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I bought a Cub Cadet ZT2 zero turn right before winter last year so have put less than 10 hrs on it but I notice that when going forward it isn’t any faster than if I am going in reverse. Is there a way to adjust the hydrogear transmission or linkage to go faster? It says it should go between 7-8 mph in forward and 3.5 in reverse. Reverse speed I believe is close to the 3.5 but I think the forward might be 4 mph tops. What to do?

Call your Dealer you bought it from and tell them...they should want to look at it for you!

Mower King said:

Call your Dealer you bought it from and tell them...they should want to look at it for you!

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Called them today. Told me it could be the drive belt could have stretched but that part is only covered for 30-60 days after purchase. Told them I bought it last Oct and haven’t used it but 10 hrs so hard to believe that is the problem. Wants me to load it up and drive the 60 miles and leave the mower and they will see if they can figure out the problem and then drive back the 60 miles to pick it back up but can’t tell me if any of the look over would be covered under warranty and can’t give me an idea what it would cost if warranty isn’t covered.

With those hours, unless you have been using it to tow a tank around I seriously doubt it would be a belt
Usually a slipping belt will slip in both directions
Belts do not stretch they wear thin and in those hours should not have worn at all
OTOH you could buy a new belt from a reputable on line supplier for less than the cost of fuel for the 120 mile round trip and changing belts is only a 10 minute job
If it makes no difference then you can always swap the belts back again
If one of the hydro units is going bad or there is debris fouling on the controls then the mower should run in a big circle , same as when turning .
If it drives strait & is only going slow then that does point to a belt as it will affect both drives almost the same

Get under & take a photo then post it .

bertsmobile1 said:

With those hours, unless you have been using it to tow a tank around I seriously doubt it would be a belt
Usually a slipping belt will slip in both directions
Belts do not stretch they wear thin and in those hours should not have worn at all
OTOH you could buy a new belt from a reputable on line supplier for less than the cost of fuel for the 120 mile round trip and changing belts is only a 10 minute job
If it makes no difference then you can always swap the belts back again
If one of the hydro units is going bad or there is debris fouling on the controls then the mower should run in a big circle , same as when turning .
If it drives strait & is only going slow then that does point to a belt as it will affect both drives almost the same

Get under & take a photo then post it .

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I just have a hard time believing that there is anything wrong with the mowers drives or belt as they are really smooth forward and reverse. Turns great and all aspects handle really well. Is there only one way to hook them up and there isn't any adjustment on the linkage or anything? So what you are telling me is when they install all the parts it only goes on one way and every mower will run 7.5 mph in forward and there is nothing that can be tweeked or adjusted and the only thing is a belt to change the speed. Can't believe it boils down to only that.

If the lap bars neutral position is in neutral; otherwords, no mower movement. the ZT-2800 hydros are adjusted properly. Now if the mower is moving backwards in neutral position of lap bars then that would slow forward motion as it would take more movement forward to increase forward speed.

There is a return neutral setting and a lap neutral position setting as if thing are not in neutral lap position it is already where it needs to be.

The questions is was the unit operating at full speed when you first got it and did it just recently slowed? Or has it always been this slow forward?

Well have a good think about it
You have 2 independent drives each with it's own pump & motor units
You have 1 engine that powers both of them via the drive belt
If one drive was not working properly then one side would drive stronger than the other causing the mower to turn in an arc
If it is going strait then what ever is the problem has to be with the drive belt or engine
So either your engine is running below the 3600rpm it should be running at or the belt is slipping under load or the engine drive pulley is slipping on the PTO shaft
Now most MTDs have an inbuilt key in the pulley so we could ( hope ) the pulley is turning at full engine speed, bit it would not hurt when replacing the belt to pull the clutch & pulley off and check the key & keyway

So the drive system is a belt + a tension pulley + the 3 belt pulleys
When the tension is low the right side will work better than the left in both directions because the right side gets pulled by the drive pulley and all of the slack is between the left pulley & the engine pulley.
So the right works a lot better than the left , again causing the ZTR to travel in an arc .

Otherwise both of the drive units will need to have failed the same way at the same time which is highly unlikely .
Or both of the lap bars would have needed to go out of adjustment the same amount at the same time also unlikely .

The other thing that pops into mind is a lower speed towing setting
Some mowers like Toro TimeCutters have a slow / fast or tow / mow switch .
I have no idea if your Cub has one of these switches as I have never worked on one & don't have access to owners manual for it .

This is all I can offer
The new belt will be cheaper than the 120 mile round trip & even if the belt is not the problem, you will need a new on at some point in time so you wrap it in cling wrap and pop it in your shed for use latter on so it is not money down the toilet .

