine pulley does not need changed if you have a manual PTO like appears to be the case if you go with a K66 upgrade?

Knock on wood I'm at 9 years and approx 260 hrs on my K46 and it still works like new. But someday I'm sure I will be making the same decision.

 

[rjcl004]

t40/k46 to k57 upgrade

From what I have been able to find, all of the changes are internal. It includes a "charge pump", but it doesn't illustrate well enough how or exactly where it goes. This attachment shows what Duane at Tuff Torq does when he upgrades for about 500-600. If I had more detail, I think I could do this. I have already had to replace the the main drive/differential gears because they were chewed up to the point of popping and skipping teeth from even driving on level ground.

 

[Mark / Ohio]

Interesting!

I found a thread about it over in MTF tonight that I had missed.

john deere LT 180 trans problems? - MyTractorForum.com - The Friendliest Tractor Forum and Best Place for Tractor Information

So it looks like he (Duane) is actually putting the new internal parts right into the original K46 case.

Wonder if they send out any information on paper with those kits?

 

[rjcl004]

I am checking into it, he seems reluctant to give out too much info. He does it on the side (his own time) and makes some extra cash. I unfortunately cant afford to pay that much to fix it but could swing cost of parts and do it myself. It probably goes together just like the K57 does, but I don't have enough detail yet or one in front of me to actually see where it all fits. If I had an old "dead" k57 to take apart I would feel more comfortable.

 

[rjcl004]

I opened the link you suggested and it sounds interesting. The only problem is, I can't get the pictures to open. I bet they would be helpful. If you can open them and post them it would be awesome.

 

[Mark / Ohio]

They are pretty much the same as your photo. We'll see if you can see them from my Photo Bucket account.

 

[rjcl004]

"Photo bucket account"? I am sorry, I don't know what or where that is.

Thanks,

Rick

 

[Mark / Ohio]

"Photo bucket account"? I am sorry, I don't know what or where that is.

Thanks,

Rick

You still can't see the 3 images I posted above?

I'll try attachments instead: