Post the long model # from the tag on the rear of the deck. It sounds as tho fro, the noise that either the transmission is jumping hard enough to hit the housin g or it is getting bound up inside- which is why I'm sure you serviced it. It may be time...

QUICK AND EASY!! Tools Needed: Not much -- one foot length of 1/2' nylon rope, vise grips, and large ratchet wrench with 5/8" socket Now you can spend a lot of time trying to figure this out on your own -- there are a lot of ways to skin this cat -- But do it this way and you'll be done in 10-15 minutes with a little practice. 1. Loosen deck deck belt so that it can be removed from PTO pulley by "rolling" the belt off the PTO pulley (or spindle pulley). From rear of mower reach underneath with both hands and pull belt with left hand downward and rearward while turning PTO pulley to right. Maintaining downward tension while turning PTO pulley edge belt off the pulley. 2. Remove old transmission drive belt. Typically will already be broken or hopelessly worn so from rear of mower, section with knife and discard. 3. Lower PTO assembly from rear of mower to thread new transmission belt onto engine pulley. NOTE: This is necessary as there is an anti-rotational bracket that is welded to the framework and prevents the belt from being positioned in place otherwise. To lower the PTO assembly you must loosen the 5/8" bolt at the bottom -- but to prevent the flywheel from rotating while loosening the bolt you'll first need to remove the spark plug and feed into the spark plug hole a foot or so of 1/4" nylon rope. The piston will come up, hit the rope and lock up the engine. This will allow you loosen the bolt at the bottom of the PTO assembly. And the nylon rope will not hurt the piston or head -- just remember to leave enough rope out to remove the rope afterwards. Once the PTO assembly bolt is loosened slowly unscrew ONLY ENOUGH so that the PTO assembly drops below the anti-rotational bracket and the belt can be put into place. Use the notch where the anti-rotational bracket engages the PTO assembly to facilitate placement of the belt above the engine pulley. Once belt is in place retighten the PTO assembly bolt making sure the anti-rotational bracket is aligned with the notch on the PTO assembly. Remove nylon rope from spark plug hole and replace spark plug. 4. Finish placement of belt. To complete placement of belt you have to remove tension on the transmission idler arm. So begin by detaching the spring from the mower frame to release the tension on the idler pulley so that the belt can be placed. Read below on methods to replace spring. From the rear of mower FIRST thread belt around the right transmission drive pulley and then onto the left transmission drive pulley. The transmission drive belt is then positioned onto the engine pulley at the top of the PTO assembly and then on the drive idler pulley. Tension is then reapplied by reattaching the tension spring. NOTE: Replacement of the tension spring is a "simple yet a hard to master" move. Using a pair of vise grips placed right at the base of the spring's hook and oriented so the hook is at 90 degrees to both the hook and the hook's latch on the framework the spring is pulled into position and hooked onto the latch. Adjustment and placement of the vise grips is critical to prevent near misses and frustration. And unless you have the upper torso of a gorilla, position your body so that you are using your legs and not your arms to pull back the spring. For those less inclined to use their legs and biceps you will appreciate the use of a wire cable or ratchet drive to unload tension from the spindle arm! The manual describes the use of 3/8" drive long-arm ratchet being placed in the square hole of the drive idler bracket and used as leverage for releasing tension on idler pulley; others have left the spring in place and pulled the idler arm back by threading a wire cable into the square hole in the idler arm and extending the wire to the underside of the framework to the right side of the mower where it could be attached to fulcrum and secured. 5. Replace deck drive belt. First place the deck drive belt on all mower blade pulleys and spindle pulleys. Then sitting at rear of mower looking forward reaching underneath grasping the belt with both hands pulling back and sliding the belt back onto the PTO pulley. 6. Remove rope from spark plug hole and replace spark plug. Job done.

Well, this is late for this thread, but it is worth writing because I'm guessing there are folks out there looking at this mower as i was and looking for any recent reviews as I was when i bought. I bought my cadet i1050 two summers ago and boy what a mistake it was. I had a JD at my old house and sold it with the house when I moved out. Did a lot of reading and checking and bought this thing at a dealer here in Maine called FM Abbott. So, I'm not going to drag out the whole story because my head hurts when I think of all the crap I've been through, and i have to get up early to call the half assed service center because my mower is sitting in the middle of my driveway stalled. Long story short, she has been to the dealer no less than 8 times (at either their expense to pick up ($50) or the expense of my time, effort and aggravation to trailer it over there). A few were because "there was no problem at all" according to them even though they took it with them (if it started, it is doubtful they'd have taken it each time_ and eventually told me they'd taken a few pieces of plastic out of the gas tank that were causing trouble. The other times it was because of the drive system. I remember reading a review that said this mower "climbed hills like a scared cat". Ummm, well, maybe when it was new. I have a pretty modest incline in the back yard that I just have to get up a few times and I'd say over the 2+ years of mowing, I've had to bail out more often than not and go down rather than up. There was a while when I'd step on the gas and the thing would hesitate, think about it, one wheel would spin then eventually the other would catch up....that was another trip to the shop. And today, in the middle of mowing she stopped in the driveway...no nuthin. I wonder if I can find someone to buy this POS so i can go back and get another JD, p.s. also worth mentioning is the inferior job this thing does cutting long and/or damp grass compared to my deere. p.s.x2, the dealer is not good at all. very friendly in sales and on the phone, but i can't believe how many times i've had to go back and i get no sympathy whatsoever. p.s. x3. I don't work for another dealer or another company. email me and i'll gladly send pics of my pos and answer any other questions.

Any garden tractors can handle demanding tasks. I have 1995 2186-48 Cub Cadet and it still runs and it still mows great. I and my dad mowed with it for years. My neighbor have 1000 series lawn mower once time had backfire and it blew the muffler apart. My dad repaired it for him free assuming it was easy to fixed. Then he checked it out and found nothing wrong with it. Anyway, the maintenance and instructions should be followed careful with common sense. I remembered we had old craftsman mower and it did fell apart, mostly the deck because it catches the dirt and it got bend up causing the blades hitting it. Nothing is worse than poor made machines and see it falling apart no time.