Cost of a Turf Tiger Drive Shaft

[Shady Brook]

Anyone know how much a Turf Tiger Drive shaft costs? I do!:blob4:

Bad wobble today, real bad, drive shaft was cobbed. The parts man handed me a new shaft, and told me it was $325! Hum, not much to it to cost that much. It was frozen on also, but managed to fight it off with much exersion and penatrateiing oil. The box said update, and a mechanic said they had problems with them as well. Guess who was not told about the update before the warentee went out. Seems kind of rotton to know you have a fautly product, and then stick your customer with the bill. Scag should cover this stuff as far as I am concerned. The mechanic also said that around the clutch on the frame, cracks often form. Oh boy, bet that will be cheap. Nice cracks on the welds under the motor anyhow, so why not. I am the only one who uses this beast, I work it hard but do not abuse it. I should not have hydro problems, and driveshaft failures with normal use. I only have about 750 hours on her. Maybe I am asking to much.

Oh, I heard that Gravely has full two year warrentees on their commercial stuff. Is there any other company with a two year commercial warrentee?

Hate to be a complainer, but this stuff is hurtin me bad.

Take care
Jay

[TLS]

Thats about how much John Deere charged for my "many" deck drive shafts for my F-935. The splines would always wear out and wobble. It was greased every morning.

[eggy]

I used to be a big Scag fan ,now the only thing I like about them is my dealer....I hope someday he get the DC line .......I think a simple mower seems much better with fewer problems...Hey have you replaced the electric clutch on that yet?...everyone around here has.....

[Shady Brook]

Eggy, how much is the clutch? I figer about 5,000 dollars. :) Mine has not been replaced yet, I actually thought that is what the problem was. Had a bolt missing out of her, I figure it is only a matter of time before it goes. I am intrested in the cost if you remember. I like my dealer too, but do not know how long I can wait with the money pit. I was fearful the gear box was toast with all the wobbling. If I had an exmark, or chopper, I would not have a driveshaft to fail.

Jay

[eggy]

To be honest mine got covered under warranty...however a freind of mine just had his replaced out of warranty and I do belive he said it was around $350.00 What is funny is that with the Scag bagger you get a "heavy duty electric clutch" showing that they are aware the ones out there are junk....Thay had a drive shaft recall like you said (or did you) this winter.......some I guess didnt get heat treated......I do really like my dealer however I would like to run doubles all the time...I ran them for a while and could just tell...(yes I dont know how) That I would burn the electric clutch out quick.....I would like a stripping kit...emailed scag where to find one ..no response......Like I said scag should be kissing my dealers butt for his work in keeping thismcustomer with there product.....

[Shady Brook]

The mechanic mentioned the recall in an off hand way. Nice I was told by scag, and or my dealer. :angry: I think everything on the Tiger is 300 or more, so that sounds about right for the clutch. Do they use these same clutches on other riders like exmark, or Dixie? I have run doubles some also, but I too can tell that this is straining the clutch. It is just to much for it. Hey, where are you located eggy?
Jay

[Runner]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shady Brook

Oh, I heard that Gravely has full two year warrentees on their commercial stuff. Is there any other company with a two year commercial warrentee?

I know that Exmark does. I'm sure there are some others out there.

[eggy]

In Seymour, I noticed you are in Indiana also, Scag is very popular ere really for the dealer I belive then for the performance. The dixie chopper is a manual clutch from the info I gathered, also they allow you to run double blades, offer a stripping kit, and have a handy discharge, but boy they are a ugly mower, Does your Scag leave a lot of stringers????? I notice a few blades of grass here and there it tends to leave even with the sharpest blades. I went to look at adding a 48 inch tiger cub too, however was informed that the tiger cub will be completly redone this winter for a new model, because this years was well, awful. I got to give my dealer credit he does watch out for us, but I just wish he carried a different line also.

[Shady Brook]

The exmark literature I have says it is 1 year entire product, 2 year drive system and engine, and 3 year spindle. Is that still true, or is it now 2 years entire product?

