anyone know Dixon ZTR's?

dodge trucker

Tractorologist
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I got this in the same haul as the LT166.... 13 hp Briggs L head "Diamond" series engine.... I put a good used, freshly charged battery in it, added gas, aired up tires, removed shroud and evicted the mouse hotel, turned the key and it runs! I mowed my yard with it at that point.... PO said it was just "tired". He had let it sit (his guess) 4-5 years, original owner, looks like a 1994 model. #4421. The left side definitely seems weak going forward. I could pretty much keep it straight and moving with mostly the right lever.... It goes both directions pretty well though/ but I found out right away it don't like side hills.... I tried mowing the flattest of my 3 ditches and it didn't like it. What's the deal with drive cones? I have only heard about them, on these mowers, never messed with any.
It (had) a sticker on it saying it had a Dixon factory reman drive train/gear box.... the guy said "yeah I had that done a while back" the plate that sticker was on (also served as battery compartment cover) decided it wanted to bail on me, during the ride home..... I have missed a ZTR since my Grasshopper/Woods hydro decided to die and even used ones were gonna cost me more than Id paid for the whole machine. (but I definitely got my moneys worth for many years out of it, before that one died)
I dont have much into it, so not expecting alot from it..... I know that Husquavarna bought out Dixon in more recent years, which would definitely keep me from wanting a newer version!
 
Adjusting those cones is best left to a Dixon dealer. They can be a real pain, takes special 'tools' to get things right.
 
I had one for a few years, Put new clutches in it and was a happy camper for a couple of years then the performance degraded,
Check the condition of the metal cones, bearings and the drive chains, if badly worn it isn't a good candidate for repair.
I was mowing a lot of grass with it (3 acres) replaced it with a Woods mower the Woods was definitely more rugged and suited for what I needed.
It is a time consuming task to put clutches in the Dixon. For a smaller yard that wasn't real hilly it was a decent machine and worth fixing up,
 
I have one and can't figure out that system!
I have worked on a few. Pretty simple, really. Parts are still available from the dealers or online. Not hard to adjust the cone clutches. It is all mechanical, and once you study it, it all becomes clear. Manuals are available online free. They make great close quarters mowers.
 
I have one. Just remember that the upper cone drives one side and the lower cone drives the other in forward and then engages the disc for the other side in reverse. You can mow a slight sidehill running parallel with it by using a little reverse on the uphill wheel. Takes some practice.
 
Not many dealers left with the special tools for that after Husqvarna closed dixon after buying them
 
My first zero turn was a Dixon and I got pretty good a adjusting those cones. It didn't come easy though. On the early models you had to remove the body to adjust the cones. Then you put the body back on to check to see if you got it right. A real pain in the hinder.
Here is a video that might help. There are others on the net.
 
I would not own another one with the cone drive. It seemed like they needed constant attention. The frame on ours broke by one of the front caster wheels.
 
Good to know.
Back when I was in high school, (1980s) there was a guy in the town I grew up in that had one, had a 6 hp Tecumseh on it, every spring he wanted me to bring it home and "get it ready to go". Change oil, sharpen blades, scrape deck, replace or blow out air filter, do some donuts in my parent's back yard and send it back. I never had to do much at all to that machine. Never got into the cone clutches on that one, and it's taken me all these years to get my hands on another. And I heard about those clutches back then too, though I never had the body up on either that one or this one, to see that setup.
 
Keeping the clutches adjusted on the newer ones would be much easier because the body is hinged in the middle to provided access for servicing.
For the one we had the problem was keeping it tracking straight. The newer ones with the hydraulic drive would probably be a good machine.
 
Adjusting those cones is best left to a Dixon dealer. They can be a real pain, takes special 'tools' to get things right.
Well I got about 2/3 of a season out of it with just gas and a little bit of oil,,,, not bad for a freebie.
I know that the chains were a little stiff, have been oiling them every time I ran it, had 2 issues with it....
1) plastic idler on left side self destructed, I ordered a couple and they were cheap. And
2) somehow it threw the left side chain and bent the shaft. This all being for the wheel drive not the deck I parked it for a few mowings as I have other mowers/considered scrapping it, but I decided to buy another shaft for it and fix the issue.

