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I have a yard machine ride on mower that slips/ skips in gear while trying to drive. It used to only do it when I would go down the slight hills in my yard and I figured it was because the tractor was trying to "get ahead of itself" It now does it all the time and basically makes it impossible to use the mower. Does anyone know what the cause could be? Could it be a belt, is there tranny fluid I could check? I have pretty good skills with autos, but know nothing about ride ons, I feel if someone could get me in the right direction I could fix this.
Thank you, I am new to the forum and I am looking forward to all the knowledge on here
Mike

Hello Mike... & Welcome to LMF...
Can you tell more about your rider? What model about how old is it. Is it a multi speed trans , (variable speed belt) drive?
with a little more information I'm sure some one will know... there are a lot of MTD mowers here... :smile:KennyV

Hi Kenny,
Thanks for your reply. It says tractor 42 SD auto 17. Model #13AF608G062, Serial # 1F212H10308. If I had to guess I would say its about 4 yrs old. I bought it used so I am not 100% sure. I am really hoping someone can help me out on this one.
Thanks in advance to everyone!

I did a search on that model and found a parts listing...it had a "Variable-speed Pulley Assembly" listed.

Parts and Diagrams for MTD 13AF608G062 (2002)

Based on that, I would start by changing out the drive belts:

MTD 954-0467 (replaces 754-0467) Lower Drive Belt
MTD 954-0468 (replaces 754-0468) Upper Drive Belt

Its probably the belt that rides in the variable pulley...its probably got a glazed spot (causes a slip) or a oil soaked spot (causes a grab) along its length.

Thanks a lot guys. I will try this, and if anyone else has some input please let me know. Again thank you very much!!!

I can see the belt, and its very loose! How do I replace it? Any easy way to gey at it?

horseprw said:

I can see the belt, and its very loose! How do I replace it? Any easy way to gey at it?

Click to expand...

Yours may be similar to this... YouTube clip... YouTube - MTD Lawnflite 400 Series 36" Drive Belt Removal.mp4
It is not as complicated as it looks... :smile:KennyV

Thank you very much for the video. Very helpful, and looks like tons of fun. I am sure I can handle this, but am going to wait a few days to attemp. I will let you guys know. Thanks again!!

Got the belt off, wasnt that bad. Now I am going to try and find one locally. Sears says they have it so lets hope they know what they are talking about. Once I get it back on and test I will let you know how it went.

horseprw said:

Got the belt off, wasnt that bad. Now I am going to try and find one locally. Sears says they have it so lets hope they know what they are talking about. Once I get it back on and test I will let you know how it went.

Click to expand...

If you have a Lowe's Home Center in your area, they should have this belt. If not you can check with Advance Auto or similar parts store and they should be able to measure the old one and cross reference it to a new belt. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for all your help guys. I switched the belt and it was much better. After some linkage adjustment it drives like new!! Thanks again.

Its all back together and drives great. However, now the main drive belt for the blades keeps slipping off. I put it back together exactly as it came apart, and the belt in on the correct way, any suggestions?

Got it, I mistakenly picked up another belt in my garage and used that. It was so close in size I thought it was the right one. When I saw the other and matched it up, it was like 3/4 of an inch longer. Swapped it and now its perfect again!