but I doubt Rideon would want to chop up his new mower amd turn it into a toe-behind.
I wasn't implying that Norm .Anything can be made up, but if you can't do it yourself, then it wouldn't be worth paying someone to make those modifications.The cheapest I could see someone doing this job would be $600.
The cheapest solution is to just add weight so the brakes work.
Yes Max, I think your $600 would be somewhere near it, there is a lot of work in it and the parts would be over $100. Maybe cantilever the weight out the back might help
As mentioned before there doesn't look like a lot of room on these mowers for extra weight Norm ,possibly you could fit a bag of sand or weight behind the seat.
I guess I would get a bag of sand and put it on the seat or behind it and see if that fixes the problem and then you know how much weight to add and if it doesn't work you haven't wasted much time.
I'm sure you could make a bracket mount from somewhere to add a weight .
The easiest thing may be to just put a metal Diamond Plate/Checker Plate on the concrete where it slips then put the plate away when the mower isn't being used.
Yes there isn't much room anywhere and chequer plate probably wouldn't help if it is slipping on concrete so we are back to the front brake again, maybe just on one wheel. Would be an interesting little project if it wasn't so far away
The back wheel is skidding because one wheel no longer has enough contact with the ground Norm ,so if you can put enough height of any material on the side that is loosing contact with the ground it would fix the problem.
Looking at images of the ride on mower I can see what the problem is.
The pivoting front axle doesn't have enough movent ,it's bottoming out on one side when this happens the back wheels will no longer sit flat on the ground.
As we know.
A pivoting front axle on a ride-on mower is designed to enhance stability and traction when navigating uneven surfaces. Here's how it helps maintain contact with both rear wheels while operating on such terrains:
Articulation: The pivoting front axle allows the front wheels to articulate independently. This means that when one wheel encounters an obstacle or a dip, it can move up or down without affecting the other wheel directly. This articulation ensures that both rear wheels can maintain contact with the ground, as they are not forced to tilt or shift excessively due to the movement of the front wheels.
Weight Distribution: As the front axle pivots to follow the contours of the ground, the weight distribution over the rear wheels remains relatively balanced. This helps ensure that both rear wheels can grip the ground effectively, especially while cornering or traversing uneven terrain.
All that needs to be done is to change the design of the pivoting front axle so it has more movement ,that way both back wheels will be on the ground on uneven surfaces.
Personally if I went to the quad bike brakes I would use drum brakes as it doesn't look like too much work and I see these Quad bikes thrown out a lot.
I would modify the front axle for more movement as I think that would be the least amount of work and it would still look original.There looks like there is very little room for movement with the standard front axle.
Hi Max, I haven't seen a quad bike with drum brakes, not that I have worked on too many of them. Yes drums would be easier to mount but not as easy to come by in my world. The front axel pivot could be a problem. I was talking to a mate the other night and he has a property in Noogee and that is one reason he uses his Greenie in parts of it because it drives and stops using both rear wheels. There are areas he says his Cub Cadet is not safe to use on
Personally if I went to the quad bike brakes I would use drum brakes as it doesn't look like too much work and I see these Quad bikes thrown out a lot.
I would modify the front axle for more movement as I think that would be the least amount of work and it would still look original.There looks like there is very little room for movement with the standard front axle.
Cheers Max.
If using the Quad bikes drum brakes, I assume you would have to use the Quad's wheels as well - if so, I imagine tyre/wheel size would be important in getting the frame to end up at the same height at the front as it currently is.
I agree that when going downhill with an uneven profile, the rigid frame is causing one of the rear wheels (the only one braking) to almost lift off the ground and hence there is minimal or no braking. Any thoughts on how you would get more travel in the front wheels, without major surgery?
I checked one of my ride on mowers for the up and down movement on the front axle and it was 16 mm so if the ground was flat the axle could go up on one side 8 mm.It's not much on this mower. I've just measured where the axle bottoms out, I should have measured the centre of the wheel for the wheel travel .
The 16mm in the pic below was with the other side of the axle pushed up to bottom out the clearance.
