Ferris IS2100z no power to left wheel

[Notforhire]

See page 8 of the Manual for trouble shooting. Your issues are likely one of the ones listed. You can access them from the link you posted.

The only thing I read in the manual was that the drive unit could overheat if the fan was damaged. Their solution was to replace the fan.
No mention of sticks or fairys.

My filters and fans arrived today. I bought an extra fan just in case. My Mobil 1 won't arrive for a couple more days.

I drained the oil from both drives and examined the filters. Nothing weird. No burnt smells. Oil color was normal and the filters didn't show any metal chips or other scary stuff.
I replaced the fan with no issues. I also bought a spare fan just in case this happens again.

I'll report back once I get the oil in and bleed all the air out.
I'm thinking about trying to design a stick guard to put underneath.

 

[Notforhire]

I have the exact same mower and have owned it for 7 years now. Twice mine has done the same thing on the left side. Once, it was just a touch low on the reservoir tank, added not even a cup of oil and then it was fine. Second time, a stick (or something) partially dislodged the release lever underneath the pump (the lever used to release the valve for moving). I opened and closed the lever a few times, put it back and it was fine ever since. Doesn't explain your missing fan blades though. Surprised you didn't hear that happen, were you able to find any of the blades in your yard? Might help to explain how it happened.

I never heard the blades break. ( I do wear muffs.) The blades are pretty thin. I'm wondering if they make them that way so if they do fly nothing else gets destroyed.
My bypass levers were in the normal position, but it's possible I suppose that the left one got nocked around a little.
Another discovery. My mower blade drive belt was rolled about a 1/3 turn. It was suggested to me that a stick could have rolled the belt, then flew up into the fan???????

 

[Mart5130]

I was doing my weekly mow yesterday when I went to reverse direction the drive to the left wheel quit. It felt like something was binding. When I moved the left side control lever the engine would load up but the wheel wouldn't turn. After checking for an obstruction underneath the machine I tried to power the wheel again. This time it worked and I drove the machine about 30 yards to the barn and parked it.
First thing I checked was the hydro oil level which was OK. Then I noticed all the cooling fan blades were missing! Since I blow out the grass clippings from that area after every use, I'm guessing that a stick must have wiped out the blades within an hour of my discovery.
Is it possible that the drive unit got hot and that's what caused it to act up?
I checked the clock and I'm overdue on the first hydro oil /filter change. I have 160hrs and the service was due at 100 hrs.
I ordered new filters and 15w50 Mobil 1 along with a new fan.
Any ideas?

Maybe check on the Ferris owners group on Facebook??

 

[Buckeye Guy]

I never heard the blades break. ( I do wear muffs.) The blades are pretty thin. I'm wondering if they make them that way so if they do fly nothing else gets destroyed.
My bypass levers were in the normal position, but it's possible I suppose that the left one got nocked around a little.
Another discovery. My mower blade drive belt was rolled about a 1/3 turn. It was suggested to me that a stick could have rolled the belt, then flew up into the fan???????

Another poster had his blades taken off by bamboo, and he didn't hear it either. You're right, they are really thin, I now doubt they made much noise and broke off in a fraction of a second. The fans must create serious vacuum in the "compartment" because whether I mow for a half hour or 4 hours, the cups on the top of the fans are always full of clippings (I blow out all the debris after every mow like you do).
Your blade drive belt being turned could be the reason like you said. I've had small sticks get jammed under the pulleys before also, so it's plausible one got thrown into the fan. I'm still on my original deck belt (374 hrs) but I did have my hydro belt break after only about 50 hrs, I chalked it up to either a stick or a defective belt.
Glad to hear that your filters and oil looked normal. I doubt there was any pump damage, once you get the oil in you should be good to go. I have to replace my filters and oil in about 5 weeks myself for my 400 hr service.
Overall I've been happy with mine, I had a deere before and it beat me up on the ride, the Ferris is a much smoother ride, I'm a big fan of the suspension. On my next one I will be getting the suspension seat also, though.

 

[Notforhire]

I went to my local Ferris dealer yesterday and we discussed the design changes between my 1000Z and the newer models. I noticed that while mowing with the 2100 with it's ICD sloped front mower deck that sticks/junk tend to ride up on top of the mower deck, while my old 1000Z square front deck causes the sticks to go under the deck to get chopped up.
I'm wondering if that's what is causing the problem?????
I'm thinking about adding a vertical or sloped forward plate attached to the front of my 2100 deck to help direct sticks, etc. to go under rather than over the deck.
I don't think this would negatively effect the ICD design. Thoughts?

 

[Carl_NH]

Glad to hear you are getting things back in order and doesn't sound like any damage was done. My deck on the IS2000 is the square front (ICD came out in 2012 I think). I asked the dealer 2012-13 about the amount of dust/debris kicking out the front and he said there is a modification kit available to make it similar to the ICD decks, but I just live with it.

Now that you mention it, the sloped ICD setup would allow sticks to pass up and over vs under so a piece of sheet stock or angle iron and maybe a flex rubber strip would work to prevent this and should not impact performance.

I mow sticks all the time too, and twice now stick debris has gotten wedged into the dual hydro drive pulley - vibrates a lot when this happens so I know to shut down and fix.

 

[Notforhire]

I mow sticks all the time too, and twice now stick debris has gotten wedged into the dual hydro drive pulley - vibrates a lot when this happens so I know to shut down and fix.

That's funny. I bet I've run over stuff an inch in dia. with my old machine with no issues.
We may be related!

 

[Buckeye Guy]

I went to my local Ferris dealer yesterday and we discussed the design changes between my 1000Z and the newer models. I noticed that while mowing with the 2100 with it's ICD sloped front mower deck that sticks/junk tend to ride up on top of the mower deck, while my old 1000Z square front deck causes the sticks to go under the deck to get chopped up.
I'm wondering if that's what is causing the problem?????
I'm thinking about adding a vertical or sloped forward plate attached to the front of my 2100 deck to help direct sticks, etc. to go under rather than over the deck.
I don't think this would negatively effect the ICD design. Thoughts?

I wouldn't think it would hurt anything at all. Let me know if you do something like that, I mow around hundreds of trees so I'm always mowing sticks myself. My rule of thumb is if it's the diameter of my fingers or less, I mow over it

 

[Notforhire]

UPDATE.

I was able to get my new hydro oil and I vented and filled the two drive units. Other than the vent being a little hard to reach, everything went smoothly. Filter change was also trouble free. Hydro gear provided some instructions for purging all the air and that went well.
It doesn't appear that any damage was done due to the broken fan.
My wife and I mowed about 2 acres with the machine and it worked fine.
Lesson learned. Be careful running over sticks.

Before breaking my son's mower again, I returned it to him.
I hate messing up borrowed equipment!

I purchased a new Ferris ISX 2200 mower. It's much like my son's mower except for the updated suspension and Vanguard instead of Kawasaki engine. The new mower is also a 52 inch deck instead of a 61 like my previous mower.
Because of the narrower deck the rear tires aren't as wide, the downside being less traction on hills and slopes. Not a deal killer, just different.
The ride is even better than the 2100 which I found to be pretty good for a ZT.

When I get time I'll look into deck mods. to help feed sticks under rather than over the mower deck.

 

[DK35vince]

I have a Snapper Pro s200xt with the ICD mower deck and did the exact same thing last summer.
Stick went up over the mower deck and took the fan blades off my left side fan.