Mower Belts, Pulleys, and Deck

[TylerFrankel1]

It also makes a bit of audible noise when pushing in neautral. Not a squeaking but like a grumble. Not grindey, but like you can hear parts meshing.

Edit: The noise may have to do with the brake dragging but I don't think so.

Correction again, sorry y'all. It makes no unnatural noises in neutral, but if I push it in gear it is noisy. I can push it in gear easily with all the belts and pullies off, and can even get it to move (With much resistance) when everything is together, in gear. I don't think that's supposed to be the case. That hopefully is belt related and replacing it will stop slipping which lets it move in gear by hand (if that's how it even works, I don't know about these transaxles much). Otherwise I guess I'll be cracking this thing apart next to see what's happening.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Your tranny will be packed with grease.
They drop out fairly easy but removing the big pulley on the top will make it easier .
Then wash it thoroughly.
There should be a sticker on there with the makers name & model number .
Unless the DPO has been using it to drag his mobile home around with they are really tough.
When you get it apart you will see a top hat bush at either end of the shaft which wears till eventually the crown wheel no longer meshes with the drive bevel gear .
Easy job to replace but really dirty .
The F-N-R selector has a ball bearing & spring that are prone to taking a holiday in the deepest darkest corner of your shed when given that oppertunity .

The deck,
With no belt on the blades should spin free & quiet.
If not the spindle bearings need to be looked at.
Standard deep groove balls, usually a 6203 & 6204 , get some good ones .
Also check the mounts as the aluminium housings are prone to cracking and when tested without a load will run fine but when baldees are enaged will open the crack and have the pulley running at an angle .
The housings are worth saving as they are the expensive bit.
Leave them in the deck , leave the blade on take the pulley off & knock them through .

 

[TylerFrankel1]

Your tranny will be packed with grease.
They drop out fairly easy but removing the big pulley on the top will make it easier .
Then wash it thoroughly.
There should be a sticker on there with the makers name & model number .
Unless the DPO has been using it to drag his mobile home around with they are really tough.
When you get it apart you will see a top hat bush at either end of the shaft which wears till eventually the crown wheel no longer meshes with the drive bevel gear .
Easy job to replace but really dirty .
The F-N-R selector has a ball bearing & spring that are prone to taking a holiday in the deepest darkest corner of your shed when given that oppertunity .

The deck,
With no belt on the blades should spin free & quiet.
If not the spindle bearings need to be looked at.
Standard deep groove balls, usually a 6203 & 6204 , get some good ones .
Also check the mounts as the aluminium housings are prone to cracking and when tested without a load will run fine but when baldees are enaged will open the crack and have the pulley running at an angle .
The housings are worth saving as they are the expensive bit.
Leave them in the deck , leave the blade on take the pulley off & knock them through .

Once I get the varidrive sorted out I'll drop the transaxle and repack the grease. I wish a gasket existed so that I could use transmission fluid. Maybe I can make one out of cork. I don't think my bearings are in good shape in the spindles so I'll take a look at them. The belt is cracked and worn. Since the belts and bearings are bad I may just run them until failure. If the bearings sieze and shred a belt, the belt was on its way out anyway. I also found the varidrive pulley to be sticky. It has needle bearings I should probably replace. I have to get it apart first though which is proving difficult.

 

[TylerFrankel1]

Upon reevaluation this thing sounds terrible. Maybe that's been the source of my problem all along. I'll of course finish the belts and pulleys, but I think this needs attention. It sounds so far gone that I should just run it while it lasts and look for a cheap replacement.

Edit: should mention that I don’t remember if it did this when I first got it but I don’t think it let me move it in gear: that may be belt related. Also, I’ve accidentally thrown it in reverse while moving forward a couple of times which may have damaged it.
also, what does DPO mean

 

[bertsmobile1]

They are a lot more robust than you would think and the parts are not all that expensive.
It is just time consuming & filthy .
Usually just a new bush either end .
Really bad will be a crown wheel should come out at under $ 200
The seal is with silicon from memory

 

[TylerFrankel1]

They are a lot more robust than you would think and the parts are not all that expensive.
It is just time consuming & filthy .
Usually just a new bush either end .
Really bad will be a crown wheel should come out at under $ 200
The seal is with silicon from memory

I might just run it until something happens cuz I already have $200+ in this tractor and I've only made $130 mowing so far... although that's not awful. I drove it 1.5 miles to a job today, cut the whole 1.5 acres, used it to drive around and spray round up (because I was too lazy to walk) and drove back. No problems whatsoever. No slipping or slow downs, even with it pulling my mower trimmer and blower. Transaxle still a bit noisy. Also, when I got done and pushed it in neutral it sounded like it developed a new squeak in the rear bushing area. Oh well! Works good enough for now.

 

[TylerFrankel1]

Well I used it a bunch today with mostly no problem. I found a free bagger system and installed it, used that to clean up after the storm easily instead of blowing leaves. It worked great. However, I went to take it up my neighbor's driveway and clear it off for him (just to be nice) but I ran into trouble. The driveway is steep, probably 15-20% grade, and with the bagger on with both bags about 3/4 full it struggled to get up. It went very slowly and barely made it to the top. Given, it had 2 bags that probably weighed at least 50 pounds each, plus me at 200, and thie hill was steep. I still am a bit concerned though. Though the engine never bogged down, turning off the blades and trying again let it move somewhat faster, though still not full speed. Either I'm expecting too much out of the mower or there is something else. But all the drive belts are new, the pulleys that were rough were replaced, tension should be good, etc. Should I be concerned?

 

[TylerFrankel1]

Update: I sanded the engine pulley, trans pulley, and vari pulley a while back to remove glazing and amazingly I've had no trouble since...