Craftsman LT2000 Mower wont stop/brake doesnt work FIX

12731 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by SidecarFlip, Jul 11, 2021

tommyp603

Discussion Starter · Aug 28, 2019

My model is 247288851

Did you recently go thru the pain in the ass of changing the drive and transmission belts on this mower?
Now it wont stop moving forward,shifting into gear and the brake doesnt work?
You probably are smoking the belt. The accelerator pedal is stiff as hell.

These mowers need to have an OEM belt installed on the drive from the motor to the rear variable drive pulley. Aftermarket amazon belts dont have the special coating on them to allow them to slip while the motor is idling. This causes the belt to rub and catch on the variable speed pulley and cause the mower to move forward. The OEM belt is a brown color, it is a little more expensive but it will save you the time and headache of trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Also these mowers are known for loosing the belt idler retention spring.
Retention Spring P/N-753-08301 its also number 51 on your parts diagram
Main drive belt P/N-954-0467A number 69 on your parts diagram
MAKE SURE THE BELT IS BROWN!

As for the small transaxle belt you can use a cheap amazon one as that doesnt have to slip during operation. I hope this helps as ive looked thru tons and tons of forums looking for the solution to this and couldnt find it.

Cheers

Reactions: 1

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JBRal

· #2 · Feb 18, 2020

Tommy, I have spent the last 2 weeks looking for an answer why my Sears T2000 would not stop. My model is 247.288843. I tried stretching the belt, pulling the rear wheel to adjust the brake, etc, etc. The only thing I could do was turn the key off if I was going to hit something. I just ordered the Brown MTD belt. I even went to the Sears Part Direct website but they have the same cheap belts you see on Amazon. I did search on "954-0467A OEM" on Amazon and it went right to the brown belt. It is a pain in the @ss to replace that belt. Its not easy to get the belts on the pulleys for the transmission. (I spray the belts with water and push them on with a stick). When I first installed it and gave it gas, it stopped on its own. The more I drove it the more I lost any semblance of a brake. I'll re-post in a couple weeks when my belt comes in. Thank you for the post.

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Reactions: 1

bmaverick

· #3 · Feb 18, 2020

V-BeltSupply.com They have the brown belts and Kevlar belts both work. And no, the lawn tractor is branded saying Sears. It's a Husqvarna.
Gear version
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/001/6/4/1642-craftsman-91720380.html
Hydro-static version
http://www.tractordata.com/lawn-tractors/001/6/4/1643-craftsman-91720381.html

The pulley and frame are like the older Husqvarna made for Sears machines from the late 1990s. DYT-Sereis. The newer machines got a nicer plastic shell.

With the hydro-static versions, if the belt is not allowing to stop, there are springs on the lever to adjust. Simple fix to get them balanced with an old belt.

Reactions: 1

JBRal

· #4 · Feb 24, 2020

Ok, I got the new, brown belt in from Amazon, $22.84. Now that I know what to do, total swap time was 1 hr. Here is the belt I used (yes, it's brown): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y0OIWXO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Copy and past to see it, MTD OEM belt. Works like a charm!! thanks all, I am back in business. Apparently my link won't work until I do a couple more posts. So, If you use Amazon, you can search on '954-0467a OEM' and find the tan MTD belt.

Jose A Gonzalez

· #5 · May 15, 2020

I found this forum after having this issue, I got a brown belt and still have the issue that when I let go of the pedal it still drives forward, so I swapped it into n and it was still powering forward for a sec then goes into n as tension let's up, and the brake is useless, does it need time for it to break in at all, the belt isnt tight as it has slop and flops when the pedal isnt engaged so it's the right length, my model is 247.288842 I'm at my waist end with it as I dont understand what to look for next

Reactions: 1

EarlHarris

· #6 · Jan 17, 2021

Jose A Gonzalez said:
I found this forum after having this issue, I got a brown belt and still have the issue that when I let go of the pedal it still drives forward, so I swapped it into n and it was still powering forward for a sec then goes into n as tension let's up, and the brake is useless, does it need time for it to break in at all, the belt isnt tight as it has slop and flops when the pedal isnt engaged so it's the right length, my model is 247.288842 I'm at my waist end with it as I dont understand what to look for next

Did you ever fix the problem

Bob Driver

· #7 · Jan 17, 2021

Spend a few minutes on Google and research "Wrapped Edge Belt" versus "Raw Edge Belt" and buy accordingly. MTD doesn't make V-belts, but their OEM belts are wrapped edge belts. You can buy wrapped edge belts with a Kevlar (Aramid) core for 1/3 of the price of OEM MTD belts and they'll last 5 times longer, but you've got to know the difference in belt types.....