StarTech said:

If the lap bars neutral position is in neutral; otherwords, no mower movement. the ZT-2800 hydros are adjusted properly. Now if the mower is moving backwards in neutral position of lap bars then that would slow forward motion as it would take more movement forward to increase forward speed.

There is a return neutral setting and a lap neutral position setting as if thing are not in neutral lap position it is already where it needs to be.

The questions is was the unit operating at full speed when you first got it and did it just recently slowed? Or has it always been this slow forward?

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It has always been like this since I bought it new 5 months ago. Never thought anything about it until I started reading some things about the speed for forward and reverse. Did a little test in my driveway yesterday. Started at a point in my long blacktop driveway and pushed both levers full forward. Went down the driveway for 15 seconds and came to a fast stop. Pulled both levers for reverse and it took 20 seconds to return to the original starting position so shows me it is barely faster forward as compared to reverse so figured if reverse was in fact 3.5 mph than forward might be 4 mph which is a far cry from the 7-8 mph that it should be.

Recheck your owners manual. There should be instructions on how to adjust ( balance ) your forward movement using the lap bars. It's possible your not getting lap bars to the the full forward position.

bkeller500 said:

Recheck your owners manual. There should be instructions on how to adjust ( balance ) your forward movement using the lap bars. It's possible your not getting lap bars to the the full forward position.

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Ok will check that out. Thanks

bkeller500 said:

Recheck your owners manual. There should be instructions on how to adjust ( balance ) your forward movement using the lap bars. It's possible your not getting lap bars to the the full forward position.

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For that to happen & the mower not to run in circles then both lap bars would need to be out of adjustment by the same amount
Chances of winning the lottery would be better than that happening
Belt installed wrong is very high
Belt running between the pulleys & fans is very likely
Belt running on the wrong side of the tensioning pulley is also high
On some I have even seen the tension pulley on the wrong ( pull side ) run of the belt
But I have never seen a ZTR where bith lap bars went out f adjustment by the same amount all by themselves
I have seen them where the owner had "tightened" the controls & made a mess but never one that does it all by itself .

In any case I did ask tbmmbt to do a simple task , take a photo & post it so we can see what is going on.
So until he does what was asked of him ( assuming he is male ) then I am out of here
The rest of you can keep on adding your best guesses but have a good read of the post & the problem then think about what you type .
Nothing posted to date is factually wrong but none of then would cause BOTH sides to run slow in forward

bertsmobile1 said:

For that to happen & the mower not to run in circles then both lap bars would need to be out of adjustment by the same amount
Chances of winning the lottery would be better than that happening
Belt installed wrong is very high
Belt running between the pulleys & fans is very likely
Belt running on the wrong side of the tensioning pulley is also high
On some I have even seen the tension pulley on the wrong ( pull side ) run of the belt
But I have never seen a ZTR where bith lap bars went out f adjustment by the same amount all by themselves
I have seen them where the owner had "tightened" the controls & made a mess but never one that does it all by itself .

In any case I did ask tbmmbt to do a simple task , take a photo & post it so we can see what is going on.
So until he does what was asked of him ( assuming he is male ) then I am out of here
The rest of you can keep on adding your best guesses but have a good read of the post & the problem then think about what you type .
Nothing posted to date is factually wrong but none of then would cause BOTH sides to run slow in forward

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Where and what would you want a photo taken of.

model and serial would help. I tried to find a manual for it but ZT2 was not enough.

sgkent said:

model and serial would help. I tried to find a manual for it but ZT2 was not enough.

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It is a Cub Cadet ZT2 50” zero turn mower 2021 model

tbmmbt said:

Where and what would you want a photo taken of.

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From the ground up to the drive belts so we can see the belt & the tensioner
Two more from the engine drive pulley, one left & one right
And while you are there another shot of the mower ID tag with the full model & serial numbers on it
That allows those with access to the dealer net to check for service notices & to get the correct information.

Then it is one of the two below:

Both has the same drive system using the Hydro Gear ZT-2800 transaxles.

bertsmobile1 said:

From the ground up to the drive belts so we can see the belt & the tensioner
Two more from the engine drive pulley, one left & one right
And while you are there another shot of the mower ID tag with the full model & serial numbers on it
That allows those with access to the dealer net to check for service notices & to get the correct information.

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See if this is what you ask for. If not let me know. Thanks.

Right idea,
Wrong belt
We need to see the belt run to the drives not the belt run to the deck

bertsmobile1 said:

Right idea,
Wrong belt
We need to see the belt run to the drives not the belt run to the deck

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OK I will get a picture when I get back and can hopefully post the correct one next time. Thanks.

does yours have a separate throttle control and choke? If so is the throttle lever all the way forward and the choke off? The manual implies some have these controls and some do not.

sgkent said:

does yours have a separate throttle control and choke? If so is the throttle lever all the way forward and the choke off? The manual implies some have these controls and some do not.

