Mower Won't Move Forward or Backward.

[Chawni]

I have a Husqvarna YTH21K46 riding mower. I was cutting the grass this past weekend and all of a sudden, the forward motion just stopped (it won't reverse either). The engine was still running fine. I have not changed the back tires ( I have heard about the key coming out), all the belts are intact. I had a friend of mine look underneath and he said that one of the pulleys is broke. My question is does
this sound like it would be causing the problem or is there something else I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance!

 

[keakar]

I have a Husqvarna YTH21K46 riding mower. I was cutting the grass this past weekend and all of a sudden, the forward motion just stopped (it won't reverse either). The engine was still running fine. I have not changed the back tires ( I have heard about the key coming out), all the belts are intact. I had a friend of mine look underneath and he said that one of the pulleys is broke. My question is does
this sound like it would be causing the problem or is there something else I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance!

yes if its the pulley for the drive belt then you have no connection between the tranny and the engine to turn it

pull the deck off and look under there, there are 2 plastic idler pulleys that connect the crank to the tranny. they release tension when you press the brakes

they are cheap so if one is bad replace both and personally i would put on a new drive belt while you are at it

i was first thinking you kids pulled the release lever on the tranny, i had that happen before and the mower wont move if thats on because it disables the tranny gears so it can free roll

 

[Chawni]

Thanks for your response. My friend removed the deck but couldn't get the parts apart. He said it went up into the steering column and whatever it was that he was trying to unscrew, kept turning. So basically, he could not remove the pulleys. I guess I'm going to be forced to take it to a mower repair shop.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The best thing to do when working n these is to drop the deck then stand the mower up on it's bum
Then you can get a spannar behind the bolt to hold the head.
What you have to remember is a semi skilled production line worker made the mower so it can be unmade by any one with a small amount of knowledge, patience and skill.
Knowledge starts with going to a web site & getting your hands on the IPL so you know your enemy .
As luck would happen the IPL for a YTH22V46 was still on my hard drive so it will appear below
You will see a bolt # 121 in the diagram and notice where the head is.
Two ways to get at it
Drill a hole which is what every one recommends or put you finger on top of the bolt to hold the head which is what I have managed to do without much problem about 200 or so times .
From the diagram you will see that it is a coach bolt so it is captive as long as you hold the head down.
This means you need to use a hand held wrench and turn it with your arms & not an electric device .

Not a big deal when you take your time & have a think about it.

As already advised replace all 3 pulleys & the belt while you are there and it will be done for another 5 or more years.

 

[keakar]

Thanks for your response. My friend removed the deck but couldn't get the parts apart. He said it went up into the steering column and whatever it was that he was trying to unscrew, kept turning. So basically, he could not remove the pulleys. I guess I'm going to be forced to take it to a mower repair shop.

look at the diagram bertsmobile1 posted, it shows where the bolts are and yes it not easy to get a wrench on the top bolts sometimes but it just takes patience and showing him that diagram so tell him what he isnt seeing

i hate to see anyone waste money but in this case it might not be a bad idea if he cant get it even after seeing that diagram and often you cant see the bolt head you can only feel it with your fingers and have just enough room to slip a wrench in there to hold it as you remove the nut and change the pulleys

in order to replace the belt at the front crank pulley, the pulley has to be slid down off the crankshaft a bit to get clearance around the belt retaining tabs for that and the crank pulley bolt needs an impact gun to remove it so that may be even more reason to bring it to the shop unless he has one of those

 

[bertsmobile1]

Funny that the IPL shows a coach bolt in there.
Every Husqvarna I have done had a plain bolt in there which as you mentioned is a bugger to get a spanner on to.
The only mowers I remember as having coach bolts were the JD's.
But then again I may have not seen a YTH cause all the orange things are the same to me .

 

[keakar]

Funny that the IPL shows a coach bolt in there.
Every Husqvarna I have done had a plain bolt in there which as you mentioned is a bugger to get a spanner on to.
The only mowers I remember as having coach bolts were the JD's.
But then again I may have not seen a YTH cause all the orange things are the same to me .

same thing with the MTDs

i could barely feel it to slide an open end wrench in there blind so i could get the nut off

if that bolt ever had to be replaced it would mean completely stripping down to the bare frame removing everything in the entire steering bracketry