Moving slow, help!

We purchased a Troy-Bilt XP 20 HP Hydrostatic 46" riding lawn mower, model # 13YX79KT011, serial # 1A206840365, a couple years ago from Lowes. The first summer it worked wonderfully. Last year some warranty repair was done on the motor and it came back working fine. This year we are having a new issue. When going up the very slightest incline, less that 10%, it begins to slow down and and as it keeps going it lurches forward, slows to a crawl, and then stops moving. The motor doesn't die. Can you please help us trouble shoot this?

Thank you!

Your drive belts are slipping. Possible causes, bad belts, tensioner not working properly, variable speed pulley sticking, bad idler pulleys. You’re going to have to do some inspection work, as it could also be a combination of causes.

Thank you for your response. Do you have a suggestion of a process to go through to check each? Is this something a novice could do or do we need to contact our local repairman?

Check your drive belt first, if that's ok then I would ask the repairman to take a look, he would know what to look for.

:welcome:

Welcome to the forum!

I'm going to move this thread over to our Troy-Bilt section.

When I bought the service run from Bert, the thing he had to keep on telling me was "It's a mower not a motorcycle stupid"
It took a long while to sink in but what he was trying to tell me was they are really basic & really simple so there is nothing on one that an average person can not fix.
The difference is the mower repair man has done it X times before so will know exactly how to do it and what else may have to be done apart from replacing the defective part.

Some mowers I do take several hours of just watching & listening to before they get touched .
I have even resorted to mounting a Go-Pro camera on one to see why it was slipping.
Complex electronics are slowing slipping in but in most cases it is 10% knowing how it works, 10% Knowing how the thing comes apart ( parts books tell you that ) and the rest is common sense .

Thank you for your input.

You might like to remove the deck then jack it up & support it front & back
Get SHMBO to sit in it and work the drive. and in particular rapidly going from full forward to full reverse
Watch for things flailing about or pulleys not turning or belt smokeing or squealing.
make sure your eyes are protected, lots of muck will be flying about.
Also have a close look at the brake / clutch pedal as debris can build up preventing it from fully dissengaging and you get the same thing happening as driving your car with your foot resting a little too heavy on the clutch.