When a neighbor departed I purchased from her a Murray 14.5hp 40″ lawn tractor. The engine fired but the tractor wouldn’t budge. After some basic repairs I got it running fine and have kept it going the past 3 years. Since I use it over rough ground it occasionally needs repairs – such as replacing shattered mandrels when the blades hit concealed rocks, beating out the housing from rock collisions and replacing the mower drive belt. I now use my big tractor with a pto bush hog for the rough ground and tough grasses, and hope to nurture this lawn tractor along and use it for more confined areas such as the chicken paddocks and between the fruit trees. I also use a scythe for occasional clearing.
All was well until a couple days ago when after cutting a chicken paddock area and closing the gate, I shifted the gear selector to forward and, though the engine continued to run, the tractor was stationery. I selected each of the other forward gears and the reverse position and the tractor did not move. A new challenge.
Today I worked on the tractor. My reasoning was the problem could be one of 3 things: the gear lever was not communicating with the transaxle (transmission); the transmission was defective; the transmission and the gear lever were fine but the transmission was not receiving power from the engine.
First step was to access the transaxle.
I disconnected and removed the battery from its housing.
With the battery removed you can see the big pulley which is attached to the transaxle. The engine at the front of the tractor turns two drive belts – one belt rotates the mower blades and the other, which is well concealed, provides the power to drive the wheels via the transaxle.
Also visible above the pulley is a large spring. This is attached to the idler pulley. There are three pulleys – the pulley the engine turns, the pulley attached to the transaxle and the idler pulley which keeps the belt taut when the tractor is moving.
So what was wrong – there was a belt on the big transaxle pulley so it seemed the transaxle must be receiving power from the engine. I selected a gear and pushed the tractor and to my surprise the big pulley turned. I put the gear selector in neutral and pushed and the pulley did not turn. I selected reverse and pushed and the pulley turned again but in the opposite direction. I then breathed a big sigh of relief. The gear selector was working, the transaxle was working and the belt must be loose. I navigated to the engine end and felt underneath and found the pulley which drives the belt to the transaxle and the belt was also there and intact but it was not on the pulley. So the belt had come off the pulley. Now why had this happened. In maneuvering my hand under the engine I pulled on the engine and it rocked forward. It typically has 4 engine bolts and the rear two were missing. Incidentally when I first got the tractor the same 2 bolts were missing and I replaced them – so I was familiar with these bolts. I surmise that when I engaged the gear the engine rocked forward which meant the pulley underneath rocked back and the belt came off. Probably also because the belt has stretched. Rather than replace the belt I decided, for the time being, to reseat the belt and order and install the 2 missing engine bolts.
But it is very difficult to work on the pulley under the engine – it is barely accessible and there is no room to apply leverage on the belt to force it back onto the pulley. Then I remembered the idler pulley – if I could move it aside it would free up a lot of belt slack. I tried approaching the idler pulley from underneath and then concluded that a long crowbar via the battery housing would secure a good grip and move it aside, which it did. But I could not hold the crowbar in place at the rear of the tractor and reseat the belt under the engine at the front of the tractor at the same time. I needed a helper.
I cut a piece of strong wire and shaped it into a loop. Then with the crowbar I pushed the idler pulley to the side and with the wire band secured part of the idler assembly to the shaft of the gear selector which acted as my anchor. With the idler pulley now held out of the way by the wire band, it was then a simple matter with one hand to reseat the belt over the engine pulley.
When the engine bolts arrive I will complete the repair and in future make a careful check that all the engine securing bolts are in place.
I have a Murray 42″, Briggs & Stratton 14.5 OHV LT Body Lawn Tractor. It will start just fine but when you release the Brake/Clutch, the engine dies. It will not go forward. The first time I had a problem with it, the mower would only move forward about 2 feet. I kept putting it in gear and releasing the Brake/Clutch for it to go forward so that I could store it. Now it will not go forward at all. The engine just dies. What can I do. A technician at a local lawnmower repair shop said that the transmission is gone and I would be better off buying a new mower because the transmission is very expensive to replace. Any ideas anyone? What should I do? Should I get a second opinion? Thanks in advance.
Hi, We probably have similar transmissions. I took a look under mine and there is a sku label attached which reads Tecumseh Peerless. See if yours has a similar identification. If so and you google “tecumseh mower transmission” you will see there is some information and video. What I would do first is try shift the gear selector. Can you get it to neutral and if you can, are you able to push the mower? This would be a positive and it may be you could select another gear and use that. If you cannot shift the gear lever then likely the transmission is jammed or the gear lever has a problem. Usually I check transmission oil but I have never done this. Any sign of oil leakage? I don’t know how handy you are or if you have the time to work on your tractor. The google search I mentioned has video on how to fix a transmission and also cost of replacement transmissions. Good luck.
$450.00 on eBay, I am tearing one down for the first time and am having trouble removing the pulley !
You know it would be easier to just lock the clutch / parking brake down than wireing back the idler pulley, just opposite the clutch pedal on left side of mower there should be a little lever labeled parking brake lock or something like that and while clutch pedal is depressed lift up on lever and hold while releasing clutch pedal that will lock down clutch pedal and you can install or remove belt easily.
Good suggestion! Now why didn’t I think of that.
How do yo remove a pulley that has a nut from a Tecumseh Peerless transaxle ?
If you look at my post dated June 12, 2015 you will see that I use an electric impact wrench for removing nuts from pulleys. However, earlier this week I had to replace a pulley and I used a pipe wrench to grip the exposed shaft and then a socket with an extender bar to release the nut. So it depends, if there is room for a pipe wrench to grip the shaft to which the pulley is attached then you can use a pipe wrench. Make sure the wrench is facing the right way and scoring on the shaft does not affect its functioning.
I have a Murray riding mower. When I push the brake to start it, it will start but when I let up on the brake the engine quits running. Would the switch for the brake clutch need replaced?
Guys exchange the trany oil with syn 20-50 via vacuum hose and funnel, takes 30 min,,should be adequate unless you are cutting on hills