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I recently purchased a new Gravely Compact Pro 34 for home use. I'd never used a z-turn mower before and it took a little getting use to. One thing slowly begin to become apparent. The right side reverse was not NEARLY as fast or mobile as the left side reverse. I noticed that the steering arm down near the seat was making contact with the frame when reversing which limited it's movement. With the mower off, I released the brake and pulled both the left and right steering arms back as far as they would go and discovered that the left side will pull back about 1 to 1.5 inches more than the right side. The right side only has about 3/16 inch clearance before making contact with frame. I took it back to the dealer and they said this is the second Compact pro that has been returned with this problem. He also said there is no adjustment for this and Gravely has no fix. Reverse is suppose to be about 3 MPH, but mine will not do more that .5 MPH. The right side is so weak that it will not climb any incline in reverse....and the tires are not slipping. It's just that limited. I've googled this problem and don't see any similar issues with this mower. Any suggestions?

Did the dealer replace the unit or tell you $hi+ happens? Just curious.

No offer to replace. Suggested that they would let me know when/if Gravely comes out with a fix.

"Hello Mr customer. We just sold you an expensive mower with a known problem. If the Mfgr comes out with a fix we will put it on. Possibly free of charge, possibly not. It depends. Sorry there is a Mfgr defect with your unit but $hi+ happens. Thank you for you business, please recommend us to your friends."

If you get no help from the dealer, who should not be allowed to sell toothbrushes then contact Gravely directly.
The reason there is no factory fix could very well be because Gravely do not know about the problem.
Before you contact Gravely send you dealer an email or two asking about what they can do to fix both your & the other customers mowers.
Try to be inquisitive & not aggressive and finish with a note that some bastard has stolen your phone ( so naturally you do not answer it )
Then when you take your complaint to Gravely it is not a case of "he said this " you have the undeniable written proof

Just hard to believe that any company would put out a product like this. I wonder if that series machine had a running change to a different deck and frame design or something just as this one was going out the door. Really strange. I'd not sit and wait for a solution.

Been reading reviews on Gravely's own site for this mower. Ouch!

bertsmobile1 said:

If you get no help from the dealer, who should not be allowed to sell toothbrushes then contact Gravely directly.
The reason there is no factory fix could very well be because Gravely do not know about the problem.
Before you contact Gravely send you dealer an email or two asking about what they can do to fix both your & the other customers mowers.
Try to be inquisitive & not aggressive and finish with a note that some bastard has stolen your phone ( so naturally you do not answer it )
Then when you take your complaint to Gravely it is not a case of "he said this " you have the undeniable written proof

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When talking to the shop (dealer) about this issue, he told me he spoke to Gravely about this when the first one came back and that is how he knew there was no fix for this issue. This shop has only sold two 2020 units with mine being one of the two. For both to come back with this issue disturbs me.

If it were me I would ask dealer for my money back or direct trade for another model with no money exchanged if other model is more expensive, after the first one he should have at least disclosed possible problem from other customer especially since he knew from factory they knew they had problem and no fix before selling to you.

gainestruk said:

If it were me I would ask dealer for my money back or direct trade for another model with no money exchanged if other model is more expensive, after the first one he should have at least disclosed possible problem from other customer especially since he knew from factory they knew they had problem and no fix before selling to you.

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Very good point there. Dealer sold you a defective product - and knew it.

So send the dealer an email stating that this is not acceptable for a brand new mower and would constitute either a design fault or a componant fault .
As such the mower is nether fit for purpose nor is as advertised and both of these are grounds for the mower to be replaced, exchanged or your money to be refunded.
Make sure it is an email and let us know what the response is.

I have a friend who's son has a small lawn care business in Toronto. Yards are small in his neighborhood so they got a 2018 or 2019 model Compact Pro 34 after me telling them how much I liked my HD 52. They have nothing but praise for their machine. It makes me wonder if the design was changed for 2020, or if something happened to an assembly jig for it to be off square. BTW, did you not give it a quick test drive before purchase, or before accepting it if they delivered to you?

The manual says you have adjustments. The dealer should be able to get you a little more action on that right side pump. Even if if it's a frame issue, him telling you there is no adjustment is incorrect.

There are jam bolts on the front and back of the lever that allow you to change the lever's location and possibly give you more throw before before it hits the limit. The lever attaches to the hydro via a tie-rod. Like a car's tie rod, it's length is adjustable, which will change how much throw you get at the pump. I'm starting to think it's a poor steering adjustment during assembly instead of a misaligned frame or sub assembly. Show the dealer your manual where the thing can be adjusted. He just doesn't want to fool with it. On the online manual, it's pages 21-23.

