Mower drive problems

I may have found my issue. See pics and page from manual. Item 226 is "Bracket Mount Torque". If you look there are to be t screws item 125 that come in from the front through item 80 "Bracket Strap Torque" and then there are two more screws item 125 that come from the top and through the two hole in the top of item 226. Well as you'll see in the one picture, item 226 (angle) the two hole in the top are mangled up. There are also seration marks from screws that once were there. So no screw and I cannot figure out what those top 2 screws (item 125) screwed into? Does anyone know? It looks like in the one picture looking from the ground up that two cast aluminum fins on the housing are broken. Is there to be something there to bolt onto with the angle bracket item 226? Looks like I'll be fabbing up something to stabilize the torque as it appears the belt coming off is attributed to the axle rotating forward. Anyone disagree? Who would have designed those thin fins to take the torque? I'm sure the two screws came loose and the vibration busted the fins (if they were there). Oh well, out to the garage.

Again I apologize if I semed to hijack the thread. At first I thought we had a common problem. I'm going to copy this on my original post on the topic.

Thanks to all!






PDF of manual showing item 226 http://www.fairlanet.com/images/lgt2654 chassis.pdf

Found the real issue. The two bolts tha tcome from the top through the angle bracket actually thread into the upper half of the rear housing. These two bolts were sheared flush. So I pulled the rear axle and drilled out the broken bolts and actually installed heli-coils. I'm going to use studs and loc-tite them in and use nuts and lock washers to fasten the axle to the angle bracket. Piece of cake. I also notice the two flanges on the frame where the acle bolts to is all but ripped off. It seem the axle was rotating forward and backward without the broken bolts and tore the sheet metal frame. So I'll weld them up tomorrow and back it up with some 1/8 thick angle iron. After that it should be solid as a rock again and the rear axle should not rotate fore or aft.

Thanks,

Ok, guys, I thank you for you help and wish to ask another question. Does anyone know if there is a Peerless or Hydro Gear replacement for the TuffTorq hydro transaxle I have in this mower. I have had a good deal of experience with these two transaxles and have very little bad to say abot either. But this TuffTorq, well from the info I have found on the web seems to suggest that they are just not dependable.

As this mower is a 54" cut and cuts very well I would like to keep it if possible, but really don't know that I want to deal with this TuffTorq transaxle.

I understand that this is a unanimous problem that consumers are having with this product. When I purchased the mower, I was concerned about the absence of hydraulic fluid drain and filler plugs; however, I took a chance. At ninety hours of normal use, the transmission will not reverse if there is ANY restriction and then, very slowly. It has no real power in forward mode either. This problem was obviously found in testing but Husqvarna elected to market the item anyway, likely because their transmission supplier was allowed to dupe them. The choice? Pass the duping on to the consumer. How can we fix this? Where would be a practical and safe spot to tap drain and filler plugs? It makes me furious when a mfgr does this. The very idea that the unit is "sealed" and "no user access" has always been a red flag for me but I guess I fell victim to good marketing efforts. I realize that these units are little more than an assembly of components purchased from various suppliers; however, Husqvarna sets the specs and does the testing. Is there ANY way for a consumer to get some repairs? Advice? Direction? Husq. should be hit with a class action suit, just to get their attention.

Can you take the hose off? Could use a siphon to pull the old stuff out and creativity tip the machine to fill? Rather than drilling because drilling makes metal shavings that could lead to worse problems