John Deere F725 Steering question

molderone · May 4, 2016

Looking for a direction to pursue to correct steering wheel play in my F725. It's a solid old mower and I wanted to improve the play. I have searched the net on the topic but have not been able to locate any information on the topic. My question(s) are: is the gear box adjustable to remove the play, is there a service able part that normally wears on these machines? Thank you in advance

sixdogs · May 4, 2016

molderone said:
Looking for a direction to pursue to correct steering wheel play in my F725. It's a solid old mower and I wanted to improve the play. I have searched the net on the topic but have not been able to locate any information on the topic. My question(s) are: is the gear box adjustable to remove the play, is there a service able part that normally wears on these machines? Thank you in advance

I don't know about the steering box but I have a similar model and had sloppy steering caused by a loose bolt that connected the linkage arm that connects to the back steering wheel. Never got as far as the gear and mine was an easy fix.

molderone · May 4, 2016

sixdogs said:
I don't know about the steering box but I have a similar model and had sloppy steering caused by a loose bolt that connected the linkage arm that connects to the back steering wheel. Never got as far as the gear and mine was an easy fix.

Thank you for the quick reply. I will most certainly investigate the linkage. I do have a tendency to lean to the worse case scenario for repair items. To elaborate more on the issue: While driving/mowing: The unit has maybe a quarter - third turn of free play. However, with the unit not running, the steering wheel has the same quarter - third turn before any movement is detected in the rear wheels. Thanks again for the input!

MORRISONSTEEL · May 4, 2016

I also would look towards linkage as most likely you are looking for 1 major loose item as molderone mentions or it is stacked wear from more than one area. There is no mechanical steering gearbox for these it has a valve that interacts with the steering cylinder. Good luck

pmsmechanic · May 5, 2016

MORRISONSTEEL said:
I also would look towards linkage as most likely you are looking for 1 major loose item as molderone mentions or it is stacked wear from more than one area. There is no mechanical steering gearbox for these it has a valve that interacts with the steering cylinder. Good luck

So it's basically the same system that my F-935 has. What I did to tighten up the steering was weld a bushing into the one hole for the steering cylinder that was slopped out. Also the axle pivot was worn out. I bought new bushings to replace the worn out ones and replaced the pivot bolt. The pivot bolt got a hole drilled into it and threaded for a grease zerk. Grease gets delivered to between the two bushings.

A half turn of steering slop was eliminated.