The Wheels are Falling off!

[SteveDahl]

We bought a Husqvarna push mower a few years back when we lived in the suburbs. Great self-propelled unit with a Honda engine! In 2016 we moved to the country and have to mow 3+ acres - so I bought another Husqvarna, a small lawn tractor (LGT2654) with a 26HP Kohler, 54" cut. Great mower for the first 40 hours of cutting! Then the front wheel fell off. Because I couldn't find the retaining washer and other parts that held the wheel on I drilled a hole through the axle and installed an oversized washer & cotter pin that I had! This got me through!

This season after 50 hours of mowing, the front right wheel is toeing out really bad, as if the axle/spindle is slowly bending! What gives? It is a shame to have such a powerful machine with a great cutting deck and then have problems with the steering. I am cutting my 3.2 acres two times a week during Kentucky's spring growing spurt. My mower may not have been built to handle 6 acres a week??

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Steve Dahl
Pleasureville KY

 

[Catherine]

:welcome:
Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move your thread over to our Husqvarna section to see if anyone over there can offer advice.

 

[bertsmobile1]

There is no adjustment on the drag links.
When you hit a rut, pothole, log, brick tree root etc the drag link bends.
I got the tom tits with bending them , fitting then bending some more & fitting so got out the dies , cut the drag link , put a left & right hand thread on them then used a turnbuckle to join them together.
The other option is to buy a female ball joint, cut the old one off , thread the drag link and adjust like that.
This is the set up that was used a long time ago when mower were built up to a quality standard and not down to a price.

 

[ILENGINE]

This is the drawback of people wanting a shorter turning radius. the two separate drive links without a tie rod between the wheels. The problem is like Bert said, hit anything and things get out of alignment. But also any wear in the components will also cause problems. Front axle pivots wear allowing the axle to tilt, steering spindles get bent, drag links get bent, the bushings on the steering sector gear wear allowing the gear to tilt on its mounts., you name it will all add to the problem.