When your riding lawn mower pulls to the left or the right or has trouble making tight turns, the front end is obviously the place to start looking.
The first easy thing to check is the tire pressures. On most riding lawn mowers, there should be 15lbs of air on each side. If one is low, it will pull to that side.
The next thing to check is for any bent suspension parts. The tie rods are a common item that gets bent when you hit something with the tire. These can be adjusted or replaced if they are really badly bent.
Also check the wheel bushings or bearing to be sure that they are not worn out. Most riding lawn mowers use an aluminum or brass bushing in a steel wheel with a steel axle. This bushing will wear out before the axle does. It is cheaper to replace bushings than axles.
Sometimes you will get an issue with “toe in” where both wheels are pointing inward. This will tear up the grass and cause the tight turns to tear up the grass as well. You can adjust this with the tie rod adjusters and correct that problem.
If you are still having problems with your riding lawn mower pulling to one side, visit our Locations page for a shop near you.