Took my steering apart today to have a look at what I could do about the loose steering. Here's the bushing with the oval hole.
Brought the steering shaft with me and went to my Husqvarna dealer to get a new bushing thinking I wasn't going to re-invent the wheel. When he gave me the new one I tried it on, it was tighter but still had a bit of play, way less than the old one but still had play. So I asked if they would happen to have a brass bushing that would fit over the shaft. The guy went out back and 30 seconds came out front with a brass bushing that fit really tight on the shaft, but couldn't push it all the way down because of a burr on the shaft. I bought the bushing to see what I could do with it.
When I got home I filed the burr on the shaft and the bushing slid right down to the gear.
Then I decided to try and fit that hexagonal shape into the old bushing so I reemed it out to ⅞" then proceeded to melt six equadistant notches in the round hole, to my surprise after about 5 minutes the bushing was in place. Didn't even have a chance to take a picture without the bushing because the last time I tried for fit it ended up real snug into place so there it stayed.
So put everything together to see how it would fit and bam! As tight as a walrus in a seal. Now I just have a little bit of play at the top bushing near the steering wheel. It doesn't affect the steering per say but does rattle a bit.
I'm a happy camper, I'll be able to mow my lawn in a straight line again.