Riding Mower - One Blade Harder to Turn - Feels Weak When Actually Mowing Grass

[opeepingtomo]

Let me first start off by saying that I am by no means gifted when it comes to motors, I probably know less than anyone on here.
That being said this is also my first post, so thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some help!

Lawn Tractor Details:
Shop Troy-Bilt XP Horse XP 22 HP Single Cylinder Hydrostatic 46-in Riding Lawn Mower at Lowes.com

The mower has been like this for a while now. The time when I remember it first starting is when I hit a root when I was not familiar with my yard yet. After that happened, when i turned the blades on it just squeaked, but after turning them off and back on they seemed to catch and starting spinning again. The mower starts perfectly fine and also seems to sound/run fine when not cutting grass.

That being said, i started noticing that the mower felt weak, or maybe rough, when mowing grass that i would consider only medium length.
I thought it was probably just a bent blade so when i had time i finally removed the deck and have it a good cleaning, as well as replaced the blades.
Please note the only other maintenance I have performed so far on this machine is I changed the oil/filter and replaced the air filter.

At this point I noticed that one blade would spin pretty much freely with a push, and the other was harder to turn. This makes sense because when you actually engage the blades, you hear a really short squeak sometimes, which i think is probably due to the one blade being harder to turn.

So although i don't know much about this kind of stuff, would i be far off to consider that the mower has a rough time when actually cutting the grass because it is having to work harder to turn one of the blades already, and the added resistance from the grass is what is making it feel weak and run so rough?

Any ideas on what this might be and if it is worth fixing/having fixed?

Thanks again.

 

[mechanic mark]

Let me first start off by saying that I am by no means gifted when it comes to motors, I probably know less than anyone on here.
That being said this is also my first post, so thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some help!

Lawn Tractor Details:
Shop Troy-Bilt XP Horse XP 22 HP Single Cylinder Hydrostatic 46-in Riding Lawn Mower at Lowes.com

The mower has been like this for a while now. The time when I remember it first starting is when I hit a root when I was not familiar with my yard yet. After that happened, when i turned the blades on it just squeaked, but after turning them off and back on they seemed to catch and starting spinning again. The mower starts perfectly fine and also seems to sound/run fine when not cutting grass.

That being said, i started noticing that the mower felt weak, or maybe rough, when mowing grass that i would consider only medium length.
I thought it was probably just a bent blade so when i had time i finally removed the deck and have it a good cleaning, as well as replaced the blades.
Please note the only other maintenance I have performed so far on this machine is I changed the oil/filter and replaced the air filter.

At this point I noticed that one blade would spin pretty much freely with a push, and the other was harder to turn. This makes sense because when you actually engage the blades, you hear a really short squeak sometimes, which i think is probably due to the one blade being harder to turn.

So although i don't know much about this kind of stuff, would i be far off to consider that the mower has a rough time when actually cutting the grass because it is having to work harder to turn one of the blades already, and the added resistance from the grass is what is making it feel weak and run so rough?

Any ideas on what this might be and if it is worth fixing/having fixed?

Thanks again.

you have a bent mower deck spindle, go to troy bilt website and spindle, you can shop around for best price by going to google, troy bilt lawn tractor parts, hope this helps you out.

 

[opeepingtomo]

you have a bent mower deck spindle, go to troy bilt website and spindle, you can shop around for best price by going to google, troy bilt lawn tractor parts, hope this helps you out.

Thank you, and that makes sense that it would be that part. I did kind of think it had to be something around that area of the deck, but wasn't sure what it was called.

So does that make sense that due to the bent spindle the mower would have a rough time when mowing anything other than short grass?

Thanks again!

 

[dodgefate]

Stupid thing, but there might be a blade brake on the one pully...... I know that all of my mowers have had them.

 

[mechanic mark]

Thank you, and that makes sense that it would be that part. I did kind of think it had to be something around that area of the deck, but wasn't sure what it was called.

So does that make sense that due to the bent spindle the mower would have a rough time when mowing anything other than short grass?

Thanks again!

yes,definately

 

[possum]

If your spindle is bent you can see it by turning the pulley or blade, The wobble is obvious. Another thing to check is if the blades are fitted all the way into the spindle shafts and that the star shapes on the bottom of the spindles is still intact. Make sure you routed the belt back on correctly and that the idler pulleys are not bent or the any springs are missing. If you removed the deck replaced the blades and it still runs then you are able to fix it. Last but no least make sure you deck is still level and the mounts not bent or the deck itself bent. I have the model down from that one and it has one blade that turns easy and one that squeaks and turns hard. It is the blade brake that squeaks.

 

[opeepingtomo]

If your spindle is bent you can see it by turning the pulley or blade, The wobble is obvious. Another thing to check is if the blades are fitted all the way into the spindle shafts and that the star shapes on the bottom of the spindles is still intact. Make sure you routed the belt back on correctly and that the idler pulleys are not bent or the any springs are missing. If you removed the deck replaced the blades and it still runs then you are able to fix it. Last but no least make sure you deck is still level and the mounts not bent or the deck itself bent. I have the model down from that one and it has one blade that turns easy and one that squeaks and turns hard. It is the blade brake that squeaks.

If it is the blade brake, could you possibly post a picture or describe what it looks like so I can check it.
Sorry, like i said, I am not the most gifted person when it comes to this stuff. Im pretty good and taking things apart and putting back together and technical things (network admin) but that is where my knowledge begins and ends when it comes to this.


Thanks so much again everyone for the help.

 

[mechanic mark]

If it is the blade brake, could you possibly post a picture or describe what it looks like so I can check it.
Sorry, like i said, I am not the most gifted person when it comes to this stuff. Im pretty good and taking things apart and putting back together and technical things (network admin) but that is where my knowledge begins and ends when it comes to this.


Thanks so much again everyone for the help.

hope this helps you out: Parts and Diagrams for Troy-Bilt 13WX79KT011 Horse XP (2011)

 

[opeepingtomo]

hope this helps you out: Parts and Diagrams for Troy-Bilt 13WX79KT011 Horse XP (2011)

Haha, thanks, it does, but I am not sure where the blade-brake is. Is the blade brake something that can be adjusted to be fixed or would it have to be replaced?

 

[mechanic mark]

Haha, thanks, it does, but I am not sure where the blade-brake is. Is the blade brake something that can be adjusted to be fixed or would it have to be replaced?

blade brake is on inside of right spindle mounted to deck, item 5 in ipb,illustrated parts breakdown, it looks like a bracket, fastened to deck with 1 bolt and a self locking nut, so yes, it can be adjusted for proper positioning and clearance.