Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Lawn Tractor - Steering, shaft assembly, gear sector

Question
Hi Marc,
I have a Craftsman 18.5 Hp lawn tractor. The steering on the machine is extremely loose. It appears to be due to a sloppy fit between the shaft assembly gear and the 'fan shaped' gear sector. I spoke to a couple of repair people about this and they mentioned that this  is a common problem with Sear's tractors. And, they didn't even want to touch it, because it is difficult to get at the linkage and the problem reoccurs so frequently. They advised complaining to Sear (MTD?)
Do you know of a fairly permanent solution to the problem? As I understand it, with parts and labour, it's about a $300.00 job. Have you also heard that this is a Craftsman problem?
Regards,
Mike

Answer
I don't think it's specifically a Sears issue but more of a poor design issue from whichever company built it for Sears.  There are many lower quality brands that have these types of issues.  They are just not robust enough to survive the long haul.  To implement a permanent solution, you would need to reinforce the area on the chassis where the steering shaft (pinion) goes into and where the half-moon shaped (rack) gear rotates with steel plates and install either bearings or good quality bushings.  Then you would replace both gears with new ones and keep everything greased.  This would be a custom repair that person with fabricating ability would have to handle.  

As for what the shops are telling you...this is a difficult and time consuming repair because the engine likely needs to be removed to gain access to the steering mechanism.

Hope this helps.