Broken riding mower

Well it being spring for the past two weeks in the south, I finally had to cut the grass. I uncovered the trusty ole rider from her winter slumber and set about getting ready to cut the grass. See, me being the wise (and handsome) man that I am, I stored the mower without the battery and with 100% gas. So I pulled the battery off the charger, put it in the mower, did a once over for field mice, and turned the key.... A wonderful song she made as she came to life. She's a trooper.

I then set about putting on the bagging attachment, and finally with frosty adult beverage waiting on the completion of this task, I began cutting the grass.

Now here is where it gets weird, I'm cutting along, about 3/4th is the way through the first lap of the yard when the mower just stops. I mean flat out will not move. Motor still running, blades still spinning, but I have lost all forward or rearward movement.

The other interesting thing about my predicament, while I may be wise (and handsome) in the storage of my mower, I must admit I know very little about riding mowers.

What I do know is the mower motor still runs and seems fine. What I don't know is what it won't move. I looked at the belts and they seem fine. All the shifter linkages still appear to be connected and operational. I'm sorta not sure what to check now.

She's a Craftsman LT1000 with many hard miles on her. She's a pretty ole gal, but she has been around the block more times than the ice cream truck...

Thoughts?!?!

Thanks

How old is the drive belt?

is it a hydrostatic or manual transaxle? Can you push it while it is in gear? If yes, trans is the puked.

Does the belt have tension on it with the clutch out? My preferred method of servicing that system on this type of rider is to take the hood off, take the deck off, roll it under a suitable tree branch and pick the front end up with a come along until you can sit under it and work, just be sure to use a safety stand of some sort. You could probably also use an engine hoist.

If it's hydro drive and the belt/clutch is good, you need a new transaxle, or do a manual swap.

EDIT:

fasted58 wrote:

On hydrostatic mine has a freewheel control, if quick release pin is off will lose drive.

This is also something to look at, though the one I'm familiar with, you pull the freewheel rod out against a spring for freewheel, the clip holds it in freewheel, not drive.

If belts are OK, lever/ linkage for clutch idler pulley? Also oughta be a spring to hold tension on the pulley in drive.

On hydrostatic mine has a freewheel control, if quick release pin is off will lose drive.

First bet is belt tension. They tend to degrade over our winters down here while they are parked under the tarp (I'm in nc). Put the rear up on stands and watch the belt and rear pulley. See if they are both turning. If one is and the other ain't, you found your problem. If both are and the wheels are turning in the air but not on the ground, it's either too loose on the drive belt or a fragged transaxle.

could also be a broken key in the axle.

Could it be that your mower works fine but you're not really handsome?

Pretty simple design

Worn slipping belt, lost tension w/ idler pulleys, sheared axle key like FBC said, trans input pulley oughta have a key also. Never lost a trans but possible, they're pretty stout. There's also a diff built in the t-axle.

None of the above, I believe. Far more likely, IMO, you threw the drive belt off the pulley. Rear pulley, on top of the transaxle is most likely, as it gets loose and cocks.

Belt is super loose.

I have no idea of the age, they were on the mower when I got it, and that was 4-5ish years ago...

And I bought it off CL

octavious wrote: Belt is super loose. I have no idea of the age, they were on the mower when I got it, and that was 4-5ish years ago... And I bought it off CL

Get the blue ones as replacement.

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/products/Craftsman/Belts/Belts-By-Size/238034/54915/s

I've also had good luck out of the green gates belts.

octavious wrote: Belt is super loose.

That's what it feels like when it's off the pulley.

Before you go buy a belt. Put the current one back on.

Also check that the idlers are spinning free and smooth.

The belt was super loose before I took it off.

Before I pulled it off, I started the mower and put it in gear. I then used a screwdriver to put tension on the belt, Lo and behold the wheels turn now.

I pick up the new belt tomorrow morning, putting it on should be fun...

In reply to octavious:

Check for a broken tension spring. If you find one, for a quick fix might be able to bend the latest coil out and rehook it. Did this for a neighbor.

Well there wasn't a broken tension spring, but there was a totally destroyed idler pulley. And nobody had a pulley in that size.

Ebay is usually the best place for stuff like that if you don't have a good hardware store nearby, figure out the part number and punch it in.

I can get them through o'reilly. Get the part number off the Internet and cross them over to the parts house brand. Usually have them the next day.

That was this fall on my pos Murray.

It's on it's way

http://www.amazon.com/Rotary-12644-Idler-Pulley-foy/dp/B002WI8NY8

In reply to octavious:

I also like jacks small engine parts. They sometimes have things that Amazon does not carry.

You should just build it into a Stig racing mower...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF18um9VGp8

Ok, this freaking thing.

New belt on, new pulley on, with the spark plug in the motor turns but then stops. With the spark plug out it turns over just fine and dandy. I tested the old plug to see if I have spark and I did, but it was really small and white. So I went ahead and replaced the plug, and there is only one change. With the new plug there is no spark that I can see. It still fails to turn over with the new plug in.

So...I think it is related to the spark plug wire/ignition coil. But I'm not sure.

Also is there anyway that the new belt is too tight and causing issues?

Lastly anyone want a broken Craftsman LT1000 on the cheap?

In reply to octavious:

Does it fire and then stop, or stop turning when the key is still in the start position ?

If the first then it's probably the nanny device called the anti back fire solenoid, if the latter did you leave the key on while procuring the pully? Charge the battery.

Back to the anti back fire solenoid, check youtube, there are mutiple ways to disable it, I got to the point that I used some diagnosis snippers