Eaton 778-011 Transaxle Parts

[OverKnight]

Hello - I have a Snapper HZS14330BVE Series 0 zero-turn mower with Eaton 778 transaxles which I've been refurbishing since 2016 (it's a long story...). I found that the spring for the hydraulic idler has been rubbing against the hydraulic fluid reservoir on the right transaxle, and it has rubbed a hole through the reservoir and cap. I've been searching but have been unable to find a source for these parts. I found these part numbers in an Eaton parts list:
108389-000 - Reservoir
108389-000 - Cover
109543-000 - Diaphragm

Does anyone know where I can purchase these parts?

Thank you.

[KE4AVB]

You can try contacting the folks at

https://www.hydrostaticpumprepair.net/eaton-hydrostatic-pumps/

Doesn't mean they have the parts but maybe able to point you in the right direction.

[OverKnight]

Thank you, KE4AVB. I sent them an email.

[OverKnight]

Hydrostatic Pump repair replied to my email:
"These are obsolete and no parts are available"

Maybe I can use some JB Weld to make it serviceable.

[bgsengine]

Yep , may need to.. can also do plastic welding (basically a soldering iron and pieces of compatible plastic, you'd have to know what exact type of plastic is used though) and I have also used fiberglass body repair kits (didn't last, though) and set up a search on ebay for used transaxles or used parts that will match up what you need..

[KE4AVB]

Also when plastic welding make sure you don't over heat the plastics as they will become brittle.

[Arkie]

I've been doing plastic welding with good success. (especially on old obselete stuff or stuff that replacement price is out of sight)

As bsengine mentioned if you need to melt and mend additional plastic I try to take a piece of plastic from the part being welded as the additive for best results. (compatible plastics)
If the plastic being added is not close to the same chemically the hot welding will fail. (and usually you only get one repair shot)

I've also had really good success using Brownells acraglass gel in the Green/white box.
It's a slow dry two part and a heat lamp can be used to decrease the dry time, just use the lamp to mainly warm the air around the epoxy. Give it at least 24 hours to dry and 48 hours in high humidity.

[OverKnight]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The plastic welding sounds interesting and I'd like to learn more about it, but I'd need some of the same plastic as the reservoir. I think it's some kind of nylon. I'd never heard of Brownell's Acraglas gel, so I did a search for it. Brownell's is out of stock, and Amazon and ebay want about $50.00.

I was able to patch the reservoir and cover with JB Weld, and I made a new gasket with some inner tube. Hopefully these repairs with last. I'll get the mower put back together this week.

While I'm writing, the Eaton literature I found is pretty non-specific regarding the recommendations for hydraulic fluid for these transaxles. Basically, 20, 30 or 40 wt can be used, although they say that these may not have some useful additives. The closest fluid I could find was a 46 wt hydraulic fluid from Tractor Supply, but 46 wt would be too thick. Any suggestions? If I can't find any hydraulic fluid of the correct weight, I guess I'll use the same 30 wt Shell Rotella I use in the engine, but I'd really rather use a true hydraulic fluid.

Thanks again.

[bgsengine]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The plastic welding sounds interesting and I'd like to learn more about it, but I'd need some of the same plastic as the reservoir. I think it's some kind of nylon. I'd never heard of Brownell's Acraglas gel, so I did a search for it. Brownell's is out of stock, and Amazon and ebay want about $50.00.

I was able to patch the reservoir and cover with JB Weld, and I made a new gasket with some inner tube. Hopefully these repairs with last. I'll get the mower put back together this week.

While I'm writing, the Eaton literature I found is pretty non-specific regarding the recommendations for hydraulic fluid for these transaxles. Basically, 20, 30 or 40 wt can be used, although they say that these may not have some useful additives. The closest fluid I could find was a 46 wt hydraulic fluid from Tractor Supply, but 46 wt would be too thick. Any suggestions? If I can't find any hydraulic fluid of the correct weight, I guess I'll use the same 30 wt Shell Rotella I use in the engine, but I'd really rather use a true hydraulic fluid.

Thanks again.

Back in the day when I worked at a wheel horse shop (wheel horse used Eaton hydrostatics on later models after they switched over from Sundstrand) we used plain old 10W30 motor oil for hydrostat transmission fill-ups (except the Sundstrand units that were already on Dexron II ATF, which had been used in those units at first)

[KE4AVB]

TSC does sell a J20A oil which is SAE20. But J20D would be a better choice as it is a multi grade oil (5w30). TSC J20A is about half the cost of the JD oil. Most of the JD equipment that spec J20 oil uses the J20C or J20D oil.

But depending on the wear of the Eaton you might just use some the Tuff Torq 15w50 synthetic oil. Basically it will meet the low temperature viscosity spec of SAE20 but then be a little thicker than SAE40 hi temp viscosity. which be might help with the wear seepage.

As you can see the specs are dependent on the conditions the hydro is operated under. Either these hydro spec'd oils do have some additives just for the hydros.