craftsman riding mower 917.270641- need help with blade engage/disengage

[Choppie123]

I have a craftsman riding mower 917.270641. It's old but runs good. What's started to happen is when I push up on the blade engage lever, It feels very stiff, like it's restricted or somethings binding it. I've tried it with the deck all they way down and all the way up. Sometimes it won't engage the blades at all, I can push the lever all the way and hook it and it wont engage. It acts worse when the deck is all the way down. When I attempt to engage the blades the lever feels free, then starts to grab on something and gets real hard to push, then with a snap it engages the blades. It's not smooth at all. But when I disengage it is smooth release and does not feel like its binding up on something. I have to push on the lever hard, real hard, it seems too hard and even sometimes it goes all the up and does not engage if the deck is all the way down, it seems to do better when it deck is about halfway or all the way up. I've looked and looked and I can't see the pullys catching or binding on anything that I can see. I know it's something going on with the idler pully on the deck but what? Does anybody have any ideas about how to fix this? Thanks!

 

[bertsmobile1]

Sounds like excessive wear in the tensioning arm on the deck.
Remove the deck and remove the bolt that the tension arm pivots on .
Chances are the hole is now 3 times as long as it is wide.
It should be replacable.
Some have replacable bushes as well and of course have a close look at the bolt.
No body ever lubes the system so they wear from metal to metal contact.
Depending upon which deck you have, the brake arms can also wear badly and tend to lock the tension arm in the off position.
They generally get welded up then ground smooth againbecause the price down here is a 3 figure number.

 

[keakar]

I have a craftsman riding mower 917.270641. It's old but runs good. What's started to happen is when I push up on the blade engage lever, It feels very stiff, like it's restricted or somethings binding it. I've tried it with the deck all they way down and all the way up. Sometimes it won't engage the blades at all, I can push the lever all the way and hook it and it wont engage. It acts worse when the deck is all the way down. When I attempt to engage the blades the lever feels free, then starts to grab on something and gets real hard to push, then with a snap it engages the blades. It's not smooth at all. But when I disengage it is smooth release and does not feel like its binding up on something. I have to push on the lever hard, real hard, it seems too hard and even sometimes it goes all the up and does not engage if the deck is all the way down, it seems to do better when it deck is about halfway or all the way up. I've looked and looked and I can't see the pullys catching or binding on anything that I can see. I know it's something going on with the idler pully on the deck but what? Does anybody have any ideas about how to fix this? Thanks!

ok these mowers are famous for this, its going to be the cable, they get rusty and stiff and sometimes the cable comes off of the plastic wheel it rides on and wedges between the cable wheel and its axle pin. disconnect the cable from the deck then try operating the cable with one hand as you pull the slack on the cable from under the mower. it will be easy to see if its the cable itself or if it jumped off the wheel and is just jammed.

top tip - when replacing the cable connect a string to the old cable so you can use the string to pull the new cable through, otherwise you may be pulling the gas tank to gain access to do it. also unbolt the cable lever bracket assembly to make it a lot easier todisconnect the old cable and then reconnect the new cable to it before reinstalling to make things easier

 

[Rocky J]

The bottom end of the cable hooks to a spring , the spring hooks to the pivot arm with the flat pulley on it.Not a bad idea when it is new and shiny, no need for adjustment of cable. The arm should swing and tighten the pulley to the belt engaging the deck. I took the pivot bolt out and removed the pivot arm and sanded the arm and deck surface were they met each other to make it shiny and the arm could swing freely . I used never seize as a lubricant , it is graphite and not supposed to attract dirt like grease. This work is all on the top side of the deck and on mine it was done from the right hand side of tractor, need a wrench under the deck to hold bolt head. I jacked up the rear of the tractor to get more room between tractor and deck.

 

[Choppie123]

Sounds like excessive wear in the tensioning arm on the deck.
Remove the deck and remove the bolt that the tension arm pivots on .
Chances are the hole is now 3 times as long as it is wide.
It should be replacable.
Some have replacable bushes as well and of course have a close look at the bolt.
No body ever lubes the system so they wear from metal to metal contact.
Depending upon which deck you have, the brake arms can also wear badly and tend to lock the tension arm in the off position.
They generally get welded up then ground smooth againbecause the price down here is a 3 figure number.

Thanks for the idea! I had the deck off checking for something catching or dragging and now I see the idler arm has wore are bare spot on top of the deck shell. I found the parts on the schematic page, its 54, 55 and 56, the idler arm and 2 hardened washers. Im going to try that! Thanks!

 

[ILENGINE]

The other thing that happens is the bushings on the brake arms will wear a groove in the engagement pivot arm preventing it from disengaging sometimes, but can also effect engagement in some cases.

 

[Cusser]

The bottom end of the cable hooks to a spring , the spring hooks to the pivot arm with the flat pulley on it.Not a bad idea when it is new and shiny, no need for adjustment of cable. The arm should swing and tighten the pulley to the belt engaging the deck. I took the pivot bolt out and removed the pivot arm and sanded the arm and deck surface were they met each other to make it shiny and the arm could swing freely . I used never seize as a lubricant , it is graphite and not supposed to attract dirt like grease. This work is all on the top side of the deck and on mine it was done from the right hand side of tractor, need a wrench under the deck to hold bolt head. I jacked up the rear of the tractor to get more room between tractor and deck.

This is the primary issue I have, from dirt preventing the arm from swinging readily to achieve tension, so it throws the deck/mowing belt.

 

[Choppie123]

The bottom end of the cable hooks to a spring , the spring hooks to the pivot arm with the flat pulley on it.Not a bad idea when it is new and shiny, no need for adjustment of cable. The arm should swing and tighten the pulley to the belt engaging the deck. I took the pivot bolt out and removed the pivot arm and sanded the arm and deck surface were they met each other to make it shiny and the arm could swing freely . I used never seize as a lubricant , it is graphite and not supposed to attract dirt like grease. This work is all on the top side of the deck and on mine it was done from the right hand side of tractor, need a wrench under the deck to hold bolt head. I jacked up the rear of the tractor to get more room between tractor and deck.

This model does not have the cable. It's just connected with levers.

 

[Choppie123]

This model does not have the cable. It's just connected with levers.

That pivot arm on mine appears to be grinding on the top of the deck. I thinks thats whats causing it to bind up. I think that washer under it is wore down and causing the pivot arm to touch the top of the deck and grinding and dragging, it's wore the paint off and showing bare metal right under where the pivot arm pivots.

 

[Choppie123]

Ok, I just went out and closely inspected the deck. The idler pivot arm when operated was sliding over and binding up on the little stud on the bottom of the the pully brake arm on the left side. I took the spring off the brake arm and it worked very smoothly. The brake pads were already wore out and they were not functioning as intended anyway. That notch in the pivot arm that actuates the brake lever on the left side was biding up on the stud on the bottom, binding up when you engage and disengage the blades.