toro 12 20xl riding mower transmission

17 years ago

howdy. i am brand new here and hope someone can help me. i got a well used toro 12 horse mower. 12 20xl. the guy said the motor was locked up. i took it home and found the drive belt to be bound up on the drive pulley. once i freed it up the motor runs like new. i bought a new belt and before i put it in. i noticed that if the trans was in gear, the pulley on top of the rear differential would not turn. unless it was in nuetral. i found two different pieces of a cable that had been ripped off of somewhere. so when i put the new belt in. i let out the clutch and the pulley on the trans/differential spins free all the time now. it looks like a cable attached to the shifter. is there any thing to look for on this. or is the transmission shot?. i would sure appreciate some advice here and thanks much in advance.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

tekumcman
17 years ago
Nobule,

The transmission pulley is usually fixed to the input
shaft into the transmission with a key. The key may be
sheared allowing the pulley to free spin on the shaft?
Worse case scenario....something happened inside the
transmission which locked it up and caused the belt to
bind/fail. There are shifter keys which lock into each
gear and drive the unit. The keys could be broken? The
shifter fork could be broken? Lift the machine and rear
wheels up off the ground. Shift the unit into gear and
you can turn the input pulley by hand if you remove the
belt. Watch the axles and see if they turn as you spin the
pulley. If not....the trans is NOT receiving any input
which leads you sheared pulley key, or internal problems
of some sort.

GOOD LUCK !!!

T-Man
tomplum
17 years ago
It will shift w/o the cable attached as long as you use the clutch. It is meant to act as a shift on the go kind of thing even tho it wasn't marketed as such.
I'm unclear on what is happening now. Are you able to shift? Does it go into gear and not move? It is normal for the pulley to turn- so freely may be a subjective term. The thing won't drive if someone left a rear wheel key out. I would also guess it is a 12/32 ro 12/38. Post the model # that is under the seat along w/ the 1st 2 digits of the serial #.
Related Discussions
Riding mower manual transmission questions
Q
Comments (21)
Hey, jfw432, apologies, got so busy "touting" the 6 speed trannies that I forgot the original question. From my experience, manual transmissions in tractors are like manual transmissions in cars and trucks. The CVT's are another issue and if you understand them, they work OK. We have a JD 110 here that may get restored one of these days. Hydro's do "hold back" going down hills, the more expensive the machine, the better it does. IMHO I don't like hydro's I have one on a Roper which was given to me and that's the only one I have. With a manual trans, there is a direct mechanical linkage between the rear tires and the speed of the engine-period. You want to crawl up a hill at idle and crawl down the other side it'll do fine. If you've ever driven a truck and used engine compression to save the brakes that's the idea. Qualifiers on the above, the trans is connected to the engine by a belt, and if it's worn, idlers misadjusted, or breaks or comes off you're in for a wild ride. Hydros also connect by a belt, same considerations would seem to apply. I'll defer to others who are more familiar with them to address that. Also with hydros you have to disengage (little lever on the rear or someplace) the trans to free wheel it no idea what would happen if you lose the belt going down a hill. Again, defer to those who know. Another consideration is tire tread and are you holding back a trailer going down a hill? Regular turf tires are useless if you need traction and if the grass is wet or recently mowed.... Photo is an aerial view of part of my farm, as you can see, none of it is level, and I mow with a GT with the 6 speed trans and AG tires for traction. Hmm, maybe you can't, the area directly beneath the truck is a bank with about a 18% grade, the rest varies but wouldn't try to mow it without a manual trans and adequate tire tread. Just my two cents. Ev
...See More
Toro riding mower trouble starting
Q
Comments (6)
"13.6V with the motor off" I don't get it. WHere is the extra volt sneaking in? Been adding liquid voltage to your fuel? Unless this is really cooking the battery? 15.6 probably isn't a deal breaker, but higher than desired for continuous charging. You could charge your battery and retest seeing if it is still high. I think Kohler likes you to buy a regulator if it is over 14.8? Verify also no AC heading into the battery and no draw. You should download the manual (it's free)ENter as guest. Here is a link that might be useful: kohler
...See More
Help choosing a riding mower and attachments
Q
Comments (13)
No, it doesn't seem like he'll be spending a whole lot of time doing major ground-engagement, but pulling an aerator though solid clay (which will need to be significantly weighed down) is no slight task. Plus he has the typical good-enough-for-occupancy-inspection lawn, which probably won't be good enough for someone who cares enough about having a good lawn to consider buying a $3k mower, so he'll probably find himself moving some dirt around at some point in the next year or two. For that reason, I'd recommend a heavy duty lawn tractor (X304 or older LX) if not an all-out garden tractor. Vox, If you're concerned about jumping into a large purchase without really knowing what you need or what you're buying, then don't. You only have at most two months of mowing before the bermuda goes dormant. I don't know what kind of house you have, but with the house and driveway, you probably have less than 3/4 acre of actual grass to mow. It is possible to mow 3/4 acre with a push mower just to finish out the mowing season. That will leave you with all winter to research, or even browse eBay for a good deal. There is a feature on eBay where you can receive an email if an auction gets posted which fits specific criteria you've set. For example, you can search for a "John Deere," in "Home and Garden" / "Outdoor Power Equipment," from $500-2500, within 100 miles from your zip code. Then to really narrow it down, you can have eBay not alert you until a certain number of bids have been placed (say 5 or so) so you don't get bothered by items which are obviously overpriced. I'd save a few searches like that in "My eBay" and see what comes up over the next few months. Remember, with buying used, you can pretty much sell it without taking a loss if it doesn't fit your needs.
...See More
Quick advice needed for riding mower purchase
Q
Comments (10)
If you have a slope your better off to stick with a geared transmission. However if you have to have a hydro make SURE that it is a K66 or better. The light duty K46 units aren't durable enough for anything but flat ground. Designations tell you a lot. LT=Lawn Tractor GT=Garden Tractor. Garden tractors are rated to pull ground engaging implements and lawn mowing is child's play for them. When you get into decks over 42" inches in a Big Box LT your looking at an over powered unit on a light frame that IMHO is NOT the best way to go on anything but a flat "not to big" yard. I just sold an old Craftsman GT 6000 that I'm sure will still be running 10 years from now. Unless you get into commercial duty, zero turn units are the repair centers best friend. Children's college educations are being paid for by the fathers repairing these machines. Craftsman mowers have been recommended. I second that. I have not been skunked yet on parts availability from Sears. Ebay is also a great place for Craftsman parts as well as others. If your going to keep the machine for years and want a large deck figure on an up scale model that has the heavier components. It will cost you $3500+ If price is a big consideration buy an inexpensive 38 or 42 geared transmission model built By MTD. $999. These units mow just as good as the $1300/$1400 JD's and Cub Cadets and give less problems. You don't need 20 HP for a 42" deck. My 2 cents. What say you?
...See More
nobule
Original Author
17 years ago
it is a 12 32xl model number 71188 serial number is 7902436. it is jacked up. you can turn each axle and they spin free of each other. as in. when you spin one wheel the other wheel does nothing. nor does the pulley. you can do this in all gears. you can start the motor and let out clutch and the pulley just spins free. no wheel movement. i was wondering where that cable from the shifter went. the only place i can find is on the clutch. i wondered if it went somewhere on the rearend and was needed to engage the trans. the weird thing is. before i put the belt on and when the trans was in gear. the pulley would only turn about a 1/4 inch each way. but in nuetral it would spin free. i had to have it nuetral to spin the belt on cause it would not spin free when it was in gear. once i got on the unit after putting on the belt. i started it an let out clutch and nothing. so i look down and see the pulley is spinning and the unit is not moving. no matter what gear i select. sorry about the model number being wrong. don't know what i was thinking. and thanks alot for the help.
tomplum
17 years ago
The cable just goes from the shifter to the idler. Nothing to worry about at this point. You should confirm that the rear wheels are both locked in place to the axel with the key. If they are, it seems things are uhappy inside your transaxel as Tman thought. It would be a good idea also to confirm the top pulley is keed to the shaft as he suggested as well.
tekumcman
17 years ago
If you spin one wheel...the other should spin in the
opposite direction. Sounds like an axle key is missing.
Have you recently removed one of the rear wheels? If so...
it's easy to push the axle key out of the keyway when you
slide the wheel and hub back on. This allows the axle to
just "free wheel" inside the hub. Maybe you should check
that. This also prevents the machine from....MOVING.

