Stuck tire

[StarTech]

And definitely don't want to knock an axle from the MTD differential as they are riveted together and only a complete assy available.

 

[T.H. Hill]

Regarding whacking the backside of a rim with a hammer, angle iron, or whatever to break it loose from the hub, I did that one time, and instead of the rim breaking loose, the retaining ring on the tip of the axle rod in the gear inside the transmission pulled out of its groove - so the entire axle rod-hub-wheel assembly slid out of the transmission. So I had to partially disassemble the transmission to retrieve the retainer ring and put a new retainer ring in.

Good to know... I've pretty much given up on trying to get that wheel off for now. I've been making some progress in figuring out why the mower is so hard to shift from forward to reverse and it seems to be connected to the adjustment for the brakes behind the right rear tire. I can make that adjustment without removing the wheel, although it would be easier with the wheel off.

 

[T.H. Hill]

The other day I decided to try and adjust what I thought was the brake behind the right rear wheel. As I was adjusting the nut inward, I thought I was adjusting the brake pad but instead found that it was also adjusting the tension on the drive belt as well. At one point I checked to see how the transmission was shifting, and was working perfectly. Then I though great, all I have to do now is tighten the nut all the way down and the messed everything up again. Before the adjustment it was very easy to depress the clutch/brake peddle down and after turning the nut clockwise the peddle became much harder to depress. Since this mower is different than my previous one, I'm having to re-learn how everything works on this one.

 

[Red Good]

Been bugging me for a bit . From the 2 pics early in this thread , is the wheel further on the shaft than it is supposed to be ? Or is the flats for different models ?

 

[StarTech]

Been bugging me for a bit . From the 2 pics early in this thread , is the wheel further on the shaft than it is supposed to be ? Or is the flats for different models ?

Just an optical illusion.

Here is one here. It is suppose to be flush.


The OP problem is all this rust highlighted in this image and likely it worst than it looks.

 

[TiIngot]

I've only had the mower for a couple of weeks so I don't know much about it. It started by having issues trying to shift from forward to reverse then progressed to where I had no brakes and it would creep forward when it was in gear. After looking at it, it looked like the issue was with the linkage that runs from the clutch/ brake peddle back to the transmission. Now I'm stuck because I can't get the rear tire off to see what's going on. I don't want to ruin a rim if I can help it. I might check with a local parts store to see if they have something that can loosen the rust. I've also seen where an 8" gear can be used to pry the wheel off but that involves taking all of the air out of the tire in order to get the gear puller on.

I just had the same problem today. I jacked up the right side allowing the left rear tire to remain grounded.

From the rear using a long sharp end bar (my jack handle) I put it against the rear side rim center shaft and hit the bar with a hammer, rotating the wheel and repeatedly hitting the rim shaft. Also, I hit the edge of the rim near the tire as I rotated the tire. It took about 10 minutes but it slowly moved and slid off. No heat or oil needed and the Craftsman is 28 years old with original tires until now.