I have a 10 year old Poulan 42 inch 17.5 HP riding mower. A local mechanic had just replaced the carburetor and drive belt. When I got the mower back, I noticed it was much more difficult to stop. I had to throttle down (which I never had to do before). Braking gradually got worse.
Now, a month later, I can only stop the mower by pulling out the key. Also, it will only shift gears when off. It will not shift gears while running. The brake is basically useless. What is wrong? Is the brake dirty or loose? I DO believe the brake is the heart of this problem. What do you think?
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If someone serviced your mower and it was working worse, you should have informed that person immediately. Hopefully you still have time.
I contacted the shop owner about an hour after he dropped off the mower. He said it was fine (I didn't realize he was throttling down to get the mower to stop). I never had to do that before.
Talk to the mechanic that worked on it. It's possible that he didn't get the drive belt on properly, and it is somehow causing the brake problem.
It seems you have problems that may have been caused by the mechanic that worked on your mower but since you cannot have them check your mower again, I really feel you are going to have to find another shop - maybe check out some of your local farm stores like Tractor Plus or any shop that sells Poulan. If you have a Sears Service center you might check their shop.
I'm assuming you have a way to transport your mower but if that is not the case then you'll have to call around and see if someone will give you an estimate on cost to repair at your home or pick up service.
There are some online mower forums that a lot of people use when having problems like this so maybe you might check some of these to see if they can offer suggestions on what you might try.
www.houzz.com/
www.doityourself.com/
www.outdoorking.com/
www.mylawnmowerforum.com/
If hard to shift, most likely linkage binding, and may need to be lubed, especially where shifter goes into tranny.
If mower shifts ok with out running, but shifts hard when running, most likely cause is belt not disengaging all the way, and may need to adjust linkage to clutch pedal.
Try adjusting the shift cable linkage.
Or ask help here: www.lawnmowerforum.com/
My neighbor has one a few years old doing the same thing and it's never been serviced but I think her belt or linkage needs adjustment
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