Mower drifts to the left

jcworks

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2013 Toro MX5060. 270 hours. Drive belt was replaced at the shop 2 months ago. The mower drifts to the left when mowing full speed. I can mow with it easy enough. Its just that I have to pull back the right bar slightly to mow straight. Also, I notice that when sitting still if I move the left control bar and then let go of it it goes back to neutral position. The right control bar does not; it stays about where I turned loose of it. It seems the left side has what I'd call the spongy feel -- like a hydraulic pressure feel-- which is what I'd think it should have. The right control bar doesn't have that feel. It just moves back and forth with my hand movements and the mower responds; but there is no little resistance there. I'm not a lawnmower repair man --l don't know if I'm describing this properly. Again, I can mow with it but one side just feels different than the other. Trans oil has never been changed, which I asked two different Toro dealers about that, they both said forget about doing that till 500 hours.
 

bertsmobile1

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And no matter what you do they never drive dead strait
The early ZTR's has double spring loaded controls so you could adjust R & F positions individually but it got dropped
While they might pass the drive strait lest on bitumen or concrete once you are on grass , particular rough or sloping grass all that goes out the window due to slip & side slip
 

jcworks

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Well there is a slope in my yard. All yards within 2 miles are this way.
But what about the part of the right control arm not returning to neutral when you release it?
 

bertsmobile1

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That is in the adjustment proceedure in the manual that Rivets was good enough to provide a link to in reply # 2
 

hlw49

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You might check the dampeners if it has them most mowers do.
 

StarTech

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Also uneven tire pressures can affect tracking too.
 

jcworks

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That is in the adjustment proceedure in the manual that Rivets was good enough to provide a link to in reply # 2
Yes, I have that manual now. At least I've got it bookmarked, I can't yet figure out how to save it to my computer.
 

jcworks

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Also uneven tire pressures can affect tracking too.
Yes, it does. That was the first thing I did. There was less than half the pressure in the left back tire as the right back had. I took care of that and it solved most of the drift. There's still a little bit.
 

jcworks

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Here is the service manual for your unit. Section 5 tells how to adjust the drives. https://www.toro.com/getpub/789
Rivets, thank you for that. This manual seems to have a lot more info than the manual that came with my mower. These adjustments are not even mentioned, I guess they want the dealer to do that.
 
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