Craftsman 917.270412 riding mower won't move -transaxle, clutch?

I have a Craftsman 917.270412 riding mower, from about 1999. I've been doing a bunch of work on it this week and it just developed a problem that I fear may be fatal (to it, not me, hopefully.) It won't move forward or reverse, no matter what gear I put it in. The drive belt from the engine to the pulley atop the transaxle is functioning. The gear selector lever is moving the post that comes out of the top of the transaxle. The mower just won't move, as if it's in neutral.

I had both rear wheels off this week, to put tubes in the tires that were no longer holding air. One wheel came off fine, but the other was frozen in place and required a great deal of banging and swearing to get it off, and, to a lesser degree, get it back on. I don't know if all the banging plays into the current problem. (The keys in the axles are in their proper place; I have seen that mentioned as a potential problem.)

After reassembling the mower, I drove it around the yard and everything seemed fine. However, this morning I fired it up and threw it in gear and it only went about 6 feet forward, slowly, and stopped. Tried it in reverse and got about 18 inches, then nothing. I've lifted the rear off the ground and both rear tires spin freely, no matter what gear it's in.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Jim

Lift the rear end off the ground. Set the brake and try turning the wheels. I think you forgot to put the keys back into the axles before putting the wheels back on.

Nope, didn't forget the keys. But one of the wheels is spinning on the axle anyway. It was the one that was frozen up and I had a tough time getting it off and back on. Must have bunged up the key somehow. I'll find out when I get it off again. Thanks.

BlazNT said:

Lift the rear end off the ground. Set the brake and try turning the wheels. I think you forgot to put the keys back into the axles before putting the wheels back on.

Click to expand...

OK,

If you have a manual transmission then your banging & crashing may have broken a pin or link in the box.
If you have broken the drive on one side the diff will just slip.
Good news is most of the bits are available for most of the boxes.
On the tranny there should be a sticker with the makers name & model number.

To give you good information we need to know what type of transmission you have in there

Great info. Thanks.

I looked it up and it might be a 6 speed manual.