DYS4500 losing drive power?

[NAUTIQUE]

Hi all,
Craftsman DYS 4500 (917.28738) 22hp 42" Lawn Tractor.
Hydrostatic Tuff Torq K46 Automatic Tranny.

Looking for some opinions/suggestions...
Tractor started having some trouble going uphill. Felt like it just lost power & barely creeped uphill.
Yesterday it seemed to be having trouble even on flat ground.
If I pushed tranny handle all the way forward it seemed to lose power & creep.
If I pulled it back a little it maintained forward motion good enough to mow (but still trouble on uphill).
I finished mowing (2+ hours) used the leaf blower to blow all debris off mower & top of deck, went to put it away and had no power in forward or reverse! I worked the handle back & forth a few times and it eventually started creeping along I got it into garage.

Anyone have any comments? Is my tranny dying? Anything else to check?

 

[mechanic mark]

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/model-part/917287380/0247/1509200/p0803228/00006.html

Check transaxle drive belt & idler pulleys for replacement.

 

[NAUTIQUE]

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/model-part/917287380/0247/1509200/p0803228/00006.html

Check transaxle drive belt & idler pulleys for replacement.

Well got to take a look at it last night.
Dropped the deck & jacked it up. Belt & pulleys looked ok.
Started trying to figure out how everything worked.
Saw where the brake/clutch moved the lever on the tranny. Lots of dirt around the lever, so cleaned that out.
Then went up front where the brake/clutch rod goes over a plate and across the mower to put tension on the pulley.
Reached my fingers up over the plate and could feel that it was just caked with dirt in there.
As I started digging the dirt out, all of a sudden I saw the pulley move over!
Damn dirt build-up was preventing the brake/clutch from fully moving the pulley to give correct tension.
Cleaned it all out & all is well! :thumbsup:

For years I've been hosing off the deck after mowing. It looks like that was probably just caking down any dirt build-up in there.
I think I'll stick with using a leaf blower to clean it out now!

Mech Mark - Thanks for the tip & diagram.
Soooo nice to find a simple solution for a mechanical problem for a change!

 

[bertsmobile1]

:welcome:
This is a perpetual problem with just about everything that comes out of the AYP (Husqvarna ) factory when used in a dusty enviroment and made 500% worse if mulching.:thumbdown:
Glad to see you
1) worked it out from first principles , looking
2) fixed the problem :drink:

Now to prevent a reoccurance get yourself a very long dust gun 3' to 4' works very well.
At least once a season, blow those areas where the build up was with air. Three or four times would be better.
Using the long gun you can do it without getting a face full of crud.
Never wash the mower with water except to make the exterior body work look pretty.

 

[NAUTIQUE]

:welcome:
This is a perpetual problem with just about everything that comes out of the AYP (Husqvarna ) factory when used in a dusty enviroment and made 500% worse if mulching.:thumbdown:
Glad to see you
1) worked it out from first principles , looking
2) fixed the problem :drink:

Now to prevent a reoccurance get yourself a very long dust gun 3' to 4' works very well.
At least once a season, blow those areas where the build up was with air. Three or four times would be better.
Using the long gun you can do it without getting a face full of crud.
Never wash the mower with water except to make the exterior body work look pretty.

Thanks Berts - great suggestion.
Right now I'm pretty much a dirt farmer - Big part of lawn is so bad I'm mowing weeds & dirt!
Worse if mulching huh? Had that cover on trying to keep down the dirt cloud :mur:
So better with open shoot or bagger attachment I guess?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Open chute will give you less grief in the long run.
I do about 4 - 5 of these no run's a season. The LT & YT Husqvarna's are rel big sellers around here and mulching is "hip" at the moment.
Tell tale is the clutch / brake pedal slowly getting closer to the floor when dissengaged.
Not a big fan of bagging, just makes a lot mess.
We do occasionally bag the street & around the house to feed the alpacs during winter .
They don't particularly like it but when mixed with some oats they will take it.
Nearly all of our tress down here are evergreens so we don't end up with a yard 3' deep in leaves during fall and usually it doesn't snow so we don't need to do a dethatching first season mow.