Are you referring to a hydro tranny?
Mike

There's that one time abuse that can break a hydro and then there's the repeated overtaxing that will cause it to prematurely fail.

In my experience a hydrostatic will tell you it is being overstressed by it's sound.

There's the normal whine and fan noise and then there's that sound you know isn't a good sound. They sound stressed. Kinda like that electrical smell when wires are burning... you know it ain't a good smell.

A good rule of thumb with hydrostatics is that if they don't go where you want relatively easily look for another angle of attack.

Things that increase the temperature of the transmission tends to damage more of them in the long run than an isolated incidence. IE if you get stuck -jamming forward / reverse like a wild man may possibly break something, but likely not. Overloading creates heat and can stress internal components and test the properties of the fluid. Like your title says, keep it clean and do not overwork. :)

Not sure I understand the question, "what is over worked?" Then you go on to talk about mowing. IMHO, if you're talking about a LT with a deck, anywhere you can mow should be OK. Not talking about trying to mow hay that's three feet tall. Just cutting grass and going up, down, sidehill, etc. Presumably you have turf tires and can't climb very steep grades.

Problems come in when folks try to use machines for other than their design purpose. e.g. Put Ag or other rough tires on the LT and start pushing snow, towing a large trailer of wood up steep hills, etc. etc. That type of use would cause major heat loading and degrade the oil, stress components and generally lead to early failure. Oil condition is the crucial paremeter in a hydro's life. High temp's for extended periods degrade oil. Cleaning the cooling fins and any fan shields to provide good air flow is very important. Most new LT's don't even have drain plugs to allow regular oil changes. I've seen several posts here and elsewhere about ailing hydro's being rejuvenated by merely changing the oil and going through the purge process. Unfortunately, sometimes that requires pulling the trans, turning it upside down and draining for several days.

Good luck,

Ev

OP: I have always tried to treat my JD LT155 well. It get the engine oil, filters, etc changed before each season. Where we live the season runs between late March to November. It takes about 2 hours to mow the yard. I weigh a little of 200lb

While the half acre of yard is on a slope, about 15 to 20 feet in 120', it does have a one or two short slopes (4' in 20' ) that are greater, and require one or two passes to mow.

As I understand from what has been posted I am not "overworking" the tractor or transmission.

The best way to tell if you are overworking the Trans is to see if it is overheating. Easiest - can you smell it or touch it without burning a finger. Or get an indirect thermometer. Heat is the biggest killer of a transaxle.