# Variable Speed Lever not working



## scooter281

I have a MTD Yard Machine 42 inch cut with 18 hp Briggs and Stratton. A buddy of mine used it and pushed the clutch/brake pedal to far and it stuck. We pulled the pedal back upright and now the Speed lever on the right fender is not working properly. In the parked position, it will move like it is in 3rd or 4th gear. When you put the lever in number 1 position it moves like it is in high gear (7th). Belts are fine variable speed pulley seems to be fine. If the pedal is depressed the lever will only go to 4th position then stop, let out on the pedal and the lever will move all the way to 7th. Still seems to be only operating on 2 gears. Any ideas?
Thanks


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## Hoodoo Valley

Welcome to the forum Scooter! Could the linkage have been bent in the excess pedal travel?


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## scooter281

That is what I am thinking. New to working on lawn mower, where is the linkage located? If it is bent, can it be straightened out to were it will work properly?


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## dangeroustoys56

Hmm .... i dont really have a clear pic of a variable pulley setup cept for this one :









This happens to have the shifter on the chassis - but its all the same theory . Your shifter will actually enter the tractor just over the transaxle assembly ( the two holes in the side of the chassis).

From the left side of the pic to the right : first pulley is the variable pulley - middle is just a idler pulley and finally the transaxle pulley .

Whats supposed to happen is the variable pulley assembly actually moves forward and backward as you push the clutch in- the shifter assembly just holds it in a certain place for specific speeds - the variable pulley is like a clutch as well- depending where the belt rides on the assembly, it determines how fast the tractor goes - thats why in high gear forward is the same speed in reverse.

The actual transaxle is actually a 1:1 single speed unit - the shifting is done at the variable pulley .


Im afraid to say, youll need to pull the deck off , possibly the seat and fenders along with the shifter plate to get a good view of what went wrong /got bent. 

Also check and make sure the center of the variable pulley slides back and forth- its supposed to . There should be a spring on the arm at the bottom of the variable pulley as well - to hold tension on it.


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## rsmith335

Welcome! I think dangeroustoys56 has a handle on this one, let us know what you find out.


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## scooter281

Thanks, I will get to work pulling the deck off. I felt like something got bent but really did not know what I was looking at. There is a rod that is attached to clutch/brake on the left side of the mower just inside the frame. This rod is bent or curved on the end closest to the clutch/brake, it actually rides upwards toward the clutch/brake rod that runs from left to right. Anyone know if this rod should be curved from factory or maybe this is the problem. It runs from the pedal toward the rear and attaches somewhere near the transaxle pulley?


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## scooter281

It is the speed control link rod. Is it curved, or should it be straight. Looked at many sites to get a picture of same but they all say image not available.


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## dangeroustoys56

Both the brake and clutch have rods that go tward the back of the tractor - one goes to the brakes - the other to the variable pulley - the only places they should be bent is to attach to the pedal ( it angles at 90* to go thru the bracket) - otherwise they should be straight.


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