Peerless Transaxle-Outdoor Distributors

Husqvarna Lawn Mower

Husqvarna--Peerless--Outdoor Distributor--Tecumseh--Lawn Mower Parts--Trans-axle

Blogs were designed to inform, describe, alert and warn others as a tool for those searching the Internet relating to subject matters that people are in need of. The Internet can provide a blossoming flower of information or be filled with perils of shady users and sellers and buyers experiences as the one I have encountered today with OutDoor Distributors.

My subject matter today is my own stressful experience with Peerless, that was costly and may help any others searching for the words, Husqvarna, Peerless, Tecumseh, lawn mowers and Outdoor distributors.

After having purchased a Husqvarna from Lowe's approximately 3 to 4 years ago with hydrostatic drive for almost $1800 we felt we had a product that would provide us several years of quality service.

That did not turn out to be the case. First we discovered the engine on the new mower had been changed from a 21 horse to a 26 horse, Then less than four years later we we were victimized by the the rear trans-axle going out and loosing our forward gears.

After removing the rear end trans-axle and disassembling it we discovered a broken bearing in what is known as the transmission attached to the differential on the left of the differential which looks as a one piece unit. It is known as the LTH series on page 20 which we found in PDF format at OutDoors Distributors through a Google search. This was the only photos we could find.

You can download the PDF and see it for yourself at Outdoors PDF The peerless tran-saxle shows a complete system there on the LTH series including transmission and differential which I discussed with OutDoor Distributors during order..

Outdoor Distributors has an "about" page that does not relate to their promised service. You can download their PDF here with photos. It reads as follows; "We bust our humps to make you a happy customer!
"For many people the internet is still a scary place to do business...
we just wanted you to know, that every order placed is handled by a real person,
and you will be treated as a real customer, not just "another order"

First having a 4 year old lawn mower go out of operation we had the unfortunate surprise to discover that the company (peerless) that produces the trans-axle also went out of business and therefore the part numbers are no longer applicable. After removing and disassembling the unit we discovered the following problem.

Series Part # 794787A Trans # 178039

Damaged Lawn Mower Bearing

Husqvarna and Sears and some other companies, buy Peerless parts who just went out of business in 2008. Outdoor Distributors has no photos and when I was attempting to order I asked for a photo of the part before shipping to confirm due to my concerns of so many issues. They told me they had no photos and that was the part number I had given him even though I voiced my concern about it's being the right one. The part number according to the PDF is suppose to be on the trans-axle, but eventually was found on a bar code sticker on the bottom of the seat. I paid $240.00 for the COMPLETE unit to be sent to me with concerns about what it looked like. It arrived 7 days later by Fedex and we discovered there was no transmission attached.

After contacting them they hurriedly gave me a number to call and it turned out to be another dealer who had to refer me to Husqvarna who after some time provided the transmission number of #178039. After calling Outdoor Distributors the 4th time I was told the cost would be $745.00 plus shipping. Almost $1,000.00 for everything.The salesman said I was probably better off getting another mower which I agreed and I was issued a return number on the part I had #437106RDP.

After contacting Fedex who explained that the company had to authorize it I contacted them again and after a half hour on the telephone I was told that they could not honor their return policy.That it was my fault because that was the number on the seat I gave them. I did a ton of research on this unit and have found it has a lot of problems and they know it. However, since Peerless is out of business the distributors do not have correct numbers according to the stamped lawn mowers and no photos to view.

If you check the PDF. The LTH series is shown as a complete unit and I am out $245.00 because Outdoors Distributors does not honor their return policy, listen to your concerns or provides any photos for viewing. Another thing is that the telephone number at the top of their invoice is to a private address they have not changed. (Boy I got a chewing out from the woman who answered) Outdoor Distributors finally gave me a Husqvarna telephone number to call for the right part number on the transmission, as they couldn't find it and then that number went to another distributor who was also irritated, because he gets so many wrong calls. However, He was nice enough to give me the correct one before hanging up.

This is Outdoor Distributors Return Policy on their web site which I followed and was first given an authorized return number sales person:

Outdoors return policy:
ALL Returns Must FIRST be authorized by the personnel at
Outdoor Distributors before returning. Call us at (877)70-PARTS.
Authorization number MUST be written on the package.

ANY ITEMS SHIPPED BACK WITHOUT
AUTHORIZATION NUMBER WILL BE RETURNED
TO YOU AT YOUR EXPENSE.

The invoice states,"Save all packaging and contact us immediately if you have damaged or missing parts."

All in all I felt that
I spent $245.00 for a part.
I ask the parts man to send photos before ordering to verify it was the right part.
I voiced my concern and asked a lot of questions with few answers
I made calls for over 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get numbers
I was given wrong telephone numbers by Outdoor Distributors twice
I was authorized a number for return
I was then denied return as my fault.
The web site lacks photos and good information.
The differential was right, but I was not told it may be incomplete.
This company does not know their business or have a grasp of what buyers need.

You take your own chances with the company. They are on the first page of Google. In my research I have found other complaints in the forums with Peerless, Husqvarna, Outdoor Distributors. In my own experience I give the company a D- in grade or one star.

I hope this helps someone else in the repair of this troubled system.
I conclude with this. I attempted to send photos by email several days prior to contacting by telephone. The email had 3 photos of the differential pointing out each item and explaining the problem. The same ones on the this blog. It was sent twice and we never received any response before having to call by telephone.

_____________________________________________________________________________

This is an November 2009 update on the above post. The bearing that went out as seen in the photos can be acquired from a different trans-axle model and installed by yourself or someone mechanically minded. I visited a local Husqvarna dealer and he told me he did not work on them as parts were not available by the company, but he thought that a bearing from another axle he builds a lot of might work.

We compared them and he was right. It matched up perfectly and I completely reinstalled everything and refilled it with trans oil (NOTE: Use only full synthetic oil) and then attempted to use the forward gears. Behold, it would still not move forward, but it would run perfectly in reverse. I cut the grass for about 20 minutes in reverse (a strange sight to passerby's) and reviewed my repairs in my frustrated mind. I decided to try something extreme as I knew that the original bearing had broken up. Some of the pieces had been retained by the oil pan magnet that I cleaned and then washed and air blew the rest.

With a sink or swim and junk yard dog attitude. I gave it full speed reverse into the garage over the concrete floor and then I quickly shoved it into forward drive. The thing liked to have jumped out from under me as it shot forward with a tire squeal and began working perfectly. I summarized that a small piece of bearing was still lodged in part of the pump unit that was unseen. The sudden forward pressure thrust must have blown it loose.

I have joyfully used it all summer and it still is working fine at grass cutting, pulling a trailer and dragging things around. This system can be rebuilt and will most likely be the bearing culprit. The dealer says he replaces a lot of those bearings in another type of tran-axel that used the same bearing. This trans-axle only comes as a complete unit, but can be fixed for about $20.00 if done with care. Take care of the springs in the pump not coming apart and watch each piece. Taking photos would be wise and inexpensive.

I hope this helps as I get a lot of hits concerning this article. Please feel free to leave a comment. Thank you and good luck with your project.