Is the cable intact and actually tensioning the belt? Other than that, the belt is stretched or maybe has oil on it.

MTD Part #954-04260

The belt size is 3/8 X 31". In Case you go to a local auto parts or hardware store that offers brands such as Dayco.

Other than Troy Bilt the same belt also fits MTD, Yard Man, Yard machines.
=============

FWD mowers are hard on belts and may need replaced every year or two. They must pull the mower instead of push it like a RWD and with less weight on the front wheels to provide traction especially when bagging the belts do not last long.

Thanks for ideas. The cable is intact and is tensioning the belt. The consensus seems to narrow the problem to the belt. My lawn guy says the part# is 954-0637-A. Do you think that will work?.

On many MTD mowers, not only does the cable tighten the belt- but pulls on a lever on the trans. So, with the cover off and you have input at the driven pulley- you would have other issues. At least I think you are saying the pulley is turning if you have tension? You can look also if the pulley is turning to see if the output shaft is turning. Model numbers would be helpful too. Use the OEM belt on these.

I can manually turned the pulley by forcing upward the lever which in turn does turn the output shaft. So the connection from the pulley to the output shaft seems to be working. I removed the belt and it measures 31". Which would be the size of a 954-0637-A. One of the contributors mentioned the 954-04260 belt #. I think that this is a 21" belt. The mower model is Troybilt 12AV565Q711. All this being said, I'm wondering if there is a cable problem. If I press the FWD lever really hard and set the FWD handle lever adjustment to the max, it does grab the pulley a little - but not enough to lock the front wheels. Thanks to all for ideas.

The MTD part number 954-04260 I gave you fits the following machines and is 3/8" X 31".

Yard Machines
31A-62BD700 (2010) Walk Behind Snowblower
31A-62BD700 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AH64EG700 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AH65FH700 (2010) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AH65FH700 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AM63FE752 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AS62EE700 (2010) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AS63EF700 (2010) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AS63EF700 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
31A-63BD700 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AS63EE700 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH64FG700 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AS62EE700 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
MTD
31AM62FE752 (2010) Walk Behind Snowblower
31AS63EF729 (2011) Walk Behind Snowblower
12AVB2M7004 (2011) Self Propelled Lawn Mower
12AGB2JA004 (2011) Self Propelled Lawn Mower
12AVB2K9095 (2011) 21" Self-Propelled Lawn Mower
12AVB26N704 (2012) 21" Self-Propelled Lawn Mower
31AH64FG795 (2011) 28" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65FH795 (2010) 30" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65FH795 (2011) 30" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65LG704 (2010) 28" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65LG704 (2011) 28" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63FF706 (2011) 26" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63KE704 (2011) 24" Two-Stage Snowblower
31AS63EE706 (2011) 24" Two-Stage Snowblower
31BM63LF704 (2010) 26" Two-Stage Snowblower
31BM63LF704 (2011) 26" Two-Stage Snowblower
Troy-Bilt
31BM63P3711 (2011) Storm 2620
31BM63P3766 (2011) Storm 2620
31BM63P3 (2010) Storm 2620 26" Self-Propelled
31AH64Q4 (2010) Storm 2840 28" Self-Propelled
31AS62N2 (2010) Storm 2410 24" Self-Propelled
31BM73Q3 (2010) Snow Tracker 2690XP 26" Self-Propelled
31AH64Q4711 (2011) Storm 2840
31AH64Q4766 (2011) Storm 2840
31AS62N2766 (2011) Storm 2410
31AS63N2711 (2011) Storm 2410
31BM73Q3711 (2011) Storm Tracker 2690
31BM73Q3766 (2011) Storm Tracker 2690
31AS62N2711 (2011) Storm 2410
12AVA29Q711 (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB250 (12AVA29Q711) (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
12AVA29Q766 (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB250 (12AVA29Q766) (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
12AVB26M011 (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26M011) (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26M066) (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
12AVB26M066 (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
12AVB26N211 (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26N211) (2010) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26M011) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26M066) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB26N211) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB260 (12AVB29Q711) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB260 (12AVB29Q766) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26E011) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26E066) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26G211) (2011) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB25S011) (2012) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB25S066) (2012) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB230 (12AVB25U211) (2012) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26E011) (2012) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26G211) (2012) Self-Propelled Walk-Behind Mower
31AH64Q4711 (2012) Storm 2840 Snowblower
31AH64Q4766 (2012) Storm 2840 Snowblower
31AM73R3711 (2012) Storm Tracker 2690 Snowblower
31AM73R3766 (2012) Storm Tracker 2690 Snowblower
31AS62N2711 (2012) Storm 2410 Snowblower
31AS63N2766 (2012) Storm 2410 Snowblower
31BM63P3711 (2012) Storm 2620 Snowblower
31BM63P3766 (2012) Storm 2620 Snowblower
TB280ES (12AGA26G711-2012) Mower
TB280ES (12AGA26G711-2013) Mower
Yard Man
31AS63EE701 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63KE701 (2011) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63KE701 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63LF701 (2010) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63LF701 (2011) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AM63LF701 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65LG701 (2010) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65LG701 (2011) Two-Stage Snowblower
31AH65LG701 (2012) Two-Stage Snowblower

Thanks for the info hippy. There are a number of Ebay ads like the one below. That's why I am a little confused. Maybe I will go to Lowes today and check it out. Since I measured the belt I took off the mower at 31", maybe the problem is something else.

21" Belt Walk-Behind Mowers & Snow Thrower MTD Troy-BILT 954-04260 754-04260

Maybe the correct belt length should be 21" That would make perfect sense to me because there is a lot of "slop" on the pulley end of the belt. The belt that I took off is a 31". And it dosen't look like it's been streched or has any oil on it.

I downloaded the manual for the Troy Bilt. Yes, it does take a 3/8 x 31" belt and a control cable 746-1113 - 37.75". So, maybe the control cable is bad. Like I said, the belt that I removed was indeed a 31" belt. Further ideas.
thanks..

Has the belt perchance rolled off the drive pulley and onto the crank shaft?

I don't think so. I'm going to put the same belt back on - it looks good to me - and see what happens next. Thanks for you help tomplum. I will check and be sure that the belt is on all the right places.

I think I'm corrrect now - I hope so. While putting the FWD cover on the front, I noticed that the control cable was on the wrong side of the mower. instead of threading the cable through the hole in the FWD cover, it was brought in on the other side of the mower. Probably because the previous owner could get more tension on the cable that way (that didn't work) - there is a lot of slack in the cable. Probably the wrong control cable for that mower. So, I will get the correct control cable and see what happens. Thanks again for all the craziness and ideas. I hope I won't be back on the web site with something else dealing with this mower..