Hey guys, i'm having issues with the front caster wheels wobbling really bad while driving on pavement on my Turf Tiger. I mow a few lots in my sundivision and while driving down the street between the lots the front caster wheels start wobbling real bad and shack the whole mower. I replaced all the wheel bearings, the sleeve that goes through the wheels, as well as the bolt that goes through them to mount to yoke. I also replaced the bearings in the arm yokes. End result= same damn issue. What else do I need to check?
I don't think that there is much that you can do as the wider tires found on the heavier machines have the tendency to do this more than the narrower tires. Contact Scag and ask them if they have any resolve, possibly tightening the caster bearings somehow.
On my Ingersoll GTs I increased the toe-in, but these machines are front steerers.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:
Well that sucks. I just sunk well over $100 in new front wheel parts to try to fix the issue with no success. I've ran some of my buddies' turf tigers and yes there is some wobble; but not near as bad as mine. Thats the reason I thought for sure there is something seriously wrong with mine.
#4
tigercat
Tire pressures ok on all 4 tires? Maybe the thing is bouncing too much?
Well that sucks. I just sunk well over $100 in new front wheel parts to try to fix the issue with no success. I've ran some of my buddies' turf tigers and yes there is some wobble; but not near as bad as mine. Thats the reason I thought for sure there is something seriously wrong with mine.
There is an elastic stop nut on the top of the casters, replacing it with a new one and tightening it more may add friction to the casters and reduce the wobble when traveling on pavement. When I grease the casters on my machine I notice a slight increase in steering effort needed, but doesn't last long.
I run my front casters at 10 psi. Mad Mackie, are you talking about the locking nut that screws down on the yoke arm that us under the dust caps?
#7
tigercat
My tire pressures are 24 max rear, so I run them at 20 psi. The front casters are 40 max and I run them at 38 psi.
The little casters don't hold much air and they could go flat easily. I think 10 PSI is not enough pressure.
Mad is probably right on his opinion that the bearing is too loose. If you can tighten it up and put more drag on it, I don't see how it will spin all over the place going straight.
Yea I run my rears at 20 as well. I tried my fronts at 20 but it seemed rougher and wanted to bounce more; so I let some more air out. Maybe I'll bump them up a little more. I guess I need to try to find a socket thats thin wall to fit down in the yoke to actually tighten those nuts. I only had a wrench at the time I changed the bearings so they possibly could use more tightening.
Will do, as soon as I can find a dang socket thin enough to fit in there. I double checked my tire pressure and the fronts are 20 psi along with the rears; don't know where I got 10 psi at.
Been having a lot of things breaking so far this season; been getting kinda irritated. I started to kind of shop around for a new mower. Plus the fact that there is no Scag dealership somewhat close by. Been kind of thinking about a new Hustler or a Snapper Pro. My wife said hell no though and to make do with what I have.
just a thought but, experience with another type of caster type setup would tell me that there is something about the angle is bad, so something is bent or not manufactured correctly or just worn out, do the new ones have some adjustment? I have foam filled front tires on my 1998 model scag, no issues.....?????
If possible, remove the wheel assemblies and bend the upper fork so that the centerline of the axle is behind the centerline of the pivot pin. This increases the caster so they will track better and actually act like a caster should. I used to align front ends of cars and trucks. This is how you increase the caster effect and that should stop the wobble. Hard to explain in words and a graphic picture would be better.
I'm starting to think the front left part of the frame that the caster arm bolts to is bent or twisted up slightly. I replaced the arm thinking it was bad since it was cracked and welded back when I bought it. Since putting on the new arm it still seems as if there is less weight on the left front tire; I can still push that caster wheel around with my foot. Everything has been replaced on the front, even new set of front caster wheels and tires.
Den052,, I understand what you are saying but I'm afraid if I mess with the caster angles like that it may affect my deck angle too. Plus like mentioned above, I think it's just in the left side throwing everything off. I'm probably going to just suffer through it for the rest of the mowing season then this fall I'll take it to Scag dealer and have them look at it.
