My troy built pony only has two gear speeds. Why?

[Mr.Quebedeaux]

I recently bought a troy built pony riding lawn mower used. It is pretty old but well kept up.The guy I bought it from changed two belts just before I bought it from him.when I put it in granny low it drives fine. When I put it in 2nd threw the highest gear It's speed is always the same. Which I think it is stuck in top gear. I can not get it to shift into 2nd 3rd 4th an so on. I mean it shifts into those gears but they all go the same speed."fast" why am I not able to go any other speed when I shift into these other gears.

 

[StarTech]

Need the model number from the serial number (probably under the seat) to lookup your unit.

But it probably has the CVT system with a single speed transaxle.

 

[bertsmobile1]

That mower has a variable ratio pulley, not gears as such .
If it does not shift to higher speeds then the variable pulley needs to be looked at.
Take off both drive belts and check that the sliding member on the double pulley at the back can slide up and down freely with no notchiness.
If not then the pulley needs a bit of lube to free it up.
If still no joy then it needs replacing ( not cheap ).
It is a simple system.
The spring on the top ( rear pulley ) is stronger than the spring on the lower ( front belt )
So when you don't have your foot on the pedal it forces the sliding member down making the top 1/2 ( driven side ) of the double pulley a small and the bottom 1/2 ( drive ) large .
When you put your foot on the go pedal, you apply more force than the top belt spring , so the lower belt side gets smaller & the upper gets larger .
The "gear" lever limits how far the GO pedal can tighten the lower belt which has the effect of giving you 4,5,6 or 7 different ratios ( depending upon the model ) of top pulley to bottom pulley so different speeds .
IT is essentially the same as a bench drill with a pair of stepped pulleys .

Problems come when people go cheap & fit standard belts as the vari drive belts have a different shape to a normal A section belt ( 5 L is the closest to OEM shape ) and this can prevent the sliding member from sliding.
After that is things like the spring on the rear ( top ) pulley being fittted in the wrong hole in the chassis
Then there is the lower belt being routed wrong so it can not pull the lower belt tight enough to force the sliding member up.

Start with the easy things first .
Get your hands on an owners manual and read the proceedure for freeing a stuck drive.
On some it is on a decal under the dash

 

[Mr.Quebedeaux]

Need the model number from the serial number (probably under the seat) to lookup your unit.

But it probably has the CVT system with a single speed transaxle.

The model # is 13WN77KS011, serial # is 1C192B40001

 

[Mr.Quebedeaux]

That mower has a variable ratio pulley, not gears as such .
If it does not shift to higher speeds then the variable pulley needs to be looked at.
Take off both drive belts and check that the sliding member on the double pulley at the back can slide up and down freely with no notchiness.
If not then the pulley needs a bit of lube to free it up.
If still no joy then it needs replacing ( not cheap ).
It is a simple system.
The spring on the top ( rear pulley ) is stronger than the spring on the lower ( front belt )
So when you don't have your foot on the pedal it forces the sliding member down making the top 1/2 ( driven side ) of the double pulley a small and the bottom 1/2 ( drive ) large .
When you put your foot on the go pedal, you apply more force than the top belt spring , so the lower belt side gets smaller & the upper gets larger .
The "gear" lever limits how far the GO pedal can tighten the lower belt which has the effect of giving you 4,5,6 or 7 different ratios ( depending upon the model ) of top pulley to bottom pulley so different speeds .
IT is essentially the same as a bench drill with a pair of stepped pulleys .

Problems come when people go cheap & fit standard belts as the vari drive belts have a different shape to a normal A section belt ( 5 L is the closest to OEM shape ) and this can prevent the sliding member from sliding.
After that is things like the spring on the rear ( top ) pulley being fittted in the wrong hole in the chassis
Then there is the lower belt being routed wrong so it can not pull the lower belt tight enough to force the sliding member up.

Start with the easy things first .
Get your hands on an owners manual and read the proceedure for freeing a stuck drive.
On some it is on a decal under the dash

It does shift gears. But 2nd threw the last gear all goes the same speed" really fast". Only granny slow "1st gear " is the only other gear that works.

 

[StarTech]

It is a CVT drive. Most likely the previous owner installed after market belts.

 

[Mr.Quebedeaux]

It does shift gears. But 2nd threw the last gear all goes the same speed" really fast". Only granny slow "1st gear " is the only other gear that works.

Now it only has high gear even though I change gears the speed stays the same

 

[Mr.Quebedeaux]

I recently bought a troy built pony riding lawn mower used. It is pretty old but well kept up.The guy I bought it from changed two belts just before I bought it from him.when I put it in granny low it drives fine. When I put it in 2nd threw the highest gear It's speed is always the same. Which I think it is stuck in top gear. I can not get it to shift into 2nd 3rd 4th an so on. I mean it shifts into those gears but they all go the same speed."fast" why am I not able to go any other speed when I shift into these other gears.

Now it only has high gear even though I change gears the speed stays the same.

 

[Rivets]

Seeing that this unit has a CVT drive system, I’m will to bet that the variable shive is stuck. This will mean removing both drive belts and free up the shive.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Now it only has high gear even though I change gears the speed stays the same

you have to get the GEAR thing out of your head if you want to get this fixed you have no gears just fixed ratios of pulley circumferences which is why I use the stepped pulley drive on a bench drill to illustrate as most blokes are familiar with them..
From what you have now said it seems like the variable speed pulley is sticking .
Without the actual model & serial numbers off the tag under the seat, we can not be 100% specific and the only parts breakdown I have on this computer is for the larger Horse model but the drive system is the same to the point that most parts interchange.
Your problem will be with the double belt pulley part # 47 .
Because of the way it is used it we call it a shive and in particular a sliding shive .
Because all 3 flanges always spin at the same speed, if you alter the circumference of the two pulleys the belt speed in feet per minute changes which changes the speed that the axle pulley rotates in rpm .
THis is what determines your ground speed .
The tension on the lower belt is controlled by the two pulleys # 35 on the bracket # 36 which rotates counter clockwise to increase the belt tension .
The tighter the lower belt is the faster the mower goes.
Your GEAR lever simply limits how far the bracket # 36 can rotate in the counter clockwise direction.
However if the sliding flange on the double pulley # 47 can not slide freely top to bottom then the effective circumferences of the upper & lower sections can not change so your ground speed can not change .

It is a simple system very robust and works very well requiring very little maintenance other than a shot of spray grease on the moving bits every year or so & belt changes.