Toro Timecutter z5035 stopped moving!

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and just hoping someone can help me out. I was mowing yesterday with my Toro Timecutter z5035 (it's five or six years old and still runs fantastically) when out of nowhere it stopped moving. I am unable to move forward or reverse and neither the left nor the right controls do anything. I didn't hit anything nor did I hear or feel anything when it happened, I just stopped being able to move it. My drive belt is still intact and I assume it wouldn't be normal for both transmissions to go out at the exact same moment. The engine runs well still, starts with no difficulty and I can still engage my blades. When I move the controls I don't hear the motor change pace at all so it's not even trying to move. Please ask any questions that I didn't answer. I have done a few things to the mower over time but it was mostly deck or starting related, this is a new area for me. Thanks everyone!

forgot to post extra details on mower... It is a toro z5035 with the 24 hp FR691V motor. The model number is 74376 and the serial is 310009804 if that helps any

Look for spring I circled in red.

BlazNT said:

Look for spring I circled in red.
View attachment 28111

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Thank you! I'm out of workable daylight with it being overcast out so I'll have to look tomorrow. Any tips on finding it? Is this something I'll need to access from the front so I should remove my deck?

In between rear wheels under engine plate. So on your back under engine. I personally would jack up mower with jack stands then get under it. If you look closely at diagram it is connected to one of the idler pulleys of the drive belt.

Get some one with a strong torch to verify that the shaft on the pump is rotating.
Also check that the bypass valve has not managed to open.
Check the level of the oil in the pump reseviour

BlazNT said:

In between rear wheels under engine plate. So on your back under engine. I personally would jack up mower with jack stands then get under it. If you look closely at diagram it is connected to one of the idler pulleys of the drive belt.

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Thanks again. I got the mower up and on stands after I got home. I was able to find the spring and it was still properly attached. I was very much hoping that this would be a cheap and easy fix, despite that not being how it feels...

bertsmobile1 said:

Get some one with a strong torch to verify that the shaft on the pump is rotating.
Also check that the bypass valve has not managed to open.
Check the level of the oil in the pump reseviour

Click to expand...

By torch were you referring to a light because of my comment on no more daylight yesterday evening? When I got the mower up in the air earlier I had someone try to engage movement while I was underneath and I saw no motion from any pulleys/shafts. Excuse me if I'm just clueless, this is new territory for me. I do not have an accessible reservoir for transmission fluid/hydraulic oil (that I'm aware of). I was under the impression that I had to remove the transaxle to check/fill/replace that stuff on the residential Toros? I'll do a search to find the bypass valve, check on that and get back to you. Thank you!
Edit:if bypass valve refers to the controls below the motor that you slide to allow the mower to be pushed, that was my first check and they are in the proper positions.


Additional info (for what it's worth): when I messed with it today I noticed that my left side drive handle has considerably less resistance than usual when coming out of park into neutral and one side makes it all the way forward, slowly, after the handles go into neutral. This was never the case before the issue the other day. The mower is in the middle of my yard at the moment, I'm hoping to get help to load it from my buddy tomorrow and haul it to my uncle's welding shop so I can have a better area to get this figured out.

When the engine is running the belt should be moving all the time. Pulleys should be also. If not check the belt again.

Get your finger up there ( engine off of course ) and feel the belt where it sits.
The some times jump off and get stuck between the pulley and the fan so it looks like they are in the right spot but they are not.
The motion plley is right up high and always turns while the engine is running.
If the belt is not running then either the engine pulley has sheared the drive key or the belt is as previously described and the belt is slipping on the pulley.
DO not get confused by the deck pulley.
this will not spin till you turn the blades on.
the reason for the torch is the motion belt runs up high very close to the floor and is hard to see.
And trying to work out if the pulley is spinning and the shaft is stationary is not esay.
I some times have to put a dot of paint on the shaft to confirm it is turning.

Hey everyone, sorry it's been a while since any updates. After finally getting to mess with the mower I discovered that the belt did slip off the pulley. It got wedged under the pulley and was apparently keeping it from moving at all, even with the engine running. When I was able to pry it free and get it back where it goes, the mower magically moves again! New question... It feels like I've lost a bit of power. Could being bound up so bad have caused issues with the engine, or would it make sense that the belt was stretched/heated enough that I'm not getting full power? I ordered new belts and a full tune up kit for it and will do those as soon as I can, just wanted input. Also it feels like my controls have more slack in them than they did and it moves more than it previously did when I go from park to neutral. May be unrelated but if there's any way to adjust that I'd like to go ahead and try.

Thanks everyone! This is ending up to be a far cheaper fix than I was afraid it would be and I can't wait to tackle the jungle that has grown while I've been mower less!