Zero turn mower

[ldj]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

 

[wore out]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

I am not familiar with your exact machine, but I think it's safe to assume the mfg. wouldn't have installed cooling fans if they weren't needed.

https://www.mcmaster.com and other industrial parts suppliers have a wide assortment of generic fan blades available, you may be able to find something that will work on your mower either as a direct replacement, or with some modifications.

 

[Mule Meat]

Fans for hydraulic motors and transaxles found on mowers can be gotten from many sources.
Knowing the brand and model of the motor or transaxle will get far better results when looking for parts than just using the mowers brand and model.
Take Hydro Gear for example. They're a popular brand of wheel motor used by many different makes of mowers. If say Snapper stop using them. After a while they will become NLA through Snapper. Meanwhile John Deere may still be using the same motor. And parts can be gotten.

So my advice is to get the make and model of the motors use that information to look for the parts.

 

[RobCons]

A little fabrication work for a bracket and you could probably install small electric fans to blow across the hydraulics.

 

[Russ from MN]

A little fabrication work for a bracket and you could probably install small electric fans to blow across the hydraulics.

That was my first thought! But I have heard that the hydrostatic units are somewhat generic, and fans should be available.

 

[urbancase]

Nothing else call some larger mower shops, we have one in my area as he got a few old mows that you can get parts from.

 

[Texasmark]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

I think I recall the company...Tough Torque.....that made the drives for my 42" JD L110 I bought in the early 1980's. They may do so for others too. Early on, I hit a hidden stump and would up tearing up some parts in my drive......unit wouldn't move.

I opened the drive, saw the torn up parts and saw their name and model sticker on the unit and ordered the replacement parts directly from them. They were very nice, dealt with me for repair parts as an individual, were courteous, priced right and sent me a "gimmie cap" along with the order.....that was something special and I was glad to advertise for them.

They also suggested that I put thicker oil in the unit from what was specified when built....I think it was from 10w-30 to 10w-40. I did and have about 1700 hrs on it now and after wearing out the mower deck, I put a basket and spray rig on it (for fire ants) and its now my "Gator-ette". Have had zero problems with the drive.

Side note on using thicker oil, my 61" 36 HP BS, ZT specs 20w-50 but that's a commercial grade mower.

On where to look, ebay is real good at describing the products for sale. Might be you could find a posting with the dimensions specified and compare to yours and make a purchase. As others have said, especially with competition being what it is, there won't be anything in a product that's unnecessary....as I see it. I realize that mowers can be run for 30 minutes or all day depending on the circumstances. Maybe the fans are for the all day users....who knows. If you have a not contact infrared thermometer, you could monitor the housing temperature while mowing and if it got over 200*F then start worrying, if not what would break down would be the oil and current oils are good for a lot more than 200F.

 

[flying belgian]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

I'm going against the current here but if you are not mowing for hire 6 hrs a day but just mowing your yard once a week for hour and a half I think everything else on the mower will be worn out long before the hyd motor quits from heat.

 

[MarkB_MI]

As others have said, most ZTRs use Hydro-Gear transaxles. If you can figure out the particular model, you should be able to find appropriate fans. That said, I doubt you would notice the missing fans for the first hour or two of operation as they don't move that much air.

 

[bweb]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

I'm always seeing ads on Craigslist of people that haul scrap mowers. Maybe give them a call and see if they had any laying around for parts. I also pass a small engine repair place on my way to my farm that has numerous mowers sitting around that I would think or parts mowers. Good luck.

 

[ldj]

As others have said, most ZTRs use Hydro-Gear transaxles. If you can figure out the particular model, you should be able to find appropriate fans. That said, I doubt you would notice the missing fans for the first hour or two of operation as they don't move that much air.

 

[ldj]

Glad to see last 2 posts. I know mowers and forklifts are different but both use hydraulics. I have SIL that is forklift mechanic and they sell and rent forklifts out. He said a lot of forklifts come in with fans missing. He fixes what is wrong and doesn't worry about or replace fan. He said some of the rentals have been without fan for years.

 

[Hemmjo]

I have older Snapper zero turn mower built by Country Clipper. It threw belt tearing up 2 of the 3 fans. 2 of these are not available. Will it ruin the hydraulic motor to run without the fans?

YES it will ruin the motor. It they did not need the far they sure would not have spend money to put them there. As mentions should be something you can use in place of the original/