stopped moving while mowing

BigRedFishDad

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We have a troy bilt bought new at lowes Summer of 2015. Been mowing great up until last season. I had another John Deere so just parked it and am now trying to get it going. My wife was mowing like always and it just stopped moving on her. Drive belt was smoking and all chewed up. she turned it off came and got me and we pushed it to the garage. Looked everything over got a new belt she mowed the following weekend and about 30 minutes into if it happened again. I thought it might be the variable pulley but it moves up and down pretty easily. I thought it might be the brake stuck or transmission locked but all moves freely. The belt from transmission to the variable pulley has hardly any wear but the drive belt from motor to variable is burned melted and shredded.

Any ideas!!!!
 

bertsmobile1

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Check the two idler pulleys on the tensioning arm.
Good chance one of them is frozen.
 

ILENGINE

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Like Bert said check the idler pulleys, but just because they are turning now doesn't mean that one isn't locking up when hot. so check for noisy bearings or roughness when you turn them.
 

BigRedFishDad

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Thank you folks I checked the idler and it makes a scraping sound and sometimes spins around freely and then others it stops after about one or two rotations so definitely sounds like something is wrong with it. I removed it and of course in my hand it works like a champ maybe I'll use is as one of those "figit spinner" things :laughing:

The drive pulley sure seems to have a lot of wobble and play in it. Is this normal or does it need to be removed and re-seated or something? The bolt seems to be tight.

You can see what I mean for both cases:
 

ILENGINE

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Got good news and bad news. the idler pulley is scrapping the frame rail and is most likely fine. the bad news is the transmission input shaft bearings are trashed and will require some major repair work to the transmission.
 

BigRedFishDad

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Well figured as much... excessive play and wobble is hardly ever a good sign! I love tearing things apart if it is worth it I'm up for replacing bearings. I'm no professional by any means but have rebuilt a few motors and transmissions in our shop.
 

BigRedFishDad

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Got good news and bad news. the idler pulley is scrapping the frame rail and is most likely fine. the bad news is the transmission input shaft bearings are trashed and will require some major repair work to the transmission.


Glad I didn't order the bearing yet... took it apart today and unless they sell over sized bearings it is toast. What is left of the bearing is on the left and the nice new oval hole on the right :thumbdown:

20190718_201857.jpg
 

bertsmobile1

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In that situation you can build up the worn area with Devcon putty.
Not cheap, but neither is a top housing
Clean it surgically clean put the bearing back in then tamp the Devcon in, if and only if the Devcon can not fall into the tranny.
If it can fall through then it is a total rebuild and a financial decision as weather to patch or replace.
 

BigRedFishDad

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In that situation you can build up the worn area with Devcon putty.
Not cheap, but neither is a top housing
Clean it surgically clean put the bearing back in then tamp the Devcon in, if and only if the Devcon can not fall into the tranny.
If it can fall through then it is a total rebuild and a financial decision as weather to patch or replace.

I think I found it for $100 on partstree.com for a mower that has only been used 3 seasons and still has shiny red paint I don't think that is much t fix it. Weird thing is on parts tree if you choose 2015 model which is mine it only shows full trans for $500 bucks! Same model number and part number for full trans on the 2014 version but they also show and sell the upper for $98.92???
 
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