Speed / Steering Calibration

10mm_

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I have a 54" MZ Magnum, if I go full throttle on both levers it tracks a bit to the left. It only has about 35 hours on it. I verify the air pressure but I'm not sure what else to check to calibrate this thing.


Also is there any way to get it to go faster? My yard is super flat and huge so even a little more speed would help me.
 

bertsmobile1

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Once upon a time there were forward & reverse adjusters on ZTR's
The techs were supposed to run full forward for 30' then full reverse for another 30 '.
If you end up more than 1 ' left or right of where you started the bars got adjusted.
That got dropped pretty quickly because it was near impossible to do and would change as the units got hotter.
It was also only good on hard dry surfaces, which do not seem to grow much grass.
Now do that test.
If you end up more than 10' sideways then you might be getting a problem with your trannies
Otherwise use the thing between your left & right ear to compensate .

There are adjustments on the tranny to vary the amount the lap bars move the levers.
You make adjustments 1/12 turn at a time and on each side so 1/12 tighter one side & 1/12 looser on the other.
 

Luffydog

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Some have bolts that are down below the handles it is a stop bolt so you can adjust them to speed. Need to slow the side down that is making you turn. So if your tracking left slow the right side down same thing left side if going right.
 

10mm_

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Once upon a time there were forward & reverse adjusters on ZTR's
The techs were supposed to run full forward for 30' then full reverse for another 30 '.
If you end up more than 1 ' left or right of where you started the bars got adjusted.
That got dropped pretty quickly because it was near impossible to do and would change as the units got hotter.
It was also only good on hard dry surfaces, which do not seem to grow much grass.
Now do that test.
If you end up more than 10' sideways then you might be getting a problem with your trannies
Otherwise use the thing between your left & right ear to compensate .

There are adjustments on the tranny to vary the amount the lap bars move the levers.
You make adjustments 1/12 turn at a time and on each side so 1/12 tighter one side & 1/12 looser on the other.

I have no problem compensating for it, but it costs me speed and takes longer to mow the grass. The only reason I want to calibrate them is to get full speed.
 

10mm_

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Some have bolts that are down below the handles it is a stop bolt so you can adjust them to speed. Need to slow the side down that is making you turn. So if your tracking left slow the right side down same thing left side if going right.

How about speeding up the side that's lagging? lol
 

bertsmobile1

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I have no problem compensating for it, but it costs me speed and takes longer to mow the grass. The only reason I want to calibrate them is to get full speed.

Unless the slower side has slowed down because the adjuster has moved, you are not going to get a speed increase.
You have 2 motors & 2 pumps.
If you think all 4 of them are going to wear at the same rate then you are in for some bad news.
The fastest you can mow will be the speed that the slowest ( most worn ) tranny can push you.
The hydro units fitted to ZTR's ( & most mowers ) is a pretty rubbish design.The only reason they are used is because they are very very cheap.
Eaton made the last proper hydro pump for lawmowers a very long time ago and because no one would buy the parts inventory they trashed them .
Ever since then the pump/motor units get worse every year because mower customers reward crap merchants by purchasing the cheaper mowers.
 

Luffydog

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Move the stop bolts down to full speed buckle up lean forward for a back ache and hang on. If you mow that fast won’t look good and probably start to bog down and cause an early failure but to each their own.
 

10mm_

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Unless the slower side has slowed down because the adjuster has moved, you are not going to get a speed increase.
You have 2 motors & 2 pumps.
If you think all 4 of them are going to wear at the same rate then you are in for some bad news.
The fastest you can mow will be the speed that the slowest ( most worn ) tranny can push you.
The hydro units fitted to ZTR's ( & most mowers ) is a pretty rubbish design.The only reason they are used is because they are very very cheap.
Eaton made the last proper hydro pump for lawmowers a very long time ago and because no one would buy the parts inventory they trashed them .
Ever since then the pump/motor units get worse every year because mower customers reward crap merchants by purchasing the cheaper mowers.



Wear at the same rate? The mower has 35 hours on it, I wouldn't think the transmission would have worn at a different rate so fast that it doesn't track straight after I cut my grass a dozen times.

That's pretty interesting, I work for Eaton
 

10mm_

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You don't know **** about my yard or how tall the grass gets or anything yet you know it won't look good and the mower will bog?

Wow.
 

bertsmobile1

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Wear at the same rate? The mower has 35 hours on it, I wouldn't think the transmission would have worn at a different rate so fast that it doesn't track straight after I cut my grass a dozen times.

That's pretty interesting, I work for Eaton

Then you should be able to understand that poorly made hydros can go bad very quickly.
Eatons I can get fixed but most of them are better than 20 years old & still going very strongly.
Won't find any Tuffy's that age still running.
 
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