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Anybody having issues with down hill steering with the Cheetah? On level ground or uphill steers great but down hill is difficult to hold straight lines.

Zero turn machines are their own breed of machine as all movement and direction come from the rear wheels. When I'm mowing up and down hill, as I approach the crest of the hill and about to travel down the hill, I bring the machine almost to a dead stop to bleed off the inertia of the forward movement. Then I slowly start down the hill with the idea in mind that I will need to stop the machines movement and turn it around to go back up. This is why most ZTR manufacturers recommend mowing sideways on hills rather than up and down, however up and down mowing is sometimes the only option.
With no direct control of the front wheels as in a lawn or garden tractor, these ZTRs sometimes go just wherever they please!!! It took me about 100 hours to become accustomed to handling my first ZTR and I came close to getting rid of it!! Now that I'm comfortable with my ZTR and have cut my mowing time in half, I wouldn't be without a ZTR.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

beisp said:

Anybody having issues with down hill steering with the Cheetah? On level ground or uphill steers great but down hill is difficult to hold straight lines.

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You can mow on level ground or uphill because that's what the mower is designed to do. Most every manufacturer will state in there manuals or recommend mowing across the face of slopes or hills rather than up and down because you have no control of the mower moving down the hill. Mowing slopes or hill should be done from the bottom to the top mowing across the hill turning the mower up the hill at the end of every pass. If the hills incline is greater than 15 degrees then you should seek another type of mower for the job.

beisp said:

Anybody having issues with down hill steering with the Cheetah? On level ground or uphill steers great but down hill is difficult to hold straight lines.

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Yes, the steering is way to easy, this is my forth zero-turn and as I start to slow down it just goes nuts, I have a 72" deck my friend bought the 60" deck, we both have the same problem, I know you can adjust the shocks on the levers,(but this does not help) I am thinking about adding an extra shock, this is a real problem and anyone telling you it is not has not driven this mower it will almost kick you off! Ours are both 2012 left overs bought in 2013, does anyone know if the pumps can be slowed down ( for the steering) I mow about 12-14 acres at home and 10 lots in town, the problem is with slopes as well as hills, the hill's are just a Zero-turn thing, does anyone have a power problem with this same mower?? My friend say's his 60" is fine, but I feel like my 72" is short on power. ?????? Try to mow a ditch, there is no way to hold a straight line!

Adding shocks will not help. With a rigid frame machine, one of the rear wheels at some time is not on the ground. The torque of both the mower deck and the engine affect the steering effectiveness at the times when only one drive wheel has good traction. It is like flying a small airplane and letting it side slip and stall, as it goes where it wants to go and hopefully you have enough altitude to recover!!!
The inertia in the moving machine must be bleed off by stopping the machine before proceeding down a hill or sideways on a hill and then slow movement must be put in.
Mad Mackie in CT

Mad Mackie said:

Adding shocks will not help. With a rigid frame machine, one of the rear wheels at some time is not on the ground. The torque of both the mower deck and the engine affect the steering effectiveness at the times when only one drive wheel has good traction. It is like flying a small airplane and letting it side slip and stall, as it goes where it wants to go and hopefully you have enough altitude to recover!!!
The inertia in the moving machine must be bleed off by stopping the machine before proceeding down a hill or sideways on a hill and then slow movement must be put in.
Mad Mackie in CT

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on this mower the steering is to sensitive! :smile: I forgot I had a Scag super Z also, but have never drove anything this sensitive, my friend still has his Huster mower and thinking about keeping it and selling the new Scag

The Cheetahs with a 61" and 72" decks are 12 or 16 MPH ground speed machines and because of this I would expect that the lever response would be more sensitive. This is another reason that I and many others prefer pumps and wheel motors to hydrostatic drive units. But as has already been mentioned, ZTRs are across hill and up hill machines. I have to turn mine around on the level and back it down, lineup and mow up hill on several of my customers lawns when I need to change mowing patterns.
Mad Mackie in CT

Say What!

mussbay.....are you having a stroke???

Should we call 9-1-1??

Steve0853 said:

mussbay.....are you having a stroke???

Should we call 9-1-1??

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Nope, that's our not-so-friendly Vietnamese forum hacker that pops up from time to time. Eventually, one of the Forum Administrators will remove his posts and block his access. But you can count on it....he'll be back:0)

Steve0853 said:

mussbay.....are you having a stroke???

Should we call 9-1-1??

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THANKS, I didn't know what was going on!

beisp said:

Anybody having issues with down hill steering with the Cheetah? On level ground or uphill steers great but down hill is difficult to hold straight lines.

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I looked at a new cheetah at the DuQuoin state fair, they have changed the location on the shock mounts on the newer models, they now connect on the front of the lever rather then the back of the lever, I didn't get to drive one but am going to try to talk to a factory rep about it, sounds to me like they know they have a problem or they wouldn't have changed it!