My Tiger does leave some stringers. Certain conditions it cuts nice, others, well not so good. I heard the Cub is better then the Tiger in a sense, because it does not have a drive shaft that drives the blades. I would not doubt they have other problems.

Eggy, were you notified by Scag or someone about a recall on the driveshaft? If there was a true recall, and I was not informed, I need to be reembuirsed I think.

I live way north of you eggy, I have a buddy who lives down in Mitchell. I think that is probably fairly near ya.

Thanks for all your help.

Jay

[Eng Mwr Guy]

The clutch in question was misapplied. If the correct clutch is used there will be no issue. I guess the new clutch on the new Gravely WB's should be called "heavy duty gorrilla tough" because I have a letter supporting the application for a 2 full year warranty.

Not dotting & crossing costs everyone money.

Scag seems to have been in a hurry lately.

Barry
Gravely / Ariens Guy
(Just down the road from Metalcraft aka mayville metal products aka Scag)

[eggy]

My turf tiger is a little over two years old, and yes Scag sent me a letter regarding the drive shaft recall, however according to them it was only a certain batch.......The advatage deck was not around yet when I bought mine, however I do belive the advantage deck came about due to everyone yelling about the stringers.....Mitchell is not very far from here at all, about 40 miles, I am expanding into the Bedford area next year which is somewhat close to Mitchell......eggy

[Shady Brook]

eggy, did you get the drive shaft for free then? Just currios.
Thanks
Jay

[eggy]

Yes it was on Scag...it does seem like you got the bad end of Scags error.........

[odin]

Hi jay

Guys i wonder why the scagg walk behinds are so much better than the turf tigers ?we have a 36 in. ultimate with standard and it is worked hard but no problems.Same thing with our 52 inch stiff deck which is and advantage deck these two mow and stripe beautifully and no wheel motor problems or clutch problems.

EGGY i once purchased a spitz dog from a breeder in seymour in.
forgot there name ,nice town down there

[Stonewall]

I got my drive shaft for $235 or so and installed it myself.

[Craig Turf Management]

My Turf Tiger is a 2000 model, and I got a letter early this spring regarding the recalled shaft. I set up an appointment, and had the shaft replaced free of charge by my dealer. I think the issue was some drive shafts weren't heat treated, and were failing. Don't know if your's falls into this category, but you should find out and press the issue with your dealer and/or the manufacturer. I haven't had any problems with my Tiger YET, but SCAG should be concerned with the bad press that they are receiving from this site alone.
Let us know what you find out.

Take care, Bill Craig

[Shady Brook]

Thanks for all the info guys.

My Tiger was purchased in 2000, but I will have to see if it qualifies. I sent out an email to scag, but will probably call them later today as it is raining here. $235 for a driveshaft, sounds like I got the Shaft either way paying 325.

Odin, I know what you mean about the walkbehinds. I have been pretty pleased with scags quality here, another reason why I went with the Tiger. Oh well hopefully we learn from these mistakes.

Jay

[eggy]

I emailed scag about a stripping kit and well.....lets see I am waiting and waiting...hmmmm

[Martino]

Jay:

First thing I would do is find out if your dealer sent in the warranty registration when you bought your mower. This is where mfgs. get addresses of the buyers of recalled equipment. Ask your dealer....if he says that he has, then he will be happy to verify this by finding out from Scag with a phone call if they have the registration on file. If they do, then Scag dropped the ball by not getting in touch with you. In this case, I can't imagine Scag not covering the warranty. If they do not have it on file, then your dealer probably did not send it in, and I would hold him responsible for the repair. If he insists that he did send it in (lost in the mail, etc.), ask him to file a disputed warranty claim. This is something that most mfgs. have for equipment that is out of warranty, but may have special circumstances that the mfg. will cover. Also, bring the distributor rep into the loop...often the distributor will pay all or some of the claim for goodwill purposes. Someone should pay....just not you!

