Rear wheels won't turn

The rear wheels on my brother's old Craftsman lawn tractor won't turn. Can't tell you the model number because the tag is worn out. Maybe the attached pictures will help you.

I can't push the tractor even with the rear control pulled back. Thinking it was brakes locked on I jacked up the rear to have a look. But when the rear end was raised, the wheels turned freely (albeit in different directions due to the differnential I guess).

A peek underneath seemed to show the belts routed properly although there grass clippings packed everywhere.

I'm struggling to get the rear wheels off their axles so I can check the brakes.

Is anyone familiar with this problem and can offer some pointers on what I can do?

Your first thoughts were correct, the brake is locked on.
The brake locks the LAYSHAFT this prevents the diff from turning so with no load on the wheels they will turn, in opposite directions.
Just the same as an automatic in "P" which is why you should always apply the hand brake on an auto car.
free up the brake and all will be fine.
The pins rust in place and debris also builds up clogging the system.
Do not touch the nut in the centre of the caliper, that is the adjuster and they are a pain to adjust.
Take a few photos before you start and watch for bits that fall off there re 2 pins, 2 pads and 2 backing plates.

Thanks for the reply. Any idea which parts manual would apply to this unit? It has a 42" cut and a Briggs and Stratton 19HP twin cylinder engine.

Sorry I missed the bit about the rear wheels.
They should come off every few years and the axles cleaned & greased.
How you are going to get them off will depend upon what tools you can lay your hands on.
The axles are only held in with a clip so wrenching them too hard will rip the axles out of the transmission doing great damage.

I put a pair of scissior jacks either side of the wheel between the wheel & frame and wind them up to put a load on the wheel.
Then I hit the axel with an air hammer
The wheel will eventually move about 1/2" to 1/4" .
From here I either apply some more penetrating fluid to both sides of the wheel then tap it back on & repeat as before.
Or
If the wheel is coming off easily tighten the jacks some more and carry on with the air hammer

You can do the same with a hammer & drift, it just raises more sweat.


You can heat the wheel hub red hot while using the same jacks to keep an outward load on the wheel.

The latter will of course require repainting the wheel.

On manual trannies I some times split the tranny, remove the axel & push it out with a hydraulic press. But usually only if I need to split the box in the first place.


Your mower looks like it was made by Murray.
Wash the tag with soap & water then take some photos with a digital camera at as many angles that you can.
load the images into a photo editing programe and then , working on copies of the image try inverting the colours ( some times called "make negative" ) or darkening the image and increasing the contrast.
The Craftman number will jump out at you because the camera sees faint white on white a lot better than you do and the background will be sun faded a lot more than where the numbers used to be.
A real camera will be a lot better than a phone camera and sitting it on a support so it is not shaking and takes a clean close up image is betterer still.

bertsmobile1 said:

Wash the tag with soap & water then take some photos with a digital camera at as many angles that you can.
load the images into a photo editing programe and then , working on copies of the image try inverting the colours ( some times called "make negative" ) or darkening the image and increasing the contrast.
The Craftman number will jump out at you because the camera sees faint white on white a lot better than you do and the background will be sun faded a lot more than where the numbers used to be.
A real camera will be a lot better than a phone camera and sitting it on a support so it is not shaking and takes a clean close up image is betterer still.

Click to expand...

I'll resurrect my old digital camera and try that.
Thanks again.