Repairs Mower won't stop in gear

[Blane]

My Troy-Bilt Horse won't stop if it's in gear but will in neutral. It's an automatic pedal drive but has a high, low and reverse shift pattern. It has a brake on the trans cover that is adjusted fine ( stops when pedal is pushed). Makes me think it has an internal brake. Just asking before i take the trans apart. Thank you very much for any thoughts. P.S model# 14AT80H766

 

[Brad66]

Look underneath at the drive belt and make sure the belt has not slipped off one of the idlers. You may have to drop the deck so you can get a really good look.

 

[Blane]

Look underneath at the drive belt and make sure the belt has not slipped off one of the idlers. You may have to drop the deck so you can get a really good look.

Thank you. Found out that the pulley on the motor was to tight, took it off and spread it out with a punch and hammer.

 

[click]

I have a similar problem.
Can you tell me how you identified and fixed the problem?
I don't understand what you mean with "took it off and spread it out with a punch and hammer"
Thanks

 

[bertsmobile1]

What he is saying is the cured the symptoms by doing a bodge and did nothing to fix the problem.
When you hit the brake/clutch a tensioning pulley moves off the drive belt to allow it to go slack enough to ride on the engine pulley and not be driven by it.
So instead of getting the correct amount of slack in the belt he hammered the sides of the pulley apart thus making the drive diameter smaller so the belt then had enough slack to slip.
Remove the battery , drain the fuel and slip the deck out.
Hoist the mower up till it is standing on the back so you have a clear view of what is going on.
Alternatively you can put the mower on tall axel stands but it is a lot easier to see what is happening & work on the mower standing up than laying under it constantly getting dirt & muck in your face.
Reach around the front and work the clutch/brake pedal and you will see a small tensioning pulley moving back & forth it is usually plastic and about 4" diameter.
To work properly this pulley must allow enough slack in the drive belt to allow the drive belt to slip freely on the engine pulley.
Check all of the links & pins you will most likely some flogged out which prevent the tensioning pulley moving far enough or accumulations of grass and dirt peventing them from moving fully.
On most mowers there is an adjustment to alter the distance the tensioning pulley moves.
There will be another adjustment on the brake itself which might need tightening a bit to increase the braking force applied to the mower

 

[click]

Thanks Mate.

I've tried to put it on it's hind legs but the design of the body makes hard to do that without damaging the back of the body.
Any suggestions short of taking the whole body apart?

What he is saying is the cured the symptoms by doing a bodge and did nothing to fix the problem.
When you hit the brake/clutch a tensioning pulley moves off the drive belt to allow it to go slack enough to ride on the engine pulley and not be driven by it.
So instead of getting the correct amount of slack in the belt he hammered the sides of the pulley apart thus making the drive diameter smaller so the belt then had enough slack to slip.
Remove the battery , drain the fuel and slip the deck out.
Hoist the mower up till it is standing on the back so you have a clear view of what is going on.
Alternatively you can put the mower on tall axel stands but it is a lot easier to see what is happening & work on the mower standing up than laying under it constantly getting dirt & muck in your face.
Reach around the front and work the clutch/brake pedal and you will see a small tensioning pulley moving back & forth it is usually plastic and about 4" diameter.
To work properly this pulley must allow enough slack in the drive belt to allow the drive belt to slip freely on the engine pulley.
Check all of the links & pins you will most likely some flogged out which prevent the tensioning pulley moving far enough or accumulations of grass and dirt peventing them from moving fully.
On most mowers there is an adjustment to alter the distance the tensioning pulley moves.
There will be another adjustment on the brake itself which might need tightening a bit to increase the braking force applied to the mower

 

[bertsmobile1]

rope around the front axel over a tree branch post etc etc.
I have a yard crane so I just hoist the front up till it is high enough.
I git this idea from a friend who uses an old engine removal tripod.
I tried using an engine crane like you would buy from Harbour Freight which I had but it did not lift high enough.
For a while I used a rope around a pulley hanging off the balcony
Then I got the yard crane.
I have never found a mower that could not be stood flat on its bum without damage as most are designed so you can bump into things when reversing.

 

[RAMOhio]

Sorry for bumping a really old thread, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in here. After over a year trying to fix my 2004 Troy Bilt Super Bronco and spending I don't even know how much money on it (love this mower, wasn't wanting to give it up no matter what), I was finally able to get the brakes to start working again.

Turns out, the belt I eyeballed at the store was a little too short. Replaced the belt with one I ordered online after finally tracking down exactly what type of mower I had (thanks to a few other websites and a guy on JustAnswer - I was way off, I kept thinking it was a Troy Bilt Bronco between 2008-2010) to figure out the part number, and with the information here, my mower finally works!

I love this mower and was almost ready to completely give up despite not wanting to, now she's fixed and ready to go. No more dealing with my 2018 Craftsman T1200 (it's an alright mower but the old Troy Bilt runs circles around it in every way). Cleaned her off and at least with all the work I put in before I found this forum with the real fix, I now have brand new grease in my freshly cleaned transaxle, new brake pucks/pads, new rotor (although the pads/rotor took a hell of a beating during testing before finding this thread, so those are likely going to be replaced again soon lol), and she's all tuned up.

Thanks x1,000 guys! Extremely happy my favorite mower is back in service.

Edit: also holding the mower up using a strap and a tree works amazing, thanks for that as well, hated pulling out the jack stands and jack every time I tried to fix it. So much easier to just lift it up and hook it, much more visibility and room to work as well. I didn't like when I'd rolled it on its side in the past and it was hard to lift back up without slamming it down the last couple feet, and the strap/tree method solves so many issues I had with putting it on its side (or back, which it didn't want to stay due to a bagger attachment thing that's bolted up to it even with bagger removed.)