[Shady Brook]

Thanks Martino

I just got off the phone with Scag. Talked to a super nice fella Rob, very helpful. Found out that the warranty card was never sent to scag, so they did not know how to contact me. Said the replacement program ended in September. Imagine that! But he said he would see that it was taken care of. He will contact the distributer who will contact me and the dealer, and see that it is all resolved. I was very pleased with his service, even though finding the number to call was not all that convienient. Not to happy with the dealer. The parts guy should have known about the drive shaft issue, at least by memo. Seems like many failures along the way, but my dealer seems to be the problem here, not scag. Scag said there was only about 1% with the problem.... Sounds like I was a lucky winner.:D

To top it off I asked about the bolt that holds my cluch in place. I used the one the mechanic suggested, and the parts guy gave me. Threaded unusually hard, I stopped after a while, thinking something is not right. Yep, it was not a 5/16, it is a metric! Hope it is not cobbed now. Ya got to love that quality service. At least one mechanic let me borrow a allen wrench while I lay under my Tiger in the gravel changing something the dealer should have done for free..

Thanks for all your help, you guys are great, and this site is the BEST!
Jay

[Martino]

Jay:

Glad they are taking care of you! Most good companies would have made sure that the customer is satisfied in this case, regardless of the "deadline". Pretty good lesson here, as well, as to how important it is to have the warranty registrations on file with the mfgs. Most dealers include this as part of the service you receive in doing biz with them .....didn't happen in this case, but I'll bet the dealer is more vigilant in the future. Everyone needs to make sure that they keep their copies of the registration as long as you use the machine.....just in case you may need proof of puchase date, etc.

[eggy]

Must have been all in Indiana because my dealer replaced a bunch.....hmmm

[tranum]

$235 for the shaft??? thats a great deal. the THREE that i went thru were $377.00 each(including tax) plus $321.00 for a gear box the vibration took out. the %#$%% dealer i bought it from just shrugged his shoulders. turns out my real problem (or frustration)was caused by the dealer. he kept telling me he had filed warranty & would "help me when scag helped him". after months of this b/s i talked with scag & the distributor. dist said they did not have any warranty claims from my dealer on this s/n machine. after about 30 days of correspondence with dist he sent me to another dealer, got my problems resolved & the $$$ back in my pocket. needless to say i have a "new" dealer, & great appreciation for the tennessee dist. i've been in the maintenance business for most all of my adult life & dealt w/warranty issues on tractor/trailers for about 18 years. 2 things i've learned. 1) if man makes it, it will break. 2)the guy that sold it to you is the beginning of the line, not the end. BTW, the guy i bought it from, is no longer a scag dealer.

[Albemarle Lawn]

I think I'll take my Gravely 260Z belt drive any day. Going on my third season with a 260Z 72" and haven't replaced a belt yet.

I remeber looking at the Scag. The dealer would explain that the machine costs so much because of heavy-duty features like shaft drive to the deck. Sounds like the shaft drive insn't just expensive to buy, its expensive to keep.

NO SCALP-a-SCAGS FOR ME!!!!

Ken

[Craig Turf Management]

Maybe we should have a SCAG rep take a look at this site and notice all of the unsatisfied customers with unresolved issues. I have a SCAG walk behind as well as a TURF TIGER. I haven't had many problems with my units, but reading all of the negative posts here, I'm afraid that it's just a matter of time. Come on SCAG, what's up with that?

Take care, Bill Craig

[eggy]

I have been bashing scag true,,however I will say in two years of sold use my turf tiger has been out only two days, for a new clutch and shaft, which sounds very common, however they are lacking in things such as stripping kits etc. This is no joke my dealer called scag and asked scag for info on a stripping kit, Scags response was...whats stripping? Is that a new way to mow??? That seemed to make me very uneasy......

[Shady Brook]

I don't want to knock Scag, I just sent out another e-mail yesterday eve, and have two quality responses. From my experience, the support has been stand up. I am actually very, very pleased with the communication, and actions that the Scag reps have taken. So far it seems to be a dealer failure in my case. I am not appologizing for Scag on some design flaws, or some negative experiences that others have had, I just want to make it clear that they have been great to me in this matter. I asked them about the frame cracks I have seen, and they told me that if it was in the area of the shaft, (which it is), it was probably caused by the shaft failure. He said have the dealer check it out, and let them know. Now we will see what the dealer says.

Take care guys
Jay