I purchased a brand new Pro Z 154 S today, paid cash or it, brought it home, read the book and attempted to try it out on a slope of about 18 degrees. The book said to mow with the throttle wide open, so I did, but the mower started spinning and the front end bobbed up and down and off to the right like it was weightless. So, I tried reducing it to half throttle, but it responded by stopping and just making a whining noise. I suspect the drive belt was slipping so I backed off, parked it, and called the dealer. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I read lots of reviews on these mowers before buying it, and all praised them for how well they do on slopes. I was completely stunned to experience such a problem.
Never ever run a hydro at anything other than full engine speed, unless you want to buy a new mower every year
run the engine at full speed then push both lap bars forward till the mower starts to move at the speed that you consider safe
The big problem with ZTR's is there is almost no weight on the front wheels.
This is necessary to allow the castors to swivel when the rear wheels turn the mower .
No ZTR is stable on slopes apart from the Cubs & now discontinued Toros that had mechanically steered front wheels.
There are a lot of things that come into play and I will hazard a guess that the rear wheels are drastically over inflated which is done when they are transported to increase the ground clearance .
After that the actual tread pattern and the type of grass and the dampness all come into play .
Thanks for the info. This is a Cub Cadet zero turn with the steering wheel. It did have 25 pounds of air in the rear tires. The sidewall calls for a maximum of 10 psi, so I reduced the pressure to 8 psi, but the mower still spins on any slope greater than 15 degrees. It is mainly the left wheel that spins. My old lap bar Cub with 8 psi in the rear tires does climb the slopes, but I want something I can steer, so I don't have to fear being suddenly taken for a ride down the slope and into the road below