I've mentioned this guy's name a couple of times in various threads lately, happened upon his name while looking for an answer to an issue with a completely different machine/ I think he either was a dealer for these machines or worked for one.
Any of you remember Walt Conner from the various small engine/GT forums? He hasn't been around on the forums in a while but I was able to contact him via an old thread. We got to emailing each other and got to talking about my Dixon. He sent me 3 or 4 PDFs (haven't looked at them yet, just got my parts a couple of days ago) and told me what to do with the adjustment. He's 88 now, doesn't work on equipment much any more, very busy taking care of his wife as he says she has dementia.... But he was willing to walk me thru fixing the Dixon.
I haven't even raised it up yet to scrape the deck or inspect, let alone sharpen the blades yet.
I robbed the battery from it for now to use in something else til I got my new shaft and bearings for it..... a battery that had been robbed from something else, to try this mower out to begin with....
 
Years ago Walt emailed me the adjustment instructions for mine. Only special tools I needed was to cut some 11/16" wrenches in half to work in the close quarters on the adjustments. When you get the shaft changed be sure the chain tensioners are pretty snug to prevent climbing off the sprocket.
 
Yeah I ran the left side so the spring was almost solid and then bent the shaft.thisbwas after it threw the chain. I think it bent in the process of throwing the chain as it got tighter as it climbed up and over. That's what Walt said usually happens too. I think I had enough play in the adjuster to where the bent part was facing the adjuster making it "shorter" while the shaft was spun to that position.
 
the 2 center chains by the cones are pretty loose/worn on mine, the outer 2 by the wheels are adjustable for tension.... Im thinking some of the looseness might be wear in the sprockets, and (I think) I have pair of new small sprockets (if they are the same as the small sprockets out by the drive wheels) but I really dont wanna pull the other half of the drive apart to replace just that..... I had the idler blow apart on me on the left side, outer chain jumped and bent the final drive shaft by the brake drum.... so I just pulled the left side all apart to replace that shaft.... cones and all look good to me, no gouges or anything.
Back when I got it, this machine had a metal cover over teh battery way up front, that the wind took while it was on the trailer on its maiden voyage here... On that cover was a large decal stating this machine had a "Remanufactured Drive by Dixon" and I remember the PO saying something about that as we pushed it onto my trailer about having had that done some years back. This was a 1 owner machine before I wound up with it.
and the PO's reason for letting it go? "it's old and worn out"...... Runs dang good though and still cuts nice. I cut my yard about 1/2 the season with it before this chain jumped and bent that shaft. I got a new replacement shaft that came with new bearings via Ebay. They have "complete rebuild kits" for the drive on these machines on Ebay, though elsewhere it seems alot of places that used to carry parts are showing "discontinued" on alot of things.

Those 2 center chains have no master link either. By virtue of replacing this bent shaft, I got a new 24 tooth sprocket for the left, I didnt count teeth on the small sprockets at the center by the drive but the sprockets at the outer ends by the wheels are 9 tooth. I have 2 new 9 tooth ones here, ordered by mistake when I got the new idlers. The idlers are just flat plastic rollers, no alignment groove or teeth that tension the outer drive chains.......
I can get some new chain and master links the same as the inner drive chains while its apart, and see if that might help things.
I do know that the system needs some adjustment, of which I did get some assistance/guidance on doing that.....
per the latest "downsizing" thread elsewhere on the site, and now that I got all I need to replace the damaged parts/ and since got that commercial 32" Bobcat walk behind, to "debug" this Dixon as best I can, clean it all up, and (probably hang onto it til spring) and sell it.

Definitely learning a few things about this "different" sort of zero turn in the process though, can't tell yet if that info will be useful in the future or not, though. Being as how they aint made no more, I'm guessing "probably not". Interesting setup, though.
 
Years ago Walt emailed me the adjustment instructions for mine. Only special tools I needed was to cut some 11/16" wrenches in half to work in the close quarters on the adjustments. When you get the shaft changed be sure the chain tensioners are pretty snug to prevent climbing off the sprocket.
hoping having new sprockets now, will help prevent that happening again, just by itself! will have to see.
 
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