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TORO 20017, SN:260019574

Toro 22” rear wheel drive self propelled mower. The gears on the wheels are metal. If I lift up on the mower handle, the wheels spin just fine. When I set the mower down there’s a terrible metal grinding sound.

I checked the pulley belt, looks good. I adjusted the drive cable, no problem engaging. The wheels look good, I can’t see any issue.

Is the transmission bad?

See page 11 in operators manual, lubricating gears then click on Service Manual for further information. I would pull wheels keeping all parts in order for left & right rear wheels. Let us know what you find, thanks, Mark
Remove transmission & check it out if you feel comfortable doing so. Remember to keep parts in order.

mechanic mark said:

Parts – 22in Recycler Lawnmower | Toro

www.toro.com

See page 11 in operators manual, lubricating gears then click on Service Manual for further information. I would pull wheels keeping all parts in order for left & right rear wheels. Let us know what you find, thanks, Mark

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Hey Mark, I couldn’t see anything missing or seemingly out of order when I took the wheels off.

lacrosse_24 said:

TORO 20017, SN:260019574

Toro 22” rear wheel drive self propelled mower. The gears on the wheels are metal. If I lift up on the mower handle, the wheels spin just fine. When I set the mower down there’s a terrible metal grinding sound.

I checked the pulley belt, looks good. I adjusted the drive cable, no problem engaging. The wheels look good, I can’t see any issue.

Is the transmission bad?

Click to expand...

Can you remove the dust cover over the inside of the wheel? If so then remove it and then reinstall the wheel. Set the back of the mower up on a jack stand or block of wood and turn the wheel by hand and see if the wheel gear is meshing correctly with the gear that is on the shaft. If it looks like it is only contacting the edge of the wheel gear then the wheel mounting plate may be "toed in". To prove this take the wheel height adjustment and move it all the way to disengage it from any height position. If it rolls smoothly then I think this is the problem. This is how I fixed mine which did not have a metal wheel gear. It was nylon but after getting the plate parallel it worked perfectly. Read the comment with each photo. Hope this helps. https://www.flickr.com/photos/24045457@N02/albums/72157668326021968

With a mower of that age I suspect that the bearing HOC is worn, allowing the axle gear to move away from the wheel gear. Remove the wheel and grab the gear. If I moves around you’ve found the problem. Section 6 of this manual we be of a great help to diagnosis problem. https://www.toro.com/getpub/22446

Most likely the grease inside the trans is dead and dried up. Which in turn killed the trans.

Nothing in what he has posted would indicate a bad tranny. Seen this many times on the steel deck setups.

Rivets said:

Nothing in what he has posted would indicate a bad tranny. Seen this many times on the steel deck setups.

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I hear ya Rivets. Still that cheap old tired grease most likely needs removed with Diesel and a brush.

But he did say in free air no drive issues. When he lowers the deck and loads the drive system, all heck breaks loose. As in dead bearings in the trans possible. Came from dead lube and general wear. Pinion bearing toast??

Grinding can be caused by misalignment of pinion and wheel gear. Had Lawn Boy with wheel gear wear. Pivot arm (wheel mounting plate toed-in as the result of height adjust arm pressure) was not parallel with the mower body. Corrected by installing a simple "nut stop" to the rear of the wheel mounting bolt that comes through the plate. Worked perfect since 2016 with no wear on gear or pinion. https://studio.youtube.com/video/og8gIZkAvzo/edit