Inspecting travel motors and slew systems for play your go-to methods

[Navigator]

While I was in the shed with my John Deere, I noticed a slight wiggle in the travel motors and slew.
Let’s swap our go-to checks, handy tricks, and field-tested techniques for identifying play
before it leads to an expensive headache.

 

[Greenwrench]

Mine began with a small clunk whenever I turned, and I let it go on for way too long. When I finally looked at the motor mounts, I found some loose hardware. I fixed it before it got worse, and now it runs smoothly instead of sounding like it’s chewing on rocks.

 

[myBarnside]

Spotted that wobble while I was washing mine and knew it wasn’t just dirt rattling around. A quick check with a pry bar revealed worn pins that were starting to oval out. I replaced them before it turned into a huge repair bill and a lengthy, awkward call to the parts counter.

 

[Yorick]

Noticed a little wiggle last season when I was greasing up and it made my stomach drop. Turned out it was just loose mounting bolts and some worn bushings making noise. I tightened everything up early and avoided a really expensive headache

 

[Papayak1ng]

While I was in the shed with my John Deere, I noticed a slight wiggle in the travel motors and slew.

these are usually the signs of early wear in bearings, gears, or mounting bolts. you need to check the hydraulic oil for metal flakes, monitoring case drain flow to distinguish motor from swivel joint issues, and checking sprocket bolts for tightness

 

[Navigator]

these are usually the signs of early wear in bearings, gears, or mounting bolts. you need to check the hydraulic oil for metal flakes, monitoring case drain flow to distinguish motor from swivel joint issues, and checking sprocket bolts for tightness

Solid advice there. Keeping an eye out for metal in the oil is a quick way to tell if something's going wrong. And thanks for the tip on monitoring case drain flow I hadn’t considered that before