Hi Mel, I have to say, this is a very interesting issue you're having here. I think I might be able to help with this. You say the transaxle is getting the input from the belt, but have you put the old belt back on and tried it again? Also, did you spill oil on ANY of the pulley when doing the fluid changes for both the engine and transaxle? If so, you'll have to take the belt off and either find a way to remove the coating of oil or just replace it along with cleaning the pulleys with degreaser. Additionally, when you say you purged the transaxle, did you try jacking it up and purging it with the wheels off the ground? If so, purge it with the bypass valve out first, moving the drive lever back and fourth between forwards and reverse and of course do so with the engine running and brake off. But also, put the bypass valve back in and purge it like you would with the wheels off the ground so they can spin back and fourth. Maybe move them a bit if they can't get going. The wheels should spin both directions with good response between both. Also, note that when you change the oil on these and drain everything out, I forget what it is that loses oil, maybe pistons or motor block or whatever, but they will lose their oil also and that's why at first you get no response with motor input. Sometimes mine wouldn't cooperate, so here's what I did. With the motor off, remove the drive belt from around the transaxle pulley. Then, let the brake out, and with the motion lever in the forwards position, push the tractor forwards by hand until you feel the pressure build and it tries to fight you. You can do this vice versa for reverse. It's a better way of purging them basically. Works every time for me. What I do is just that and then I pick the wheels back up and do the usual purge process according to the manual. Sounds like quite an issue, looking forwards to helping.Thank you for the welcome Mark, glad to be on the forum. I found the service manual on MTF, and followed the spec oil 10w-40. I was planning on swapping it out for synthetic 15w50 in the winter, once I've gone a few cycles cleaning out the old oil. The belts routed according to the manual and figure on the bottom of the tractor, and it was the same way when it did work briefly. It's a head scratcher for sure.
Mel
Good luckWow thank you that's super helpful I'll give it a try tomorrow afternoon and let you know how it goes. The pulleys were spotless and I made sure take my time when changing the oil to avoid any kind of contamination on either the belt or pulleys. I did the purge with the wheels on the ground, but I read somewhere on MTF about jacking it up (which isn't mentioned in either the craftsman or HG servicr manuals). When I did have it jacked up the wheels moved smoothly and they would spin slowly when I rotated the brake disc. This leads me to believe you're method might be the ticket🤞🙏
is there any chance you had wheels off and the keys dropped away and you didn't realize it?
They're right, it's a 1/4 inch square key.Good point! OP, if you have a helper available, have them watch one axle, then the other, while you try to make it drive. If either axle is spinning within the wheel, then you lost a key that makes the wheel rotate with the axle. This lets you check without needing to jack it up and remove the wheels.
So you've got pressure, just means you have to make sure your belt is making contact. Either clean the pulleys, check the belt routing, or try another belt.Thanks everyone, I confirmed the axle keys are in place, and the wheels turn smoothly. Ayp123, I tried your suggestion pushing the tractor with the drive belt off, but no luck. The tractor moved and I could feel the resistance build up (it was harder in reverse). I purged with the wheels off the ground,and nothing. I checked the oil filter, and it was full, so it's circulating but just not transferring power to the wheels. Pulling my hair out at this point...
I'm used to seeing that pulled out is disengaged. It is for mine, anyways. And sometimes I've heard people mention these levers getting kind of stuck, albeit I think those were Tuff Torq units.Yep freewheel/ bypass is out. Took a bit of effort but I was able to push it. I'll swap out the belt and clean the pulleys tomorrow, see if that works. Funny thing is, I was just messing with the original tranny, and when I rotated the pulley wheel by hand the axles would turn, in both directions. It stopped after a few revolutions, but still odd given the many many attempts I made with it.