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Yes I have the throttle control and set it to 75% +- of full throttle when running with the choke knob pushed in after starting.

Bad thing to do
Throttle must always be at 100%
Running a hydro at less than full speed will do damage to the drive & pump plus not allow the mower to reach full speed .
So try running flat chat and see if your forward speed increases
The speed control simply opens a valve further to allow more oil to pass through
However if there is not enough oil pressure this can not happen
It also facilitates damage to the valve plate & cylinder block by allowing more oil to bypass the passageways & leak out the sides .

bertsmobile1 said:

Bad thing to do
Throttle must always be at 100%
Running a hydro at less than full speed will do damage to the drive & pump plus not allow the mower to reach full speed .
So try running flat chat and see if your forward speed increases
The speed control simply opens a valve further to allow more oil to pass through
However if there is not enough oil pressure this can not happen
It also facilitates damage to the valve plate & cylinder block by allowing more oil to bypass the passageways & leak out the sides .

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Ok. Next time I get the mower out I will push the lever to full and mower that way and see if there is an improvement. Thanks a lot.

bertsmobile1 said:

Bad thing to do
Throttle must always be at 100%
Running a hydro at less than full speed will do damage to the drive & pump plus not allow the mower to reach full speed .
So try running flat chat and see if your forward speed increases
The speed control simply opens a valve further to allow more oil to pass through
However if there is not enough oil pressure this can not happen
It also facilitates damage to the valve plate & cylinder block by allowing more oil to bypass the passageways & leak out the sides .

Click to expand...

Decided to just take the mower to a dealer close to the house and go ahead and get the first oil change done since it has 14 hours on it even though the dealer said 10 is the time to do it and let them go over the mower and make sure everything is the way it needs to be. From then on I will change the oil every 50 hours and when the hours are the right time for the hydros will change that oil and the filters as well. Was told 100 hours on the hydros for the first time and then 200 from then. Does that sound about right?

About that
The time of the season is more important than the number of hours
And the number of hours for both engine & hydro are very very conservative
I advise all my customers to change the oil at the end of every season immediatly after their last mow .
Thus over winter when corrosion will happen & sludges form the engine is siting there with a belly full of fresh clean oil
As for the hydros similar story
Clean the hydro thouroughly on the second last mow of the season so when you do the change you can clean it quickly so the oil remains hot
Change the hydro oil every leap year ( so you remember to do it )

bertsmobile1 said:

About that
The time of the season is more important than the number of hours
And the number of hours for both engine & hydro are very very conservative
I advise all my customers to change the oil at the end of every season immediatly after their last mow .
Thus over winter when corrosion will happen & sludges form the engine is siting there with a belly full of fresh clean oil
As for the hydros similar story
Clean the hydro thouroughly on the second last mow of the season so when you do the change you can clean it quickly so the oil remains hot
Change the hydro oil every leap year ( so you remember to do it )

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I know this will open a can of worms, but what would be the oil I should use (name and grade) for an oil change. The last time I change the hydro oil in my other mower I used Mobil 15w-50 as I couldn't find the 20w-50 anywhere around where I live.

Dino oil used is SAE20W50 or you can use Full Synthetic 15W50.

StarTech said:

Dino oil used is SAE20W50 or you can use Full Synthetic 15W50.

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OK But what to use for the oil in the motor, weight and brand?

i have the same machine, my OM reads 10w30 or 10w40 for air temps of minus 4 to plus 90 F , while not necessary due to where i live has air temps reaching above 100F in the summer , i use Kawasaki KTECK 10w40 oil as it still has zinc in it that helps reduce wear in the engine
throttle wise i personally have had the cable slip under the clamp on the engine sevaeral times from my own over gellus pushing of the lever and found both stop bolts ,stopping the lap levers set to far in limiting the forward movement slowing the machine in forward

PS
what is important is the oil meeting the api service specs of sf/sg/sh/sj/sl

captchas said:

i have the same machine, my OM reads 10w30 or 10w40 for air temps of minus 4 to plus 90 F , while not necessary due to where i live has air temps reaching above 100F in the summer , i use Kawasaki KTECK 10w40 oil as it still has zinc in it that helps reduce wear in the engine
throttle wise i personally have had the cable slip under the clamp on the engine sevaeral times from my own over gellus pushing of the lever and found both stop bolts ,stopping the lap levers set to far in limiting the forward movement slowing the machine in forward

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Been waiting almost 2 weeks for the dealership to change the oil and do a once going over to make sure everything is going good since this would be the first service. I am going to go get my mower and change the oil and filter myself like I always do so what oil filter and number should I go buy. I have always used NAPA Gold filters on my old mowers but unsure what the number is to buy.