toro tranny troubles

Hi guys,
Ive got a 2004 toro personal pace lawn mower. Lately, when I'm cutting my hill (sideways) the mower makes a grinding noise when I turn and also in a certain direction. Ive also noticed when it grinds that the right wheel isnt turning. Ive pulled the wheels off and found nothing. Ive also opened the gear box where the axels come together and found nothing. I repacked said box with fresh grease and something is still grinding away, allthough not necessarily from that box. Any thoughts? Oh yea, GO CARDINALS!

 

Some time the bearing that supports the imput shaft into the transmission gets wear and loosens up, this allows the gears to grind together and wear out. Since you have said you notice the right side drive wheel stops when you notice the noise, then more likely it is the drive gear on that wheel. Try removing that wheel and lubricating the little drive gear on the axle, light weight motor oil, 3 in 1 or wd-40 will work, make sure the gear rotates freely on the shaft. Check the drive wheel gear also and look for any wear, if all looks ok, reinstall the wheel and try it out to see if this helps any.

If the problem is in the transmission, they are not very expensive to replace if you do the work yourself.

Good Luck!

 

I'll bet the pinion-gear rocking-key is not well lubricated and causing your trouble and/or the pivot-arm bushings are dry (of grease). Have a look at this for an exploded view of your setup. https://homeownersolutions.toro.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&cached=true&parentname=CommunityPage&parentid=1&in_hi_userid=19462&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=214&PageID=238#65-4750 Since you didn't provide a model number, I used a model 20054 as a reference. Yours may differ only slightly but the general style should be similar. If not, then go here and use your exact model number. https://homeownersolutions.toro.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&cached=true&parentname=CommunityPage&parentid=2&in_hi_userid=19461&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=214&PageID=0

 

I know this is a long time since the last post, but I wanted to close it out for those with future problems. I repaced the pinion gear per pueys advice and he was right on. However, and there is always a however in life. After one mowing the grinding returned. Turns out the wheel that the pinion gear drives has a permanant gear on it that wears too. I replaced both sides with all new parts, pinion gears, wheels and bushings for $40. Runs like new. Thanks for your help Puey, sorry for the slow post