Your tractor was made by Murray and private labelled for Scotts. Murray went bankrupt and Briggs & Stratton picked up the bones at a bankruptcy auction. B&S won't be of any help, as they have orphaned old legacy Murray. The 46572X8 uses a Peerless (Tecumseh) VST-205-023B hydrostatic transmission. According to Peerless, transmission is non serviceable, and oil can only be added or changed with a tear-down. It uses a synthetic oil in the hydro portion and 90W EP gear oil in the differential section. The hydro oil is maintained behind a bellows, which keeps air out of the system. Tecumseh does sell a bellows and oil kit to replace the hydro oil. To service, you need to remove the transaxle, and place it on a bench, bellows side up. You will need almost 2 quarts of oil. The service kit is 799030, containing the bellows and 2 quarts of oil, which lists for $50 and can be had on internet from $40 to $45. This may or may not address our problem. The only bullet proof fix is to replace the transaxle. Tecumseh/Peerless part number for the VST-205-023B is 799031 and list price is $725. Can be found on internet for as low as $599. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: 46572X8 Parts List

Actually it's more of a growl than a grind. When I it is coming from the front, I meant the very front of the mower. Like maybe where the pulley and belt are on the bottom of the engine. Sometimes it's hard to trace a sound but I had it jacked up and hit the forward pedal and it seemed as though it was up front--not trans. It's possible the belt is slipping but It shows no sign of wear and no matter how long I use it--no burning belt smell. Mower still goes slow and almost stops going up a hill. The engine doesn't slow down-only the mower. Anyone know where I could get an owners manual-Stanley (same as Murray Year 2001), model #46506x692a, 19.hp, 46" cut ?? Maybe there is an adjustment (belt or trans) or maybe I need to put on a new belt. I'll bet the manual can save me time. I used to have one and I seem to remember some adjustments in it--ex musta got custody of it????? Thanks again all for the help! Trigg

tom thanks, one is on the way, although I'm still interested in thoughts on what could cause this. Once I've got the new one, I can bench the old one anyway and see if I can figure anything out. I'm also trying to compare these transmissions for durability and torque to the Peerless 205-024x and the Spicer 093264. These are hyrdrostatics with pedal shift, i.e. push pedal forward to go forward and backward to go in reverse. I might like to convert this tractor, maybe by buying a parts machine, but I do haul a york rake with it regularly so I'm pulling harder than I do with just mowing using these hydrostatics and if they aren't up to it, then wouldn't be worth the time. If they are, esp. the 205-024x which is from a similarly heavy 46" wide body Murray 2 cylinder, then I really prefer the pedal shifting option. Thanks, Brian

To swh22: I hope you got it fixed. I have the same tractor with a peerless 6840-P91 Transaxle and it has been sluggish for a while. I moved last year and while in the process I mowed about 2 acres in the misting rain. After that it would not move at all. It has been hard to push when disengaged for a long time. Upon inspection I found the vent tube was laying on the frame and was letting moisture in. I took it off and drained it and tried to flush it with gasoline. I let it set for a couple days to dry out and added the oil suggested by others, 20-50 synthetic. But alas no help at all. After reading about broken parts inside the unit I decided to take it apart. I found nothing wrong upon visual inspection. It was very difficult to move both axles with transmission off and was still stiff when the case was opened. I give up and will be ordering a new one next week. I hope that will fix the problem as it is a good tractor with the exception of the cheap metal the deck wheels attach to and the non adjustable steering which make the front wheels splay out and wear out. I guess I'll bend the wheels back and may make my own brackets or get some like are on the john deer my mother in law has.