Steering wheel broke on my X500

[crazyal]

Has anyone seen this before? I was mowing for the first time this season and the steering wheel broke. I wasn't putting any real pressure on it. I'll call the dealer tomorrow, I don't see why it wouldn't be covered under warranty. I also noticed the belt that drives the blades has been rubbing on one of the rods that tensions the deck drive belt. It's actually wore the rod down some but in no danger of breaking so I was just going to wait until the fall to see what the service department says. I'm a little worried that the steering wheel will break further so I don't want to wait but it's also the beginning of the season and I don't want to be without it. I'm hoping I can just email the service guy the pictures (I'll remove the deck to get a better picture of the wear) so I can just set up an appointment and get it fixed without waiting weeks.

 

[Richard001]

Is this a new mower?

How meany hours on the meter?


Richard

 

[crazyal]

It's a 2015 with a little over 125 hours. It's stored in a garage so it's not like it's sun damaged.

 

[Zebrafive]

Looks like warranty for the wheel. I would be worried about the belt and the rod. If it was set up wrong they too could be warranty issues. Belts usually are not covered by the warranty, in this case it might be, so I would not wait until fall. Mention it when the wheel is replaced.

 

[crazyal]

The belt doesn't show any wear surprisingly.

 

[radios1]

that's just the plastic covering, I've seen that happening on cars, too.. there is a steel ring under that, so, no safety issues, but still, this should not happen..

 

[crazyal]

that's just the plastic covering, I've seen that happening on cars, too.. there is a steel ring under that, so, no safety issues, but still, this should not happen..

Nope, no steel in the steering wheel. It's broke completely.

The dealer is real busy so they are going to order the steering wheel and when they get it just have me stop in so they can swap it out. I'll keep an eye on the belt and bring it back in the fall unless it looks to be getting worse.

 

[radios1]

Nope, no steel in the steering wheel. It's broke completely.

The dealer is real busy so they are going to order the steering wheel and when they get it just have me stop in so they can swap it out. I'll keep an eye on the belt and bring it back in the fall unless it looks to be getting worse.

that's an insane safety hazard if there's no steel core in it!.. I've never heard of any manufacturer doing that.. without the steel core, not only could you get your hand stuck in between the broken section, but in situations where the steering wheel keeps you in place on the seat, a piece could break off, and you'd go flying off the tractor!.. you have the seat switch, which would stop the engine, but you could still get hurt, possibly badly!..

 

[crazyal]

The way I realized the steering wheel was broken was while mowing I palm the steering wheel to turn it. While pushing on the broken section I quickly noticed that it was flexing a lot more than normal. It's also hollow (not sure if I could get a good picture of it). I would say the plastic is about 1/8" thick with some stiffeners in the hollow part. Now that it's broke the forces from when it was made have opened up the crack about an 1/8" of an inch. I've see car steering wheels that have burnt and only the steel core is left. I've never really thought about it but I do grab the steering wheel when I get on and push off it when I get off it. Not hard or anything. I'm sure this one was just a manufacturing mistake of some sort. The dealer is going to order a new one as part of their normal stock and give me a call to let me know when to drop it off.

 

[radios1]

The way I realized the steering wheel was broken was while mowing I palm the steering wheel to turn it. While pushing on the broken section I quickly noticed that it was flexing a lot more than normal. It's also hollow (not sure if I could get a good picture of it). I would say the plastic is about 1/8" thick with some stiffeners in the hollow part. Now that it's broke the forces from when it was made have opened up the crack about an 1/8" of an inch. I've see car steering wheels that have burnt and only the steel core is left. I've never really thought about it but I do grab the steering wheel when I get on and push off it when I get off it. Not hard or anything. I'm sure this one was just a manufacturing mistake of some sort. The dealer is going to order a new one as part of their normal stock and give me a call to let me know when to drop it off.

I can't imagine how a manufacturing mistake would leave out the steel frame in the steering wheel, they probably left it out to save some money, which is more like what they would do!..