Just bought a 32" 8HP B&S MTD riding mower Model 138-322-000. The guy I bought it from said his brother had adjusted the speed somehow so their elderly father wouldn't fall off the tractor. I haven't been too successful with trying to get back the speed. I have also noticed that when you put it in forward or reverse with your foot to the floor on the brake/clutch it just takes off. I have tried adjusting the brake and replaced the brake pucks (pads) with no luck. I am just wondering what to adjust first, or is there something serious wrong. I mean from reading the manual with my foot down on the break all the way the tractor sholdn't move regardless if it is in forward or reverse, and as I take my foot of the tractor should pick up more speed (as much as I have set by the speed lever), but all it does when I pop it in to forward or reverse is take off and at the same slow speed no matter what I have the speed lever set at. I know it is only 8hp but I would think it should have some kick to it. The engine seems to work flawlessly from what I can tell. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS I am looking for a used chute deflector for it, the father apparently only used a bagger (which I also have) and I don't want to always use it so I am looking for a replacement one.

It sounds as if the belt is the wrong size, you have a speed variator system that will not work correctly with improper drive belts.
Don

Thanks Don,
Buddy of mine came over and we took a look at it... Found out needs a new belt, and after seeing the oem belt the old one looks like it may have been the right size but looked like a v-belt where as the oem is much more rectangular. Also as well looked at the setup I noticed some springs were either missing or in the wrong place (luckily I have the manual). So I am going to grease up the belt pulleys (they sounded like they could use it) then get the right springs in the right places (he gave me a bucket of "extra" parts) put the new belt on and give it a try. I will let you know how I made out.

Ray

Changed the belt today the springs were hell to get on... Still no change am I just expecting too much out of a 8hp engine? It still goes the minute you pop it into forward or reverse with your foot all the way down on the clutch/brake. Also I noticed the spring they had on idle pulley didn't look the same was the one pictured in the manual. There is one that looks like it may go there but I could never make it fit (not using a spring tool) just wondering if I should use a spring tool if that would make a difference. Also there is a spring that looks like it may fit on another part that is pictured as having on in the manual however again no way I could put it on, plus there seems to be a guard that would prevent it from putting anymore tension on the belt system. Any help from anyone would be greatly be appreciated.

It could be that the speed variator is froze. It is a pulley with a middle sheave that moves up and down changing the diameter of the pulleys, if the middle portion is not moving the machine will not change speeds. Hp is not going to affect top speed much if at all.

Don

That is what my buddy thought so I removed it and greased it up... it didn't seem frozein moved freely but added some grease just in case... I am thinking it maybe the spring on the idle pulley. I am wondering if it isn't keeping enough tension on the pulley. The sping in the manual has one end with decent gap between the one end and the start of the coils, the one they had in place had an equal distance and more coils. I am going to pickup a spring puller (looks like there less than 10 bucks) and see if I can get the smaller sping on there. I have to say the new belt seemed to have some slack when I put it on, also like I mentioned in the book it also looks like they didn't put another spring on but I have to say you can see some marks on the metal bracket like there was one on there originally and perhaps they couldn't get it back on. It's just kind of frustrating cause I am just not sure if I got the right parts (spring wise) in the right spots...

OK... got it all fixed... the problem was the original owner thought they had adjusted the speed buy messing with the ferrule on the speed control link. What I think happened is they removed the spring from the variable speed pulley and couldn't get it back on. That is what really caused the mower to only operate at a slow speed and not adjusting the ferrule. I re-attached the spring and it took off like a shot. Also a tip for anyone trying to re-attach a spring I bought a spring puller and didn't even use it, use rope that is what the repair shops use (the two mtd authorized shops in my area said that is all they use as the spring pullers can get stuck). Now all I have to do is adjust the neutral setting and speed settings and it will be good to go. Thanks for your help. And hope this helps someone else.

PS I hope the moderators could change the subject to something more suitable like "riding mower speed adjustment" or something.