# 1st gear forward is 1st gear reverse



## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

Working on a Murray Craftsman, 5hp, 6 forward 2 reverse. When put into 1st gear forward it goes backwards slowly. I flipped it up, removed the bottom pan, and noticed all the forward gears are in one side of center of the spinning friction plate, and the 2 reverse gears are on the other side of center, however, when as I go through the gears, high gear moving to low, as the rubber friction disc approaches the center of the friction plate, when I put the gear lever into 1st gear forward, the friction disk is now on the reverse side of center thus the reason for the snowblower going backwards when in 1st gear forward.

I cleaned the hex shaft the rubber disk slides on by lightly filing any rust off then a thin film of grease.

I see no adjustments other than the proper spring tension, and I saw nothing bent or out of line.

What do I do to fix this?


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Do you have any history on this machine? Could be it originally had a two shaft engine and was changed to a single shaft?


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## DriverRider (Nov 20, 2016)

There is looseness present in the metal disc allowing some movement or the rubber friction wheel is walking due to looseness. This can be be linkage, shafts, bearings. Look closely and you will figure out where the problem lies.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

The common cause is putting something in backwards after you've had it apart. Like the friction wheel or the assembly that holds it. I know this from experience :sad2:

If it came this way or it only happened after you took it apart to clean the hex shaft you'll need to flip something. It's raining or I'd go out and look.

Try checking out the videos. https://www.google.com/search?q=sno...0j69i57j0l3.6647j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

If it was a 2 shaft converted to a single all the forward gears would be reverse and reverse gears would be forward not just one.

I did not take anything apart, it was a tune-up.

When I arrived at his house he brought to my attention that the first low gear is reverse. I took the bottom pan off and that's when not only did I check for looseness on everything, I then noticed the hex shaft was a little rusty, not a lot just a little, so I filed off the excess rust and then put a very thin film of grease on it.

I checked for looseness by shaking everything. I shook the wheel axle, moved and shook the hexagon shaft, it was tight, the bearings for the shaft are tight. The friction wheel does not move, that's tight on the shaft; the mechanism that moves the friction wheel along the hex shaft seems to be tight, the friction plate that spins is tight, there is no looseness there.

The machine is old. He's had it for years and it has served him well and worked well. Though he has not maintained it well. He has never wanted to spend the money. He knows nothing about mechanical stuff so he never took it apart.


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## tpenfield (Feb 24, 2015)

My guess . . . without seeing any pictures of what you are seeing . . . is that the linkages may have been bent a bit or out of adjustment, even though they may appear to be OK.

Does it have the cables that lead up to the handlebars ? Those could have come out of adjustment. The friction wheel is on a spring loaded slider, so its position as governed by the cable adjustment is important.

There is not a lot to the mechanism, so it is probably something pretty basic.

Can you post a few pictures?


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## Prime (Jan 11, 2014)

DriverRider said:


> There is looseness present in the metal disc allowing some movement or the rubber friction wheel is walking due to looseness. This can be be linkage, shafts, bearings. Look closely and you will figure out where the problem lies.


I had a few mtd blowers over the years. This was a common with them. Once used awhile 1st gear would be reverse or vice versa. Could never find a way to adjust or or correct it that would last. Just too much play in the drive parts. Something I just lived with. Nature of the animal it seems. Not a biggy if you know its going to behave that way.


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