Hi all,
Firstly thanks Bruce! I had a look the top bevel gear and it seemed fine so I stood around and scratched the old noggin a bit looking at the parts diagram and then my assembled gear box and could not find a thing wrong. I then started pulling apart and swapping the bevel gears and turning around the selector to no avail. I then proceeded to dig up some decent shims out of the deep depths of the washer bucket and sticking them in between the shaft and the brass bushes to push the whole gear assembly to the other side and bingo that did the trick. It seems the type of grease I have put in was making the bevel gears stick to the selector and slid around in the free space there for bypassing neutral. Anyway that may be helpful for someone in the future. During the week I dropped into the local bearing suppliers (Frankston bearings) and bought the roller cages needed in the variable speed pulley arrangement. These cost about $11 so that�s allot better than mtd�s $70. I will now fill the big gap in the shaft with weld, then spin it down in the lathe and I will be good to go in the drive side of things.
As to the rest of the mower all I need to do is weld up the deck and a few other things then buy and install a new engine sump gasket.
Thanks for your help!
Regards Jay
