Steve,

Well if you are interested in buying a new trans...I know a good ebay seller!

And seriously...had I not had the difficulty with the one gear having a love affair with the shaft (how's that for a hump day vision!)...I would have had the thing swapped out very quickly...well worth the $60 over a new mower...let me know...I also found a good write up on line describing the disassembly steps...very simple...I can post the link if you like...let me know.

Once I freed the gear...the trans went back on in less than 10 minutes!!!

Joe.

 

Sure, send me the link and info!

 

The ebay sell is: wildcats46 eBay My World - wildcats46

The website for the replacement steps on the mower is: Troubleshooting Craftsman Mower Front Wheel Drive Problems - Toprake - A Cut Above

All you need to do is send wildcats your mower model number (should be on the tag at the rear of the mower top of the deck behind the engine...and he will send you a link to the proper trans.

Although...before you order a trans...pull the two front wheels (assuming it is a front wheel drive mower)...and verify that the gears in the wheel are still good as this is also a plausible failure method...once you verify the wheels and drive gears are all in tact...the last thing is to verify that the BELT isn't slipping...take off the cover and engage the drive...does the belt try and turn the trans?...if it is the belt...well that is a fairly easy swap out.

But if after you verify that the belt and wheel gears are all good...well the last thing is likely the trans...and depending on your mower model...the trans could cost you as little as $25!!!...mine was obviously more...but you could get lucky with a cheaper version trans!!!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!...it seriously is an easy swap out...you have to expect a stuck gear or some other hurdle while working on 15 year old stuff...right!

Joe.

 

Good morning Indiana, welcome to Mower Talk, with your host, Joe and Steve!!LOL

 

Thanks, the mulcher mower in the picture is identical to mine...lol

 

Hopefully that will get you back to self propelled mode!!!...again...other than that one gear being stuck...it really was a simple swap...especially with that writeup!!!...I am so glad I just didn't scrap an otherwise good mower for a $60 part!...oh yeah...I just checked...that gear is less than $3!!!...if you want to save yourself a possilble headache...ask wildcats to send you one of them too as insurance!...the difficulty though is that if you can't get the gear off the shaft...you have to resort to what I did to disassemble all the gears off the rest of the shaft to slide the shaft thru the frame...no other way short of a hacksaw or sawzall...which did cross my mind to cut the shaft in half!!!

Mower talk...LOL...that's a good one Pat!!!

 

I just bought a new mower last spring, after using my old craftsman for 10 years. Gotta like that self propelled option!

 

I was looking at just replacing this mower...but after 15 years of trouble free mowing...I figured I'd give the trans swap out a try for $60...we'll see how that works out for me...but I know the engine still runs strong...I drain the gas each winter and change the oil each spring and sharpen the blade a couple of times per year...

The only thing I've had an issue with was I got some debris in the carb once...I had to pull that apart and clean out a clogged jet...I was amazed that everything is PLASTIC now in these carbs!!!...I got it fixed up though and she has run strong since...I could tell there was something in the carb as the engine was "surging" when running...less than 1/2 hour of my time and she was back to full strength...

I figured I'd see just how long this $300 mower will last!...well now I guess she is a $360 mower! :-)

 

Amazingly enough, it was my wife that talked me into replacing my old one. It was just getting wore out. It was a pretty basic one, no self propelled, or any of that. My new one has a blade clutch, so you don't have to shut it off to empty the bag. Pretty nice!

 

I replaced my old first lawn mower with this one, which I have had for about 15 years, beginning of this season I replaced both front wheels and did a complete PM on the carb.

 

Oh...I couldn't deal with a push mower for my lawn for long term...the lot is about 1/2 acre and has a couple of hills I have to deal with...self propel is a must for sure!...you are smart to get a self propel unit...but as you see in this thread...the self propel is probably the weakest link on these units...

I don't bag...I always mulch...

 

I used to mulch, but the grass grows so damn fast sometimes, it just clumps up, so we had to start bagging it. I don't have any hills in my lawn, pretty flat, so a pusher wasn't a big deal.

 

Good evening IN.

 

Good Morning Fte IN

 

Good morning Indiana.

Joe, Montreal to start. Already did my share of Asia and Mexico trips back in the late 80's and early 90's. We have jobs going on all over the world some good and some not so good!