Cub Cadet ZT2 goes slow in forward

T

tbmmbt

Member
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?
 
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 .
 
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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.
 
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