Be respectful don't go in charging and demanding, tell them how would they feel if it were them.
If they refuse if you paid part with credit card you can call them and complain, tell them they sold you a defective machine and won't fix it, they will claw back the part you paid, that should get dealer in high gear.
Just remember don't go in with a chip on your shoulder.
please let us know the outcome of this, I know I'm very interested and I'm sure others are also.

I am sure the problem can be remedied with judicious application of the proper sized hammer.
Trust me. I know these things.

tbzep said:

The manual says you have adjustments. The dealer should be able to get you a little more action on that right side pump. Even if if it's a frame issue, him telling you there is no adjustment is incorrect.

There are jam bolts on the front and back of the lever that allow you to change the lever's location and possibly give you more throw before before it hits the limit. The lever attaches to the hydro via a tie-rod. Like a car's tie rod, it's length is adjustable, which will change how much throw you get at the pump. I'm starting to think it's a poor steering adjustment during assembly instead of a misaligned frame or sub assembly. Show the dealer your manual where the thing can be adjusted. He just doesn't want to fool with it. On the online manual, it's pages 21-23.

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I've looked from the top side and the schematic doesn't look like mine, but I haven't looked under the machine to see where the linkage connects to the transmission. If there is a tie-rod adjustment, that would be an easy fix. If I have to fix this an I'm able to do so, I'll be contacting my salesman and owner to let them know that their shop guys dont know their hat from a hole in the ground. I'm out of town for the week but I'll let you know what I find. Thanks for the help.

tbzep said:

I have a friend who's son has a small lawn care business in Toronto. Yards are small in his neighborhood so they got a 2018 or 2019 model Compact Pro 34 after me telling them how much I liked my HD 52. They have nothing but praise for their machine. It makes me wonder if the design was changed for 2020, or if something happened to an assembly jig for it to be off square. BTW, did you not give it a quick test drive before purchase, or before accepting it if they delivered to you?

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I've never operated a Z-turn mower before this one. Test driving it would not have told me much. The salesman drove it up on my trailer the day I purchased it and it took a little time for me to get use to it enough to know there was a problem. The first time I realized this problem, I mowed down to a curb (very slight incline and not steep at all) and needed to use the right reverse to get the front wheels off the curb and couldn't. The wheels were not spinning and it wouldn't back up. I had to cut off the blades, raise the deck and drive off the curb. This was the only way to recover.

Redtro said:

I've looked from the top side and the schematic doesn't look like mine, but I haven't looked under the machine to see where the linkage connects to the transmission. If there is a tie-rod adjustment, that would be an easy fix. If I have to fix this an I'm able to do so, I'll be contacting my salesman and owner to let them know that their shop guys dont know their hat from a hole in the ground. I'm out of town for the week but I'll let you know what I find. Thanks for the help.

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I looked at this manual. https://apache.ariens.com/manuals/04276200A_ENG.pdf
Since I didn't have your serial number and Gravely model numbers vary with engine choice, I can't be sure this is the correct manual. This one may be for a different year model and they could have changed some things. However, I can't believe there are no adjustments on a Pro model that they could have at least tinkered with to try and help you. My lower tier HD model has adjustments.

Good luck with them. If all else fails, a call to Ariens/Gravely will most likely put some pressure on the dealer to help, or they may direct you to a more competent dealer.

tbzep said:

I looked at this manual. https://apache.ariens.com/manuals/04276200A_ENG.pdf
Since I didn't have your serial number and Gravely model numbers vary with engine choice, I can't be sure this is the correct manual. This one may be for a different year model and they could have changed some things. However, I can't believe there are no adjustments on a Pro model that they could have at least tinkered with to try and help you. My lower tier HD model has adjustments.

Good luck with them. If all else fails, a call to Ariens/Gravely will most likely put some pressure on the dealer to help, or they may direct you to a more competent dealer.

Click to expand...

I was contacted by Gravely and they suggested that I bend the bracket the steering arm was being limited by. I did this and it did make the performance better but still substandard for the cost of the mower. It is functional but still a very large difference between the left and right reverse control.

This was what they suggested. I really don't think I should have had to fix their design/build problem, especially after paying a premium dollar for this mower....and it's still not perfect. There is still at least 1" difference between the reverse travel between the left and right steering arms.

...tried to upload a picture but the file seem to be too large.

edited photo....

Call a different dealer and see if they have the same problem. Call Gravely and see what they can do for you. I had a Cub Cadet that had a problem that could not be fixed in 6 times to the 2 different dealers and finally they warrantied it out and I ended up with a Gravely as it was the end of the year.