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My Craftsman Mid-engine rider, 536270290, runs great and the blade turns fine however, it will not go forward or backwards. With the engine off I can push the mower easily in neutral but not if I put it in any gear. With the engine running and the brake off the drive belt is turning but the drive pulley (PART NUMBER: 1401077) does not turn in any gear not even neutral. I noticed that the idler pulley (PART NUMBER: 1401252) is pulled over so far that it butts up against the frame but the belt feels tight enough to turn the drive pulley if there isn't a great deal of friction from the transmission. My questions are should the drive pulley on top of the tranny turn freely when the tranny is in neutral? What could keep the tranny locked up?
Thanks for all comments and suggestions.
Oggie

Does the transmission pulley turn freely by hand when the tranny is in neutral. Is the transmission drive belt tight with the brake/clutch disengaged.

Just saw your other post. I would say either a bearing on the input shaft is seized, or one of the internal shafts that is turned by the input shaft.

:smile: That mower has one of the simplest drive systems. Consisting of the belt and an idler pulley. With your statement, that the idler goes all the way to the frame, sounds to me like there is it much slack in the belt. There is an adjustment on the rod that controls the idler pulley tension. Belt number should be 37x110MA. When in neutral the trans pulley should not be turning. Remove the belt and see if you can push it in gear.

Buckshot 1 said:

:smile: That mower has one of the simplest drive systems. Consisting of the belt and an idler pulley. With your statement, that the idler goes all the way to the frame, sounds to me like there is it much slack in the belt. There is an adjustment on the rod that controls the idler pulley tension. Belt number should be 37x110MA. When in neutral the trans pulley should not be turning. Remove the belt and see if you can push it in gear.

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I can not push it in gear with the belt off. Also, after a day or two I start the mower and it works fine. After about 15 minutes the trans pulley stops turning but the drive belt is still turning. I can put it in neutral and push it back to the garage. Maybe the belt is stretching, I will replace it today. Any thoughts?

oggie said:

I can not push it in gear with the belt off. Also, after a day or two I start the mower and it works fine. After about 15 minutes the trans pulley stops turning but the drive belt is still turning. I can put it in neutral and push it back to the garage. Maybe the belt is stretching, I will replace it today. Any thoughts?

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I would take the deck off so you can see under it make sure the spring is still on the the little pulley.

Is your clutch/ brake pedal easy or hard to push down. When it stops take your foot and pull back on the brake if it goes to move then I would say bad spring. If your belt looks good then it's good they do not stretch

(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))

Carscw said:

I would take the deck off so you can see under it make sure the spring is still on the the little pulley.

Is your clutch/ brake pedal easy or hard to push down. When it stops take your foot and pull back on the brake if it goes to move then I would say bad spring. If your belt looks good then it's good they do not stretch

(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))

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:smile: I do not know if I will go along with belts not stretching. They do wear down, therefore changing the pitch and ride lower in the sheave, causing them it slip. oogie, you shoud be able to push that LT with the belt off and the brakeclutch pedal released. Check an see if the brake is releasing.

I set out to change the drive belt when I noticed that the drive pulley is very loose and floppy. I pulled the transaxle off and found the input shaft flopping around where I suppose there was a bearing. Sears diagram does not even give a part number for a transaxle nor an illustrated parts break down. The rest of the mower is in very good condition. My questions are : Where can I get a transaxle or parts to fix this one and where is the line between fixing or junking? Thanks

What I would do is find a used mower with a bad engine or deck A good place to look is a scrap recycling place People will scrap there mower if a plug wire falls off

(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))

oggie said:

I set out to change the drive belt when I noticed that the drive pulley is very loose and floppy. I pulled the transaxle off and found the input shaft flopping around where I suppose there was a bearing. Sears diagram does not even give a part number for a transaxle nor an illustrated parts break down. The rest of the mower is in very good condition. My questions are : Where can I get a transaxle or parts to fix this one and where is the line between fixing or junking? Thanks

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Most of those were peerless trannys. If a peerless there should be a small metal tag sitting in a recessed area on one side of the tranny or the other. It is about 3/8 by 1/2-3/4 Get me that number and I can see what I can find out as far as parts available.

:smile:Some Craftsmans had Dana/Foote transaxles. I repaired one that was doing the same thing as yours. Needle bearings for the input shaft wore out letting the shaft move around. 50$ kit later and new grease, repair done. Sears wanted 800$ to intall a new transaxle. Look under the brake rotor for a model number for the transaxle.

