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Hey everyone, new to the thread and new to Troy-Bilt. I recently purchased the 12A-562Q711 on a Facebook resell site. After the first use, engine worked great but the self propel stopped working 15 minutes in to mow. Typical used mower, right? I opened it up, saw the drive belt had slipped off the pulley and had some wear, so I replaced it. The self propel began working again, sort of. Very sluggish, just inching along. I noticed that the transmission and pulley connected had some wiggle room, making the belt pretty loose. When I pushed down on the transmission, the drive belt tightened, but the Tension Spring was no longer resting on the body of the mower. To test my theory i slid three pennys below the Belt Tension Spring which held the transmission forward and tightened the belt. Self Propel worked perfectly. After spending some time with the spring, it looks like its fixed and can't be replaced. Even if it could, is that the issue or is there something else I can tighten? Any one have any better ideas than my 3 cent fix? Thanks in advance!

troybilt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DisplayOwnersManualList?storeId=10001&catalogId=14102&langId=-1&modelNumber=12A-562Q711&serialNumber
Manual Page 17 there is an adjustment screw.

Left that part out: I tightened the screw, no luck. When I called TroyBilt to inquire, the rep said maybe by loosening the screw a little bit it would provide the correct tension. When I did that it went from inching along to not working at all. I will say that when I tighten the screw I never see it come out of the spring at the bottom. Could that be a replacement screw from the past owner and it needs to be longer?

I think your belt is too long. Part number you need is MTD 954-0637A Verifi you got the correct one. Size is 3/8" x 31-1/4"

Having a shorter belt would definitely make sense, but MTD 954-0637A is the belt I used to replace. Checked lowes, couldn't find a 21in deck slightly shorter belt. Know of anything?

Was it OEM or after market?

OEM. So weird right? I'm about at the point of just living with it, or taking it in.

If Blaze got it right then you have an M31.25 ( belt interchanges are a nightmare).
That being the case then a standard size M series belt will be a bit shorter.
tandard belts run in 1" incriments so M 31 is 31" x 3/8, a 1/4 " shorter than your belt.
However MTD use funny belts on a lot of their gear that is not a standard section shape so swapping a stndard belt ofr an MTD belt can yield funny results

Ah. I am quickly learning that belt changes are the worst. So are you suggesting giving a 31in belt a shot, even if it says it isn't compatible? I found this one but it says it is technically for a snow blower.

Thanks again!

I would check for lose screws that hold the transaxle in.