Yep. No harm in trying. There worthless broken and the cost of a replacement is a joke. Also most of these riding mower transaxles are pretty simple. Just best to open it on a bench and take pictures the first time. This is the first mtd I've split. It's usually old abused craftsmans.

@@giberish9 hello.. Do you think i could maybe weld that up and machine or grind it down in some way... Im not from the US so the parts are not available and if special ordered and for a ton of money amd the machine is pretty old but works ok...

@@marcokauenhowen773 not sure. Maybe. Depends on how good the casting is. I never tried, but if I was to try it with basic tools, I would use a dremel rotors tool as it is the smallest and would give you the best chance at grinding it properly. If you try it, post a video. Always good to see solutions for common problems

@@giberish9 ok i never post videos but if i try it out il let you know for sure... I have another lawn tractor a john deere with hydrostatic wich works fine so im not sure if il even bother trying it but itd be interesting to find out.. What material are the gears and clutch made of? If its steel or iron i maybe could weld it but if its any other material it probably wont work out...

@@marcokauenhowen773 I think it's steel. Magnet will give a better answer.

Yeah. These transaxles are pathetic. The old MTD axles never did it to my knowledge. Guessing the slid clutch on older units had less slop.

Don't worry too much. It's just a riding mower. This style of trans axle is weak, but easy to work with. I generally take pictures during disassembly. Just place the shims as shown in the diagram and should be fine. Or could compare to the video if it helps. It's not as precise as something like a farm tractor. Heck, had a mtd 15-20 years ago with the rearend that was locked up, tore it down found a screw that holds the spider gears in place had backed out. Tapped the hole Replaced the screw, put it back together and it worked. Mind you, I was like 14 years old and never opened a rear axle. I didn't care, I got it for free and I couldn't make it worse.

It's usually filled with grease. Bearing noise is probably one of the idler pulleys.

@@giberish9 Thanks. Noise is definitely in the rear end as I replaced all belts and pulleys: It only does it when I’m rolling at faster speeds and really sounds like gear mesh to me. I’m gonna pull the unit today and crack the case open to see what Santa left inside….lol.

???

Could be. Could also be the 2 drive belts wearing out. As the belts wears out on these goofy mtd mowers, the mower gets slower. the stupid variable speed pulley mtd uses seems to wear out the belts is as little as 2 years.

@@giberish9 The belt was replaced last year, yet it didn't make it any better so wondering if its the forward drive teeth in the rear end or possibly pullies..if it was the transmission it should have trouble in reverse it doesn't, just forward pulling hills...then it slipped and wanted to roll backwards trying to pull a hill, we used the same belt we always replaced when it was worn...so gotta feel its got something to do with not catching in forward to have propulsion in forward...my son in law said the transmission needs replaced but I don't buy that it just doest seem logical...

@Judi Booher in that case, it's the forward gear and slide clutch. I'd split the case and flip the gears and slide clutch 180* or just replace the set. It's sad they only engage 3/16". Had they made the contact area wider, the failure rate would be lower.

@@giberish9 I'll definitely replace, its my old Troy-bilt,have brand new ones in the shed ,truly like them my old one is not going to be allowed to kick the bucket as long as I can get parts for it