Hi, I recently acquired A ZD21 with 800hrs. It runs fine but seems to have an excessive amount of travel in the steering arms. The slop is not in the linkage as it all seems tight and moves with any movement of steering arms. The mower just does not seem to respond without big movements of the arms. It makes steering somewhat cumbersome and difficult to even keep it going in a straight line while cutting. I have another zero turn (different make) that is about same age with more hours, and it doesn't have this issue. Of course, the linkage is completely different. Is it normal to have this much what I call slop, in the steering? Thanks
ZD21 Steering issues
- Thread starter Ferg
- Start date
no they should be pretty tight.
Look closely down at the bottom where the steering control arms pivot. There's sometimes some wear there. That stuff is kind of buried.
also look at the ball stud ends, those are very common wear points.
And look at the actual HST trunion arm, one on each hst. I've seen one or two of those wear and get loose on the trunion itself.
The one thing I hate about the ZD series is that there are SO many places for dirt/grass to build up and that stuff acts like an abrasive, wearing parts out. Thus, it's best to clean them often, and that don't mean 2 seconds with a water hose. You really need to get deep in there with a power washer.
Look closely down at the bottom where the steering control arms pivot. There's sometimes some wear there. That stuff is kind of buried.
also look at the ball stud ends, those are very common wear points.
And look at the actual HST trunion arm, one on each hst. I've seen one or two of those wear and get loose on the trunion itself.
The one thing I hate about the ZD series is that there are SO many places for dirt/grass to build up and that stuff acts like an abrasive, wearing parts out. Thus, it's best to clean them often, and that don't mean 2 seconds with a water hose. You really need to get deep in there with a power washer.
Thanks for the info. I will certainly look in those areas for play. Another strange thing is forward seems ok but reverse is crazy slow. Tried adjusting it and got a little more reverse but lost some from the forward speed. I guess again that could be linkage wear issues as well.