Bit of a mystery here. I was mowing the lawn, going at my usual speed. Suddenly, the mower's speed slowed down to a crawl. It didn't give any indication of something wrong (that I recall). It still worked and I was able to finish, but everything was moving slowly. I took a long look under it, and couldn't find the source of the problem. All of the belts were in place, as were pulleys, etc. The engine is brand new, and has only been used for one season. The gas line is clean and it has plenty of fresh oil. Now, a couple of things that my have a part in this drama. The previous week, I had to retighten the large black pulley (V-Pulley?) that is located under the seat. It had come loose, and the belt had slipped off (I've done this surgery before as well as belt replacements). Worked fine afterwards, until the current problem. As I was crossing the yard, I came across a large hex bolt (pictured), approximately 2" in length. I have NO idea where it came from (or if it is even a part of the mower). There didn't seem to be any missing bolts underneath when I checked. Mower is a Troy Pony model 13WN77KS011. Any ideas?
Looks to me like it is a metric bolt and painted white. This may be a clue where it would come from. Make sure you are looking at the top and underneath the unit.
#4
Scrubcadet10
I believe that's a standard L9 bolt which is a higher tensile than Grade 8. What's the Diameter of the bolt?
I've looked through the entire parts list at all the fasteners.. don't see any exact matches (same grade) of course someone could have swapped it out at some point or another. unless you bought the mower new.
Now I’ve taken a closer look I believe you are correct. With that size washer and lock washer, plus his symptoms, I’m wondering if it might be a PTO bolt.
#6
Scrubcadet10
The PTO pulley bolt on this a 3.25" Long by 7/16-20 bolt, unless it was replaced by this L9...
You are correct that those long bolts are normally use on most PTO systems, but this unit uses a simple stacked pulley, where I’ve seen shorter bolts with that heavy flat and lock washers used.
You are correct that those long bolts are normally use on most PTO systems, but this unit uses a simple stacked pulley, where I’ve seen shorter bolts with that heavy flat and lock washers used.
It appears to be the Stud that holds on the Electric Clutch to me. There should also be a key. Have you checked rear axle/wheel bolts, the centre one, some with keys? Idler pulley may be missing a stud.
There may have been a key in the large pulley yor worked on the previous week. Key could have fallen out of its slot un noticed and pulley is slipping on the shaft.
My 27 hp Craftsman DGT6000 hydrostatic did the same thing, would pull but would not run at top speed or pull on an incline. I was looking for replacement transaxle, I finally got time to look at it. Belts looked fine I checked again, the drive belt somehow had jumped off the tensioning idler pulley, was on wrong side. Put it back on like it was supposed to be, runs fine now.
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. Work and all that jazz.
Thanks for all of the responses. I finally got around to looking over the mower yesterday. Long story short, I broke it down, and couldn't find any place (visible) where that bolt would go. My final thought, is that it might not even be part of the mower. Anyway, I put everything back together and used it today. It ran like it should. Guess there were gremlins in the system.
Yep, this bolt goes right up into the center of the stacked pulleys. Use thread-locker when you re-tighten it or you will make a hobby of replacing this bolt. Even though it ran right for you, those stacked pulleys will shred the belts and come right off if you don't replace that bolt.
