Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My 7 HP 924032 is having a hard time going into higher gears. 

In addition, when it goes in all gears it rattles a lot and doesn't drive without buckling.  It catches for a second then doesn’t, over and over.  I took the plate off the bottom and everything is connected, the motor runs great, I can see the drum spinning fine.  The chain has a tiny bit of slack in it but not much.  I can't tell if the rattling noise is coming from the 2 gears that might not be catching fully or from somewhere else.  It’s a 1979 model that always starts first pull so fixing it would be great but as you can imagine I don’t want to drop a ton of dough on it.   I tightened the drive disc adjustment nut (quite a bit actually) but the wheels didn't bind and just kept turning as I moved them.  Any help would be appreciated.

Did you lock the differential before trying to get the wheels to bind?

It sounds like you either have a bad friction wheel or some bad bearings.
I would bet you have a flat spot on the friction wheel.

That model is fixed axle, no differential.  The wheels spin so the friction disk is away from the drive plate. 

The chain loosness is ok.

With the drive clutch out the shift should go from reverse to high easily.  With the clutch engaged you should not be able to move the gear lever.

With the tractor section opened.  Lower the drive clutch partially so the friction disk is close to the drive plate. Tape it in place.  Put it in reverse and note how far away the disk is to the drive plate.  Spin the friction disk to see if it changes distance from the drive plate checking for a flat spot.  Do the same thing in each gear working up to the highest gear.  The friction disk should stay the same distance from the drive plate through the range.

Tape the handle down with the shift in reverse.  The friction disk should be very hard to turn.  Go to high gear and do the same.  The force to move the friction disk should be about the same, if you can move it.  Twist the wheels for grip to try and make the friction disk slip in reverse and high. 

Check that when in reverse the friction disk is too the left (or right) of center and when in first your on the opposite side of center.  That will indiate your not going too far in high to one side bumping into something.

Shake the friction disk axle looking for play. 

Ended up being a worn out wheel bushing which made the axle loose.  The rattling noise was the 2 gears not quite connecting which explained why sometimes it would catch and sometimes it wouldn't.

Glad it is fixed.  Hope you didn't tear the gears up much with them slipping.

Running great thanks, took care of yesterday's blizzard no problem.  Not bad for a 31 year old machine that's only 7 HP!