Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): lawn mower will not go into neutral or will not power itself forward or backward, customer service phone number, question pool

Question
I have a troy built pony with a 17.5 hp 8 speed transmition.It started out a while back not pulling in the lower gears from a dead stop. You could put it in a higher gear and it would go, then you could move it to a lower gear once the lawn mower was moving. The other day when i was mowing i noticed the mower was very sluggish when climbing even the smallest of uphill grades. Shortly after the mover stopped pulling all together. When the mower came to a halt the belt began to smoke at the front pulley connected to the drive shaft indicating something in the rear had locked up. also i can not take the mower out of gear you can move the manual shifter from forward to neutral to reverse freely, but it never changes. It stays engaged and will not allow me to put the mower in neutral to move the mower freely to where i can work on it.            Please help thank you marty.

Answer
Hello Marty:

Sorry for the Delay. This Question was Located in the Question Pool. Send me the Model Numbers Off the Mower, Please. With these I can Locate the Proper Manual and Better Assist you. Generally the identification tag is on a part of the unit that, even after years of use, rarely needs replacement. For most of MTD power equipment, these tags are approximately 2" by 3" in size. They also have the MTD Products name, address and customer service phone number listed across the bottom. For hand held product, the tag is normally white and approximately 1" by 1/2" in size. Hand held i.d. tags are normally on an aluminum portion of the engine, somewhat set into the unit to protect the label from wear. (A bar code will also be on this tag.) Riding mower tags are located on the underside of the seat. For walk behind mowers this tag is found either on the deck or on the rear door of rear discharge units. Tiller model and serial tags are generally on the tine housing. **The model and serial tags for two-stage snow throwers are located on the bottom of the main gear housing which is often called the belly pan, while single stage snow thrower tags are next to the key and primer. For other products like log splitters, chipper shredders and edgers, tags can be found on the frame or main housing.** Thanks.

Respectfully

John

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Respectfully

John