Budget Mower No Reverse (Mst 206-565)

[cluelesslawnguy94]

hey there everyone. I recently picked up a very budget 2014 craftsman (250!) with a peerless H-MST 206-565 transmission that moves in all forward gears just fine but will not go into reverse.

so far I’ve done minimal troubleshooting but have confirmed by removing the trim around the shifter that it is 100% going into reverse, just getting no movement.

my experience in the garage is more so with cars but I do like tinkering with things. Is there anything that could be a suggestion to try before attempting to open the transaxle or attempting to find a replacement?

 

[Rivets]

Have you tried adjusting the shift lever. It is not uncommon for people to bend them when they shift to forward gears and then you loose full travel of the rod to get back to reverse.

 

[cluelesslawnguy94]

I haven’t adjusted it yet, but today after mowing I popped the trim piece off of the gear selector and tried to pop it into reverse to see if the trim was limiting it from engaging fully. I was able to positively engage reverse and when I let the clutch out I could hear the engine load up and the pulley on the trans was spinning... but no movement.