T-Man
bill_kapaun
17 years ago
You should be able to download a service manual at the link-

http://www.cpdonline.com 691218.pdf
http://www.smallcarplans.com/manual.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: Click Here
tekumcman
17 years ago
Nobule, by the 71188 Toro model number, your tractor has
a Peerless 205-509 transaxle, which is a very good one.
Should be a 5-speed gear drive unit which uses 80-90W
gear oil. Again...with wheels off the ground, when you spin
one wheel, the other should spin in the opposite direction,
which is how the differential works. If not...either an
axle key is missing from the hub, or there's internal
or other issues with this trans.

T-Man
nobule
Original Author
17 years ago
i got home here and went back out and checked. i was wrong. if i spin one wheel the other spins backwards just as on a car diff does. without posi of course. so i guess with the cable issue resolved, i need to tear out the rearend and see what is going on. it seems kinda tight to get the pulley off with the rear in place. if this is possible let me know. otherwise when i get home tommorow eve. i will find out if i got a good mower or a pile of junk. thanks alot and i will post my findings.
tekumcman
17 years ago
With wheels off the ground...if you remove the trans
drive belt you maybe can spin the input drive pulley by
hand. Move the shift lever into reverse and through the
forward gears....spin the pulley by hand and watch for
the axles to move. If you see movement....transaxle is
OK. Don't "tear into it" unless you check it out...first.
Check shift linkage and make sure it's not damaged in some
way, preventing you from being about to up or downshift.
Also...make sure, when engine is running...the input pulley
is moving. Is trans drive belt doing its job? Is input
pulley moving the input shaft...or just spinning on the
shaft?

T-Man
nobule
Original Author
17 years ago
motor running with clutch out the shaft and pulley spin together, no movement of wheels. if i spin both wheels in the same dirction, the shaft and pulley don't move. is there a key inside the top of trans. it appears as the shaft is not physically connected to the box. i looked this a.m. before work. it looks like i can take out the battery tray and use my impact to take the pulley off. thanks again.
bwblakem23
8 years ago
I have a similiar issue on my John Deere lawn tractor with 5 speed peerless. I can spin the rear axle and they spin but the pulley doesn't move. I tore into tranny and found no thing broken and everything looks in good condition...I'm a little frustrated, when I stored last fall it seemed to be working well.. This spring battery was dead so I pulled out of shed and charged battery but now the tranny doesn't work.

toro 12 20xl riding mower transmission

Comments (11)

tekumcman

tomplum

Related Discussions

nobule
Original Author

tomplum

tekumcman

bill_kapaun

tekumcman

nobule
Original Author

tekumcman

nobule
Original Author

bwblakem23

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

toro 12 20xl riding mower transmission

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

nobuleOriginal Author

nobuleOriginal Author

nobuleOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

nobule
Original Author

nobule
Original Author

nobule
Original Author