One other question for you owners of 990s is this. I haven't had time to do much at all to the tractor as of yet (routine maintenence) I have checked all fluids already but haven't drained and changed filters yet, nor have I greased anything, but I only has driven it 10 minutes since buying it.
Do these things steer like a tank? I have a 318 with power steering, but had a 316 without it as well and it didn't steer half as hard as this thing does. You really have to give it some grunt to turn the wheel even when moving. Are they notoriously difficult to turn or do I just need to really grease her up bad.
I am currently giving a fourteen hundred series 960 some new breath on life. If you are unfamiliar, the 960 differs from the 990 only in that the frame is deisgned a bit diff from the dash rearward and is about 5" shorter. Hydrostatic was not an option in lou of a belt driven transaxle. ...and naturally, more stylized fenders.
Anywho, the front ends are the same. mine did steer very easily. directional changes took little effort on the steering wheel. So, I think that yours may need a good lube-up or something. My problem was that the turning radious was greater then the Titanic. I got this old girl to chug along woodland trails dragging timber for my bon-fire pit. So, some twisty parts became multi-point turns.
:Stop:
Then, out in the woods, the tabs on the spindles that the tie rod ends bolt to decided to fold down under at extreme angles, causing the balls in the joints to pop out of their sockets. In the woods, i jaqcked er up and wailed on the tabs to bend them back up. they wouldnt budge. So i replaced the ties rod ends with brand new pieces that lasted 5 minutes before popping out just like the 40 year old originals. I gave up and dragged it out of the woods with a Fourtrax, forcing one hub and tire completely off, bending both spindle ends up and losing the tie rod completely. Now I am trying to find a beefier axel to swap out that has or will accept beefier spindles and tie rod ends. Anyone have any adice as to which direction that I should head? Ive taken all of the measurements to replace the whole axel with something more robust that woul dhave stronger spindles and steering tabs. Money is tight so I have also taken the measurements to replace just the spindles if i can find some that seem much stronger...