bad transmission, maybe not

[stu12]

hi guys, i have a john deere e160 with what i thought was a bad transmission (transaxle). actually i have 2 of them with the same issue. anyway, i bought a new trans and installed it with no luck. same issue is still there but worse. on level ground it seems fine but any incline at all and it wont move. the longer it runs the worse it gets. 307 hrs on the mower. i dont know what else it could be. any ideas?

 

[ILENGINE]

I would be thinking belt or worn pulley issue. Pulleys that allow the belt to bottom out in the groove will allow the belt to slip. May want to double check the belt tension to see if it is tightening up correctly

 

[StarTech]

Definitely would that plastic v-idler pulley in the drive belt path. Also install a new drive belt. can be worn and/or stretched and still look good.