Sears Suburban SS16 Garden Tractor Transmission Transaxle Removal for Brake Replacement

The brake liner disappeared with the end result of a non-stopping tractor!
It was tempting to just go ahead without brakes, but in the end, decided for safety peace of mind to go ahead and tackle the job.
Replacing the brake band on the suburban's require removal of the transmission/transaxle which is a bit of effort. You will notice I am not particularly enthused about doing this project. I need a shave and am tired in some of the clips so I doubt I will win any beauty contests with this video.
Since this requires taking so much apart to do the job, while at it, I decided to remove more than was necessary and to go ahead and paint more of the tractor.
A couple of setbacks occurred that is taking more time than expected, but the job to remove the transmission/transaxle itself wasn't near as bad as I had been dreading.
Due to time this video is just the removal and ends with an oversized paperweight in the middle of my garage.
What may also be fun for the viewer is to count the number of times I say 'anyway' or 'anyways' for a gold star. lol
Notes:
Dropping the transmission/transaxle is like peeling an onion. Just take apart anything connected to it until it falls out!
Feel free to use this as a reference at your own discretion or seek out better instructions. There are plenty of experts in cyberspace that may have different and better suggestions. Whatever you choose to do please use caution and be safe.
It seems that there are a couple of options to drop the transmission/transaxle from a Sears Suburban of this model but the general disassembly approach that we took on this project was roughly as follows (and reassembly was in general the reverse):
Block/Shim the space between the front axle and frame to avoid an unexpected pivot when lifting the rear of the tractor.
Remove the rear mower deck attachment bracket. It is bolted to the frame by 2 bolts each side. Not sure if this is required but having it out of the way seemed convenient.
Disconnect the drive belt. There is a belt guide attached to the transaxle that is connected by 2 bolts. I also disconnected the belt at the engine for more slack.
Disconnect the brake attachments to allow removal of the transaxle: a) The brake is attached by a turnbuckle to the brake arm assembly, b) the parking brake yoke is connected to the parking brake handle assembly by 2 small bolts, c) not sure if necessary but we also removed the parking brake handle assembly which is held on by a single nut on the handle.
The hi/lo shifter handle is connected by a cotter pin that must be removed.
The gear shift knob is screwed on.
The front of the transmission/transaxle is attached to the frame by a bracket. I unbolted the 2 bolts that were directly connected to the transaxle but if I were to do it again I'd probably try to remove the bolts to the bracket instead.
The approach shown unbolts the hitch plate as part of the transaxle assembly. The hitch plate is attached to the tractor frame by 3 bolts on each side. (This tractor was missing one bolt on each side.)
I also removed a lot of other items for painting purposes:
* Seat. Held on by 1 bolt.
* Tail Light Assembly. Held to fenders by 2 small bolts each side.
* Both fenders. They are held on by 3 bolts each where one of those bolts is shared with the hitch plate.
* Fuel Tank. Held on by 4 bolts. (This tractor was missing one bolt)
* Seat Spring. Held on by 2 bolts. (This tractor was missing one bolt)
* While the transaxle was out I removed the hi/lo shifter for painting purposes. It has 2 brackets held on by a bolt each. The knob is screwed on.
On reassembly we replaced missing and previously damaged bolts.

[@jameshallahan4376]

I’m thinking of cutting a piece of brake band and just insert on to old brake band where it is most worn on bottom and epoxy it on

[@Eric-fv4jx]

I have no idea what you are taking apart to get that out. You are not teaching me anything but there are other videos.

[@robotacropolis]

This channel is more intended to just share some of the projects we are working on. However, this is a fair point so we updated the description of this video with some general notes on what we did regarding the disassembly in case anyone stumbles onto this video in the future. Also, the re-assembly video we posted also includes a few additional image angles that might be interesting. Thanks for watching! ⭐

[@user-ih3ow6ir8b]

What are the rear hub caps off of? I like them

[@robotacropolis]

Early sixties 10 inch Studebaker hub caps. We made a custom bracket to attach the hub cap to the wheel weight bolt holes but the diameter happens to fit nicely in the wheel.

[@paulyoder8714]

I changed th6 brakes on my it not that hard

[@jameshallahan4376]

Thank you, I’ll consider it - it took me about 5 minutes to slide brake pad in - I’ll see if it works

[@rodneyking3319]

How?

[@jameshallahan4376]

I cut about 3” brake pad and slid jammed it in where brake bad is worn thinnest - has been working great, no epoxy needed - it’s not coming g out

[@jameshallahan4376]

I cut brake pad using small bolt cutters - pads are 1 ft long