Off brand problem
 

The wife was cutting lawn Sunday with her YTH 1848 XP Husqvarna lawn tractor. It's got 28? hrs. Bought new about 10 years ago...
She said it sometimes would just stop while cutting (forward motion) but would back up. Then it would work in forward again, she described it as "after being in reverse, and going into forward, it did nothing for a few seconds, then it would jerk forward" but became more so not going forward, but would always back up...
So today I pushed it in the shop, and she's right, no forward motion, but it does back up. So I pulled the deck, and raised the front up to see if anything looked out of place, or see if the belt was bad. Everything looked normal....
The belt is turning the fan on top of the transaxle. So there is power going to the rear. Don't know what else there is on these things to check..
Only other thing I thought of was "maybe" one of the key ways in the rear wheel-axle would have broke, and it was catching enough to let it back up, nope, there both good..
Any ideas? Be gentle now, it's her mower:biggrin2:

Hi Zippy1....Have you verified that the drive belt is properly tensioned? Are the idler pulleys tightening as designed? I have seen the splines on the input pulley for the transaxle wear off and cause this sort of problem too. Good luck! :)

X2 on belt tension. My wife's 1538 had a worn out belt last year. I looked and felt tight, would back up but was jerky going foreword and severely worn. The new belt was twice as thick. Worked fine after I replaced it. Could also be something in the tranny. May want to block it up and run it see if you can stop the wheels or see anything out of the ordinary.

My neighbors mower is doing the same thing (different brand), but I haven't looked into it yet. I looked up your machine in hopes it's similar to his so it would help me, of course it won't. I skimmed the manual anyway, one thing it mentions is purging the air out of the transmission before the first use. Not knowing how long since the last use, I'm wondering if only 28 hr of use in 10 yrs if there isn't some air in the forward circuit. The manual says to engage the freewheel lever, start up the machine and engage full forward for 5 sec, then shift to full reverse for 5 sec while using the clutch as normal. Repeat 3 times, the tractor should not move since it is in freewheel. Disengage freewheel and it should drive, this is of course if air is the problem. Good luck :beerchug:

Bill

Edit: I realize now after rereading your post that you probably mean two hundred eighty some odd hrs, not 28. Perhaps my theory is wwwwr wwwr wwwwrong, but it's free to try. :biggrin2:

It looked to be, but will double check to make certain. Will check the pulleys again also.
So if I'm reading correctly. The input pulley on the transaxle has splines? The pulley with the fan? Correct? Just don't want to take the fuel tank and fenders off if I'm not understanding this right.
Thanks....:beerchug:

The belt looks fine to me. But it's not that I look at this thing anymore than I need to:biggrin2: But if the belt was bad, wouldn't it slip in reverse also?
If it's in the transaxle where the problem is, it's going behind the barn to live out it's last days....
Thanks for the ideas.:beerchug:

Correct on the hours ^^^^^ but I did try the purge thing with no luck. This tractor is the same as the craftsman, poulon type built at that time.
Thanks for the idea:beerchug:

Yes...check the input pulley with cooling fan. Disengage the belt drive and check the pulley. See if it seems loose on the input shaft. Also double check the idler pulley arms for full range of motion to see if the belt is tensioned properly when clutch pedal is released. :)

Could be a belt issue. I'm leaning toward a lever issue.

Not low on fluid is it Todd? No rags plugging up the suction port right? :biggrin2::biggrin2:

:biggrin2::biggrin2: ah, no rag.
What do you mean by "lever issue?"

Isn't it a hydrostat? Or did I misunderstand.... :bigthink:

Yes, correct.