I think generally they have at least 20 mm to 50 mm wheel travel.
If you went to quad bike brakes you might get away with using quad bike wheels as there are a few different sized wheels that may match the mower wheels height.
Hi Max I don't see the wheels being an issue, fairly simple to make a new stub axle assembly with a mount for the calliper out of 40x10 flat and maybe lengthen the axle to allow the wheel to move out a bit wider for calliper clearance. Fairly simple then all it needs is for a disc to be bolted somehow to the existing wheel. All simple to do if you had access to the mower
Hi Rideon, a few issues I see axle is too high on the kingpins and axle diameter and length would be different so probably not able to use those, The $99 kits probably better value because you have nowhere to mount the handelbar brake lever so the rear type master cylinder could be mounted somehow. Lots of options I still think it would be easier to make yo the new stub axles to suit your king pins setup and that way you can set the stub axle at the right height to suit your wheels and mower deck height. Pity you are so far away
I don't see the wheels being an issue, fairly simple to make a new stub axle assembly with a mount for the calliper out of 40x10 flat and maybe lengthen the axle to allow the wheel to move out a bit wider for calliper clearance. Fairly simple then all it needs is for a disc to be bolted somehow to the existing wheel. All simple to do if you had access to the mower
Hi Norm,
Yes it's simple if you have the tools and can do this at home but would be an expensive job to get done and time consuming.
Any back yard welder should be able to modify the I beam front for more movement ,just needs a little cutting and welding, you could just add RHS to the lower half to strengthen the I beam after the metal from the top is removed.
It is difficult to see from this photo, but the right front wheel is suspended about 30mm above the pavement [img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/WbYHEuAfGkitaFLi6[/img] While the mower is fairly horizontal in this photo, the ground falls away near the front right wheel. There does not appear to be any travel in wheel height of the suspended wheel. Placing about 5kgs over the front right wheel causes it to go to ground and the left rear wheel then lifts by the same 30mm. In other words, no suspension and a rigid frame.
This video shows the problem (ie, most weight being over front wheels) with braking going downhill, even on a Zero Turn mower . They appear to use a front brake that is neither drum or disk?
the right front wheel is suspended about 30mm above the pavement While the mower is fairly horizontal in this photo, the ground falls away near the front right wheel. There does not appear to be any travel in wheel height of the suspended wheel. Placing about 5kgs over the front right wheel causes it to go to ground and the left rear wheel then lifts by the same 30mm. In other words, no suspension and a rigid frame.
I can't find any information online that suggests this mower has a pivoting front axle and can't find any parts manuals but from what I can see in the images with the centre front mounting bolt it looks like it should pivot ,I would loosen the bolt and see if the front axle will move .
I have looked at the front end geometry and taken the following photo Front end geometry I may well have labelled the components incorrectly, but I needed them in order to be able to discuss.
From what I can see, I think there is only a slight height adjustment possible (to level front end), between frame and subframe, and no way for it to pivot. The bolt that you saw in previous photo (looking from the front of mower) attaches the subframe (or crossmember) to the frame.
I forgot to label it, but there is a bracket that hangs down about 50mm with a bolt in it, but currently doesn't appear to serve any purpose. There is one on each side so I assume they could be used to mount something? In the photo, it is partly obscured by the nut on the left end of steering rack.
I would undo the lock nut ,then undo the bolt but leave just enough thread on the other side to stop the front axle bottoming out where I drew 2 blue lines ,you could take the bolts out completely but them the paint will be damaged when the axle is on full tilt so a little bit of the thread on the bolt against the axle will stop the paint on the axle getting damaged.Then tighten the lock nut to hold the bolt in place and do the same to the other side of the axle (left & right side bolts)
The yellow arrow points to the U shaped metal that forms part of the mower frame.
Even with the adjusting bolt totally removed, I think there would be minimal travel in the cross member (or what I think you are referring to as the axle?). While the cross member would try to drop on one side it would be prevented by rising on the other side and hitting against the U shaped frame. There is only a few mm gap when mower is on a level surface. I might have it wrong though?