Forgot about the Spicer(dana/foote) trannys, could be one of those to.

ILENGINE said:

Most of those were peerless trannys. If a peerless there should be a small metal tag sitting in a recessed area on one side of the tranny or the other. It is about 3/8 by 1/2-3/4 Get me that number and I can see what I can find out as far as parts available.

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I did find the little tag, thank you. It is a Peerless 915 032a transaxle which I was able to find a parts site on the Sears web page. If you know of a better site please let me know. When I disassembled the tranny I found the input shaft needle bearing worn out and missing some of the roller bearings. I have removed and replace similar bearing in automobile drive shafts using a socket to knock out the old bearing. What do you recommend using to remove and replace this bearing? Thank you!

:smile: I use my press, when removing/install bearings. Find a wooden dowel or equivalent the same O.D. as the bearing and drive them out. Needle bearing # 780086, 2 required, O-Ring # 792001 1 required. The square cut O-ring must be replaced if the shaft is removed. Top needle bearing flush with housing, bottom needle bearing .135-.150 below flush. Go to odref.com/peerless/915-series for the your transaxle breakdown.

OK to drive out the old bearings, but you will want to press in the new ones, due to the fact that you may either deform the bearing, or knock out the needles if you try to drive the new one in.

ILENGINE said:

OK to drive out the old bearings, but you will want to press in the new ones, due to the fact that you may either deform the bearing, or knock out the needles if you try to drive the new one in.

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After seeing the needle bearings completely gutted of all the roller bearings I am convinced that they were the cause of the mover locking up. I replaced the two needle bearings and some seals in my tranny. After reassembly on the work bench I did a test by putting the flywheel on and spinning it by hand. Everything appeared to work and sound fine until I noticed that something jammed inside the tranny when I pulled up on the flywheel while turning it. It only pulled the input shaft up about 3/32 but that was enough to cause something to jam making turning the flywheel by hand imposable. When I lowered the flywheel it worked fine. I thought perhaps gravity would be on my side to keep the flywheel down so I installed it on the mower. When the drive belt was engaged nothing happed but a few jerky movements. The drive belt was not turning at all but it was connected and tensioned properly. I could put additional washers on the input shaft to keep it from raising but it seems to me that there must be something else out of whack because I cant see why the input shaft position would be so critical. I don稚 mind tearing into it again but I would like to get a professional advice as to what I did wrong. What do you guys recommend? Thanks,Oggie

:smile: When you opened up the trans, where did you set the bottom needle bearing? There is a thrust washer under the drive pulley and another thrust washer that goes on after the bottom seal and before the bevel gear. did you install these washers?

Buckshot 1 said:

:smile: When you opened up the trans, where did you set the bottom needle bearing? There is a thrust washer under the drive pulley and another thrust washer that goes on after the bottom seal and before the bevel gear. did you install these washers?

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I recessed the bottom needle bearing .140", however, I only put one thrust washer after the bottom seal and before the bevel gear. It calls for two but I only had one good one. These washers are pretty thin so I didn't think a few thousandths of an inch would matter at all. Was I very wrong in this assumption? Thanks, Oggie

oggie said:

I recessed the bottom needle bearing .140", however, I only put one thrust washer after the bottom seal and before the bevel gear. It calls for two but I only had one good one. These washers are pretty thin so I didn't think a few thousandths of an inch would matter at all. Was I very wrong in this assumption? Thanks, Oggie

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:smile: .140 will work. A few thousands of a inch will let the pinion gear float up and down, therefore possibly causing a bind. Unless I am incorrectly reading your post, there is only one thrust washer on the bottom and one on the top. You need to take the trans back apart and remove the one thrust washer, measure the thickness and I.D. and go to the hardware store and purchase 1 or 2. Some times they are called machinist washers. Then reassemble. You did install the top retaining ring?

Buckshot 1 said:

:smile: .140 will work. A few thousands of a inch will let the pinion gear float up and down, therefore possibly causing a bind. Unless I am incorrectly reading your post, there is only one thrust washer on the bottom and one on the top. You need to take the trans back apart and remove the one thrust washer, measure the thickness and I.D. and go to the hardware store and purchase 1 or 2. Some times they are called machinist washers. Then reassemble. You did install the top retaining ring?

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Every thing turned out just right. The mower is back on duty. Thanks everyone for all the help and ideas.

:smile: Glad to hear thats its back to working again.