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What do you guys think about the new Steering Wheel Zero Turn?


Scott B

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First, I love my Z6. Its the best investment I've made in a while.

 

At the rate of innovation that EGO has demonstrated, It was only a matter of time before they delivered on a 4 wheel steering zero turn platform.

 

Cub Cadet has already delivered on the whole steering wheel zero turn thing. And not surprisingly, Cub Cadet's steering wheel zero turn is as ugly as EGOs.

 

I'll be blunt, this steering wheel not only looks stupid, the idea of ditching lap bars for a wheel is a non starter. Especially when compared to zero turn sticks and how well they operate for speed, direction and forward/reverse motion.

 

Give us 4 wheel steering, yes. But do it with lap bars, not a steering wheel.

 

Here's hoping that EGO will be porting this technology to their lap bar zero turn model. It would be the world's first lap bar zero turn with 4 wheel steering.

 

Anyway, what do you guys speculate as to how they are controlling the front caster steering?

 

From the pics we've seen, it doesn't appear that the casters have any external parts that are different from the current Z6. If that holds, the best guess I can come up with is that they have embedded a small, high torque DC motor into the caster fork spindle shroud and mated it directly to the caster fork.

 

In terms of control, it would appear that each spindle motor has a potentiometer that is used to set and report its position back to the main controller circuit. The same controller circuit already reads the lap bar position in order to control the speed and direction of the rear wheels. Adding the front caster DC motors to this circuit should be trivial for the EGO engineers. I bet they have been sitting on this tech for a while. Seems like a no brainer - but ditch that ugly steering wheel!

 

Thoughts?

Screen Shot 2022-09-13 at 5.26.13 PM.png

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Good question on the front wheels but love the whole idea.  I am with you about the steering wheel, not a huge fan.  However I do get it because a lot of homeowners are turned off by the lap bars.  Some homeowners are reluctant and intimidated by the bars.  So I think that is the reason that Ego is entertaining a steering wheel.  Personally I like the bars as I feel they are easier and more comfortable.  I think most people would agree, if they just gave it a chance.  Overall, I love Ego.

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