HRR216VKA --wheels lock up when pulling backwards !

I'm new on here ,so maybe this has been done before. My Honda mower has ran perfectly for 3 years, but almost from the first month, the back wheels lock, and it's very hard to pull backwards!! The"War Dept." said she won't help with the cutting around here, if she can't pull it ! I tried everything on a lot of forums--[cleaned,sanded, greased, wheels, axle, 18 months ago, and again last week. It puzzled me that BOTH wheels locked or released together every time. If it was a wheel problem, they should have been independent of each other! I called the Honda tech line with no success at all! I finally realized the drive belt was climbing out of the pulley, when the return spring rotated the trans to loosen the belt to stop driving forward. The belt would bind up between the pulley and the guard that keeps in in there. I made a simple L-shaped bracket to limit the amount of slack the belt can get when the return spring pulls it back!!-- We/She cut all the trim part wit the wheels not locking up once! I attached pictures to show how simple it is! It can be fine tuned by just bending the bracket where it touches the ear of the trans. Good luck, and I hope this helps other frustrated Honda owners !!

I had the exact same issue happen to my 6yr old HRX2174HYA. It turned out to be a broken $0.60 spring that disengages the transmission.
24134-VE5-A00 is the P/N. #7 in the picture.



Thanks to YouTube, I had most of the mower apart, but couldn't "lock" the crank to take off the belt on my hydrostatic drive. Regrettably I had to take it in to a honda dealer and spent $170 to repair the stupid spring...