True Story:
5 years ago my dad calls me up and asks me to bring my trailer over, and pick up his new tractor. He owned 5 acres, mows about 1 acre, and has money. . I'm thinking I will be picking up a Gravely or something similiar, but when I pick him up, he directs me to Lowes, and we pick up his new Yard Bug!!

My nephew, who is a worthless idiot, says he cannot figure out the controls on the Bug, so within the year, my 80+ year old dad is mowing the grass again.

My brother Patrick stops by dads 4 years ago, sees the grass needs mowing, and discovers the Yard Bug. He promptly wheels it out, sees the custom tubing my dad has modified to feed ether directly to the carb, among a few other mods, starts mowing, has an absolute FIT fearing the Bug is going to roll over, disappears for an hour, returns with a Simplicity Regent, Brand New, which he gives dad with the advice he must "scrap the Bug". (unsafe at any speed)

Dad continues to use the Bug, the Simplicity is too nice, he says, so 2 years later we hijack the Bug, and sell it at my house, thus forcing dad to use the Regent.

Dad loves the Simplicity, and takes it to his new house. Bug is gone, living somewhere in Ohio, never to be forgotten, and hopefully, never to be seen again.

I had an MTD Yard Bug. I bought it with the house. 2 mowing seasons later, I now own an old Deere LX176.

This thing was just ridiculously slow. It couldn't really pull an aerator, though I did. The deck's shape was hardly ideal for mulching, and the blade had really poor lift (despite being a mulching blade.)

I too had to swap out the drive belts. It wasn't too bad a job- took me about an hour or so to do, using only the instructions in the owners manual.

I did end up getting $250 for it when I sold it, which was nice. It was just not a good machine- for what these cost new (about $1000), you could get the lowest of the low end tractor or a good used one, and it would be a better deal.

Let's see the wife, in the shorts, first.

MTD = J.U.N.K.

Ah, Fish, I wondered what it would take to get you out of the woodwork. I suspected that the short-shorts reference might work! Glad to see you're still hanging out in these parts.

I just bought a used one with the 9 hp engine. Yardman yardbug. Belts are off of it so have to reassemble it. Charged the battery and it cranks so engine free. You guys make me think I could have spent my $150 better elsewhere. But I wanted something I could get cheap, repair and get running to mow our lawn. The bug can't possibly be that bad if it is all adjusted just right...maybe, huh?
Paul

All things considered, my little yard bug has been a champ. It has been mowing an acre, including big hills for the past 12 years. The batteries seem to go fast (proably because one has to empty the hopper so often) but otherwise it has been a real work horse. If anyone knows how to replace the cable that connects the pedal to the mower deck I'd be grateful. Trying to mow just ahead of snow flurries yesterday I discovered it had snapped.

Thank you for the information about purchasing a belt...NOW FOR MY COMMENT OF THE YARDBUG. I argue the following. Let me give a 6th grade class the project of designing the belt configuration and I guarantee that they will outdo...the "expert engineers." It is a joke when we think the "experts" have carefully thought out the design of this and many other rider mowers. The task of loosening the main engine shaft to replace a belt...is nothing less than a joke. The one thing I'd do if I ever purchase a mower again is check the ease of replacing belts. I don't like engineering "jokes."

Well hereit is easter Sunday 2010 and my Yardman Yardbug still sits beside the back door...Don't know what happened 2009 but right now I left the battery in all winter..new battery...Schucks Auto I think has new batt's for $19 so will probly have to get one. Think my last battery probably froze solid. Got the engine running last time I worked on it but runs full speed and can't get it to drop to idle speed and still have all the belts to reinstall. Hope we have a warm spring and not so warm summer so i can actually get this bug together and happily mow some grass.
Paul

How do you stop the engine from turning when removeing drive pullies and to reinstall. Thanks Ron

That is where you use an electric or pneumatic impact wrench.
You can remove the flywheel cover and have a helper hold the flywheel nut with a socket and breaker bar while you work the lower end of the crankshaft/pulley.
Impact wrenches work best and easiest.

Ron, if you can buy, beg, borrow, or steal an impact wrench, you don't have to keep the engine from turning. A pneumatic impact wrench will just "walk" it loose without turning the engine.

Mownie gave you the way to do it with hand wrenches, but an air compressor and a few tools for it are so useful that, IMO, every handyman homeowner should have one. You can get a small compressor, impact wrench, and impact socket set for less than a hundred bucks (if you don't need high quality.) And, by the way, you can actually run an impact wrench, or many other small pneumatic tools, BRIEFLY with a 5-gallon air tank, by filling the air tank from a friend's compressor.

Glad to see that my original post on the forum is still being referred to.

Replaced the freaking belt and now the damn thing won't turn over. I spent closed to 3 hours doing it.

"Replaced the freaking belt and now the damn thing won't turn over. I spent closed to 3 hours doing it."

If you tipped the mower on its side and motor oil from the crank case got into the Cylinder you could have "Hydro lock". That means oil is in the cylinder and the engine cannot crank (oil can not be compressed).
You must pull the spark plug rotate the motor to get the oil to push out of the spark plug hole and then clean the spark plug and reinstall it. The motor should run ok if it was Hydro Locked.
Hope this helps!
Tony C

Those who wrote this damn manual should be given a sentence.
These Idiots don't tell you that there are 3 belts on a 247.27022 Craftsman Yard Bug, one for the deck & 2 identical part # 954-0453 for the drive & engine. I called sears & they didn't even know. Thanks to member Javert that made me aware. I just hope I will be able to tackle this job changing these belts by my lonesome. Little 70 y o lady with lots of MOXIE!!!

Well, I set off to replace my belts in this way. Undoing the engine bolt worked eventually, though I had to heat it up with a gas gun then hit the end with an impact wrench. Unfortunately that's where things fouled up.
The pulleys were seized on. I tried a seriously strong puller, which only bent the pulleys out of shape. So - lateral thinking........ The things that are stopping the belts coming off are the keeps - two rods down the sides of the pulleys. It turns out that they are only held on by half-inch gripper nuts at the top, and are easily removed. Now the belts are free to drop off the pulleys.
Further round the system there's a silver coloured link thing. Undo the bolt at the link end, then undo the nut holding the pulley. Shift the pulley out along its shaft so that the belt can clear the keep. There's a big spring in the way, but you can manoeuvre the the belt round it.

That gets both front belts off and back on. I haven't tried to get the short belt at the back off, because it looks like you have to take the rear axle off.

Bernie