Craftsman lawn tractor rear end

[Regwal]

Fixed! After a few choice words the rear end was on the bench. I found pt.#95604002, V-pulley, wallowed out. Put all back together with new pulley this morning and just finished mowing (mulching leaves) at main house. Have to make adjustments yet but everything is working. Glad and disappointed that I didn't have to open the housing because I haven't looked at this simple design before.:cool2:

 

[granpa49]

If it has less than 30 hours on it, it might be covered by Sears warranty. There is one simple thing to check if yours has a neutral lockout. Make sure the neutral lockout lever hasn't been pulled back and locked. It protrudes out of the back plate behind the axle on most mowers. On my mower, the transaxle tag was printed black on white and was viewable from the rear of the mower. Yours might read something like "Tecumseh Peerless ---" and then a model number. Not all Craftsman mowers use the Tecumseh unit. I've seen the manual transaxles offered for less than $200. If that is the problem and your mower has less than 30 hours on it I would say it is worth the expenditure to buy a new axle and slap it on. My mower was 17 years old and the hydrostatic transaxle was nearly $700. I bought a new mower - Craftsman again. If the new one lasts 17 years also it will probably outlast me.