Chike87

· #8 · Jul 11, 2021

Jose A Gonzalez said:
I found this forum after having this issue, I got a brown belt and still have the issue that when I let go of the pedal it still drives forward, so I swapped it into n and it was still powering forward for a sec then goes into n as tension let's up, and the brake is useless, does it need time for it to break in at all, the belt isnt tight as it has slop and flops when the pedal isnt engaged so it's the right length, my model is 247.288842 I'm at my waist end with it as I dont understand what to look for next

Jose, did you ever get yours running right ? I have the same 247.288842 mower with the same issue. My original belt that came with my mower when I bought new was black. I orderd a Stens and it was brown and this is when I started having this issue. I have a new Craftsman OEM belt on the way so I am hoping this will take care of my issue.

bmaverick

· #9 · Jul 11, 2021

Chike87 said:
Jose, did you ever get yours running right ? I have the same 247.288842 mower with the same issue. My original belt that came with my mower when I bought new was black. I orderd a Stens and it was brown and this is when I started having this issue. I have a new Craftsman OEM belt on the way so I am hoping this will take care of my issue.

Going forward, it going to become very difficult to get parts now for the older Craftsman rider mowers like this one. The OE who makes these machines, Husqvarna announced July 1st this past week they are now exiting the business. Not only that, but they are dissolving that business all together and will not sell off to a 3rd party. This way people will buy their electric riding mowers coming out and their eRobot mowers they have now.

Reactions: 1

Chike87

· #10 · Jul 11, 2021

bmaverick said:
Going forward, it going to become very difficult to get parts now for the older Craftsman rider mowers like this one. The OE who makes these machines, Husqvarna announced July 1st this past week they are now exiting the business. Not only that, but they are dissolving that business all together and will not sell off to a 3rd party. This way people will buy their electric riding mowers coming out and their eRobot mowers they have now.

Thanks for the information, good to know !

Bob Driver

· #11 · Jul 11, 2021

bmaverick said:
Going forward, it going to become very difficult to get parts now for the older Craftsman rider mowers like this one. The OE who makes these machines, Husqvarna announced July 1st this past week they are now exiting the business. Not only that, but they are dissolving that business all together and will not sell off to a 3rd party. This way people will buy their electric riding mowers coming out and their eRobot mowers they have now.

Spot on Maverick.... Big changes coming in the OPE industry and Husqvarna is just the 1st of the major OEMs to head down the path. In 10 years, the day of the internal combustion engine in OPE is going to be pretty much over. The Alamo (last stand) for ICE on lawn equipment will be once they can come up with battery-powered machines that can work all day long at a golf course, or municipal park, running a 72" deck.....

bmaverick

· #12 · Jul 11, 2021

Bob Driver said:
Spot on Maverick.... Big changes coming in the OPE industry and Husqvarna is just the 1st of the major OEMs to head down the path. In 10 years, the day of the internal combustion engine in OPE is going to be pretty much over. The Alamo (last stand) for ICE on lawn equipment will be once they can come up with battery-powered machines that can work all day long at a golf course, or municipal park, running a 72" deck.....

I'm sooooo glad my machine can run on bio-deisel, peanut oil, etc. It has none of that computer junk nor that regen stuff. So, I can keep going for decades.

BTW, in 2020, the local wally-world had 2-gallon jugs of peanut oil on clearance for a mere $2.50 each! That's way cheaper than a gallon of diesel with road tax !!!

Sadly, the situation is, not enough good battery technology to keep producing nor landfills where the batteries will end up.

Bob Driver

· #13 · Jul 11, 2021

bmaverick said:
I'm sooooo glad my machine can run on bio-deisel, peanut oil, etc. It has none of that computer junk nor that regen stuff. So, I can keep going for decades.

BTW, in 2020, the local wally-world had 2-gallon jugs of peanut oil on clearance for a mere $2.50 each! That's way cheaper than a gallon of diesel with road tax !!!

Sadly, the situation is, not enough good battery technology to keep producing nor landfills where the batteries will end up.

Down here in the South, most people traditionally only use peanut oil to fry turkeys at Thanksgiving and occasionally burn down a house in the process..... Makes for a really tasty turkey and that stuff is highly flammable in the right situation.

Reactions: 1

bmaverick

· #14 · Jul 11, 2021

Bob Driver said:
Down here in the South, most people traditionally only use peanut oil to fry turkeys at Thanksgiving and occasionally burn down a house in the process..... Makes for a really tasty turkey and that stuff is highly flammable in the right situation.

In my machine, it smells like roasted peanuts. Makes you crave a 1-lbs bag while mowing. LOL

It burns cleanly too. I mix about 70/30 peanut/diesel.

SidecarFlip

· #15 · Jul 11, 2021

Just what I need, a 227 grand John Deere electric utility tractor with a 6 hour run time Don't think so.

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