Odd steering behavior on my 3520

[jeepinator]

Back when my tractor had ~20 hours on it, I noticed while tilling, that I always seemed to veer left. I thought I was causing it or some mechanical interraction with the tiller was causing it. No reason for this was obvious and I only noticed it when tilling. I checked for drift like 20 times. The wheels stayed straight no matter how long I watched them.
Then I noticed it when not tilling.
And now, at 80 something hours, the effect is obvious at any speed and during any activity. And I finally figured it out.
It turns left with the slightest input, as you would expect. But getting it to turn right takes lots of wheel action. In fact, if I keep the steering wheel RPM below a certain speed, I can turn right all day long and continue going straight. Qucikly spinning the steering wheel results in quick right turns.

Any ideas?
Avoiding the dealer would be great even though the machine is under waranty.

I can live with it, but it's getting annoying /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[jeepinator]

Back when my tractor had ~20 hours on it, I noticed while tilling, that I always seemed to veer left. I thought I was causing it or some mechanical interraction with the tiller was causing it. No reason for this was obvious and I only noticed it when tilling. I checked for drift like 20 times. The wheels stayed straight no matter how long I watched them.
Then I noticed it when not tilling.
And now, at 80 something hours, the effect is obvious at any speed and during any activity. And I finally figured it out.
It turns left with the slightest input, as you would expect. But getting it to turn right takes lots of wheel action. In fact, if I keep the steering wheel RPM below a certain speed, I can turn right all day long and continue going straight. Qucikly spinning the steering wheel results in quick right turns.

Any ideas?
Avoiding the dealer would be great even though the machine is under waranty.

I can live with it, but it's getting annoying /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[beenthere]

May be something wrong, but it sounds like it is just the hydraulic steering wheel drift. There is no direct mechanical connection with the front wheels. Only hydraulic.

Only thing I can think of. If its bad, then see the dealer to get it checked out.

 

[beenthere]

May be something wrong, but it sounds like it is just the hydraulic steering wheel drift. There is no direct mechanical connection with the front wheels. Only hydraulic.

Only thing I can think of. If its bad, then see the dealer to get it checked out.

 

[RollTideRam]

We had a fork lift at work do the same thing. At first I thought it was just me, but they finally got it fixed. Don't know exactly what it was though. If you turned slowly enough, I could turn the wheel to the right all day long without the lift actually turning right. JC

 

[RollTideRam]

We had a fork lift at work do the same thing. At first I thought it was just me, but they finally got it fixed. Don't know exactly what it was though. If you turned slowly enough, I could turn the wheel to the right all day long without the lift actually turning right. JC

 

[jeepinator]

I called the dealer today. They can't touch it until the 31st /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
But they pick up and deliver for free, so... that aint so bad, since it's not a critical issue.

 

[jeepinator]

I called the dealer today. They can't touch it until the 31st /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
But they pick up and deliver for free, so... that aint so bad, since it's not a critical issue.

 

[Dutch445]

sounds like maybe the steering cylinder is bad,
we had one go bad, and in this case the customer
had to keep correcting his wheel to drive up the road,
and his steering wheel ended up turning and turning to
the left. as he continued on , the tractor would drift
to the right, and he would correct with the steering wheel,
and it would happen again, and he would correct again,
all the while turning the steering wheel to the left.
haven't heard back since we replaced the cylinder, so
i assume everything is ok.
sounds like they got a couple bad steering cylinders..
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Dutch445]

sounds like maybe the steering cylinder is bad,
we had one go bad, and in this case the customer
had to keep correcting his wheel to drive up the road,
and his steering wheel ended up turning and turning to
the left. as he continued on , the tractor would drift
to the right, and he would correct with the steering wheel,
and it would happen again, and he would correct again,
all the while turning the steering wheel to the left.
haven't heard back since we replaced the cylinder, so
i assume everything is ok.
sounds like they got a couple bad steering cylinders..
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[jeepinator]

I have had the tractor back from the dealer for a while now. Wow, it's SO much easier to use now.
It did indeed end up being a bad steering cylinder.