Old thread. I re-engined my 70's vintage Horse tiller. Did the belts like all the videos and what a hassle working by myself. Got a different engine and did the belts differently. Since everything had been cleaned and greased, parts slid together. Thought I would pass along this hint. After bolting the mounting casting to the engine, I took the engine pulley, placed it on top the transmission pulley with both belts loosely installed. Then took the engine and casting, lined up the engine shaft to the pulley (I set keyway up, but it doesn't matter, just so they are the same), slid the shaft into the pulley about half way, popped the belts under the guide pins, and inserted shaft the rest of the way. Installed both posts. Then installed crankshaft screw and washer. Maybe 15 minutes at most. Two people would make getting the belts under the guide pins easier.

Claude, You can skip to the quick by scrolling down to where I discuss "Rear Bearing Removal" if you want. You've received very good advice with the posts that I see to your original question. You can do a search on The Tool Shed Forum for the string: "olddufus" to see some of my advice and heart aches with my horse. But here is some direct advice in case you come back to check: I discovered from the school of hard knocks that the shaft gear that you referred to is adjusted for proper fore and aft position by adding/removing (usually adding as the bearings wear) shims at the rear of the unit where the tines "tie" in. In my own sad experience, the bronze worm gear was so worn down that it would hardly mesh with the steel worm gear above it. My 1st wear-down occured from Dad's original ownership and my own, we just ran that "puppy" until the bronze gear failed and the tines rotated freely with a clicking sound as you described. Preventive maintenance that we never knew to do would have been to add shims at the back end of the unit (three allen-socket bolts are loosened to remove the back cover off the fore and aft shaft). The second wear-down to my own bronze gear replacement occured I think as an accident when I failed to tighten the three socket bolts on the back cover. This would have allowed the steel worm gear to travel too far back (aft) to the point where it begins to disengage with the bronze worm gear and proceeds to "grind" it into a poor little pile of sharp brass fileings. Another factor might be that my bronze gear should have come with a package that included new spacers (shims) that MTD says is needed on rebuilds since they have redesigned the unit to take new bearings that have a different depth of race because the auto industry doesn't make the old kind anymore. You are probably OK, because your bearing of concern is on the drive shaft, not the tine shaft according to your post. Rear-bearing removal: If our Troy-bilts are similar, and I suspect they are (serial numbers from 1001 to 639,999) then you should be able to get to the rear bearing by removing the cover cap at the rear of the unit held on by three socket screws/bolts that receive an allen wrench to turn them. This rear cap has a protruding boss on it with milled surface that bears first against a paper/fiber gasket. If you tear the gasket, don't fret, you can probably buy a sheet of gasket paper from a local auto parts shop and trace the old one onto it for a pattern. After that, you should discover that there are perhaps one or several shims (very thin and slender-looking washers that take up space to remove play between the drive shaft and the bearing). They should nearly fall out or maybe take a magnet pen to coax them out, they should all be very loose. Now you should only be faced with how to remove the actual bearing and its race that was hiding behind all those parts: Take this advice at your own risk, but in my case, I discovered that if the belts and reverse disk are first removed from the front of the unit as well as the engine and cast steel engine mount, the double pulley at the front of the trans housing is exposed. You can remove the snap ring from the shaft near its end just outboard of this pulley using a special tool for the purpose. (The tool looks like a small pliers, but works in reverse with two little pins that mate with the little holes in the snap ring to expand and extract it from the shaft). Now the pulley should be able to be slid off the shaft (I don't recall it being a very tight press fit). Okay, now the front end of the very long drive shaft is exposed. You may want to "cap" it for hammering protection at this point. Just find and old plastic cap like what they put on cheap metal pipe table legs to prevent scratching the floor. Or, just hold a hard wooden block on the end of the shaft while you hammer. Make sure all gears are in neutral. You want to avoid "mushrooming" the front end of the drive shaft! Now hammer descretely on the shaft to drive it towards the rear of the unit and monitor your progress as the goal will be the advancing of the rear bearing TOWARD THE REAR OF THE UNIT until it exits the rear. You see, the rear bearing has no "seat". It is held in place by the rear-end cover and shims that you removed. In my experience, the drive shaft simply worked its way to the rear and any gears that it contacts simply ROTATE to allow its rear-ward travel. Just in case you need to replace or temporarily remove the bronze worm gear on the tiller shaft that runs perpendicular to the drive shaft, it removes to the left of the tiller (looking toward the front from the rear of the unit). The tine cones should first have been removed by unscrewing the hex nut on either cone. Then the cones simply slide off outboard and two tine "studs" are exposed which can be grabbed with a vise wrench near their middle and unscrewed from their attachment to the tine drive axle. Now remove, I think (4) socket screws and the cover and gasket. You should have a huge, gapeing hole in the left side of the trans housing in order to remove the gear, bearings, and tine axle shaft to the left. One final piece of advice in case you actually have the guts to go this far in the rebuild: When you reassemble everything, you may have to purchase additional shims to remove bearing play. I suggest you test the tightness by screwing the rear cover described above snug tight and move the shaft to the fore and aft with your fingers on the FRONT end of the shaft BEFORE you reassemble the front double pulley. You want a SMALL amount of play, perhaps 1/32 inch, it is a matter of feel and gut feeling. Too tight and you could burn out your new bearing. Too loose and there goes that expensive bronze worm gear into metal fileings. In my case, I think I had other contributing problems, but I really think you will be OK if you sense that the shaft play is no more than 1/32" according to "feel". Look at a ruler while you make the adjustment and convince yourself the the play is to the order of 1/32". Again, take this advice at your risk, I'm just a "back yard mechanic". Also, here is a site where you might go to look for parts if you plan to go mail-order from MTD: https://www.buymtdonline.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10101&catalogId=15601 Hope all this helps!

as you say that machine is a 2014 model, is it not still under warranty ?

Hi all, I don't know if anyone else has had this problem but here's my solution. I have owned a Troy Bilt Zero turn mower for about 2 years. As with all zero turns they are meant for fairly flat areas, But my problem came because the front steering didn't turn as well as it should. On damp grass the rear tires would slip and dig up the grass under the drive tire on a turn. Also the distance was so slim between the tire and the fork that holds it that grass would jam up between them causing the tire to freeze up and skid on the ground tearing up the grass. I learned to watch for this and if the grass built up I would stop and back up clearing the grass from the wheel but leaving a glob of clippings on the ground. I thought this was normal for all zero turn mowers, until the front tires became distorted and crooked almost like a belt inside the tire was broken. Finally one tire became so distorted it bound up in the steering fork that holds it. Troy Bilt wanted anywhere from $70.00 - $90.00 + shipping for 1 new wheel and tire, and delivery time was 10 days. I went to Harbor Freight and purchased 2 #38943 10" Pneumatic Rigid Caster wheels which include the frame work, bearings, wheel, tire, and axle for $10.99 each. The Harbor Freight frame sits almost perfect inside the original Troy Bilt frame. I welded the one from Harbor Freight inside the Troy Bilt one If ever I need a new tire, wheel, or bearing the whole tire & hub assembly # 43612 costs $9.99 $5.99 on sale. I have found this set-up to work great. It steers better and doesn't get clogged with grass because there is more clearance between the tire and frame work. The only draw back I can see is the bearings aren't grease able, so I may drill the hub for a fitting to be able to grease them. I hope this helps some one else out there. Dave