Help please on whether a 175 hydro is a good tractor.

johndeereg · Jun 25, 2013

THere is a 175 Hydro local to me for 650.00 with a bagger and 38" mower. It runs good and the mower engages nice. The hydro drive is a little jerky, but it may just be the lever itself sticking as it was harder to push than my Dad's 107 cub cadet. The only other thing I noticed was it was pretty hard to steer. It was as hard as my Dad's 107. Is that normal to need pretty much effort to steer this tractor? It looked like it had greece on the spindles. Any advice on what to look for on this tractor would be appreciated, and whether 650 is a good or bad deal. thanks!

johndeereg · Jun 25, 2013

Well it stopped back and looked at it some more. It ran really well, so I bought it for 600.00. Can't wait to try it out!

BBO · Jun 25, 2013

johndeereg said:
The only other thing I noticed was it was pretty hard to steer.

I know of one other that is fairly new and it has always been hard to steer.
I have not looked at it yet so I do not know what the deal is...

I am now curious about the steering problems with the 175 mower. It seems that several posts mention this. I am told it's just terribly hard to turn, and something makes them think the gear is binding; possibly cocked sideways from the tension.
Has anyone worked on this problem to know what is the deal?

Is this a bad design?