MTD - Transaxle 618-0167

[quincy]

Hey guys,

I've got a mid 90's White (MTD) ride on mower that has a problem. First off, I thought it was the drive chains slipping on the axle sprockets and so I replaced the bronze axle bushings. It didn't solve the problem. So now I'm thinking the problem may be inside the tramsmission housing...?

Symptoms are - a loud clicking from the rear of the mower when the mower is under load. I can feel the clicking, almose as if a chain or cog is slipping somewhere. The clicking is accompanied by a rather harsh jolt. the frequency of the clicking/jolt varies. sometimes its one click per second, and others its only the odd click.
I used the mower a lot for towing trailers and other implements before I bought my Kubota B7100 and so I have probably pushed the little mower beyond its design intent.

I haven't cracked open the casings yet, but I wanted to ask you folks first to see if you have been down this road before me and perhaps y'all have some foresight for me...

 

[quincy]

I guess I'll just have to crack it open and have alook...

 

[bczoom]

Sorry I can't help. Good luck!

BTW, nice looking place you have there. I see you have a little greenhouse on the side. I bought that same one but haven't used it yet. How well does it work? Two issues that concern me are wind blowing it over and the shelves aren't secured. I was going to zip-tie the shelves to the framing and do something to secure it to the wall. Ideas?

 

[quincy]

Sorry I can't help. Good luck!

BTW, nice looking place you have there. I see you have a little greenhouse on the side. I bought that same one but haven't used it yet. How well does it work? Two issues that concern me are wind blowing it over and the shelves aren't secured. I was going to zip-tie the shelves to the framing and do something to secure it to the wall. Ideas?

That photo was taken quite a while ago and I'll be honest, that little greenhouse did not fair well. Once the wind gets under it, it goes off like a sky rocket. The last attempt I made to keep it in one place had concrete blocks on each shelf and I had it tied to the wall with rope and eye bolts, and the thing still shredded itself after a bad storm.

If you have a sheltered spot, I'd say go for it, but where Im living, we get a lot of wind so it was a non runner for us. Didn't last a season.

The plants were very happy inside it though!!

Good luck!

 

[bczoom]

Thanks for the honest feedback.

I don't have real high hopes for it but it may last me a bit. I live in a deep valley so we don't get a lot of wind. Actually, it will be under a roof overhang so it won't even get rained on. I got it real cheap as a clearance item so I won't be out much if/when it does go to shreds.

 

[quincy]

I called over to my local MTD service centre for some information. I thought it may eventually be of some use to others here, so I scanned it.

 

[Art454]

Were the shift fork is it moves a cog for gears.....in the parts its says a pin....look at the groves its fits in....I have used a cut off wheel and stighten them out before as they get rounded off and also on the gears that they locked into....I used to do small engine repair years ago and have fixed them like this before....if you price many parts my as well buy the whole trans.
Not a fun job as you have to get all the grease off of everything so you can see the problem.
If you got plenty of time on your hands you can probably fix it.


Art

 

[Art454]

Let me know what you find out....u may have to find a donor some were also.
Looks like a good lawn mower yet.
Them peerless rear ends were only meant to mow grass not tow anything heavy.
I had a few in here years ago were they tried to drag small disk,drag and the such.
They were so bad they melted all the parts and both cases so bad you could not even take them apart.
I know I used one with a drag and found out the hard way.....lucky I had a friend that worked at peerless gears at the time and he took it in and they fixed it free.
I took it apart to see what they replaced and it still needed a few more parts that I gave back to him so he could get new ones.
Well the factory called me and asked me why I took it apart and said just wanted to make sure you did it right and I was a dealer for peerless and did small engine repair on the side and had dealerships for briggs,kohler, and Tecumseh.
They even offered me a job in R and D as I was a tool and die maker.
I told them I was in a wheelchair that ended it right there.....lol

If I can be of any help just ask.

Art

 

[Art454]

I even sold MTD lawn mowers for years.
Really for the price and the price of parts MTD is really hard to beat for just mowing grass.
I had one I used for 22 years and sold it and it was still running good.
Other I sold lasted for 20 years if they did regular Maintenance.
I only sold the ones with briggs engines on them.
Them murrays were nothing but junk....worse of the bunch I hated to fixed...next to a ford tractor which was also junk imo.

My kubota bx 23 with 60 inch deck is good also but take care of that gear box as the parts are about the same as buying the whole new box.
I still fix a few mowers yet for my really old customers yet if they run after the parts.

Art