Jacobson HR5111 steering issues

[laurencen]

have a Jacobson HR5111 mower, been good but last night had steering issues, noticed when turning the steering the actual wheels will be unresponsive more so if not moving, it still turns when mowing but sluggish and soft, first thing comes to mind several years had a similar issue turned out to be the plate the cylinder connects to and both tie rods cracked only moving one wheel, in this case both wheels are affected, shop manual gives little options other than something is seized but jacked it up and its fine.

Im leading towards the steering cylinder piston seal is bad, odd it got worse after a few hours when running hotter than normal due to the load cutting tall grass and plus 35C outside.

before I pull the cylinder off and other ideas would be appreciated

 

[loggin]

have a Jacobson HR5111 mower, been good but last night had steering issues, noticed when turning the steering the actual wheels will be unresponsive more so if not moving, it still turns when mowing but sluggish and soft, first thing comes to mind several years had a similar issue turned out to be the plate the cylinder connects to and both tie rods cracked only moving one wheel, in this case both wheels are affected, shop manual gives little options other than something is seized but jacked it up and its fine.

Im leading towards the steering cylinder piston seal is bad, odd it got worse after a few hours when running hotter than normal due to the load cutting tall grass and plus 35C outside.

before I pull the cylinder off and other ideas would be appreciated

One thing you could check is hydraulic pressure. You would likely have to make a T connection, install it inline with the hydraulic line and attach a pressure gauge to it in order to check if the line has the appropriate pressure. Unless there is a test port somewhere?

Just another thing to consider while trying to diagnose.

Hope this helps!

 

[laurencen]

thanks for the suggestion but I believe and see only time the steering gets pressure is when the cylinder reaches end of travel, otherwise the steering wheel will turn continually, if I reverse direction many times it recovers, last night lifted the rear and seemed to work fine, test cut a area and worked, the issue happened after a few hours of cutting and got hot in the 230F for hydraulic oil temp

I will see if there is anywhere to attach a gauge