QuestionQUESTION: I have a John Deere STX 38 with a Tuff Torq K-50 Hydrostatic Transmission. I was cutting the grass and the tractor just stoppeed. Won't go forward or reverse. I replaced to drive belt because it was severely frayed but that wasn't the problem. Any ideas?
ANSWER: If the mower "just stopped" you have a broken tensioning spring or a bad belt. No other possibilities really.
My guess is you never fixed what caused the belt to break. Belts never fray or break unless something else caused the problem. NEVER.
Pull the deck off and dig a little deeper. The problem will usually be obvious.
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QUESTION: I already pulled the deck. Everything else looks ok? The shift lever for the hydro seems to have less tension on it than normal. Could the hydro be shot?
AnswerThe motion lever on the tranny could fail but this would be EXTREMLY rare. We haven't sold one in the 18 years we have been open.
Transaxle failure is much more likely. Although transmission just don't imediatley fail, I mean NEVER!!! It is always a gradual process.
You could have a broken axle. Jack the rear wheels off of the ground. Have a helper hold 1 wheel while you spin the other. You should not be able to spin your wheel. If the helper lets go of the wheel 1 wheel should turn forward, the other backwards. If the wheel spins with the helper holding the other you have either a broken axle or a sheared or missing key on one of the wheels.
Good luck, sounds expensive, but, if the engine runs good it is well worth the money spent on the repair.
