How to Replace-Drive Control Cable for Craftsman Mower 

A great video which helped us repair our 20 year old identical lawn mower. Using an OEM cable, we had a slight issue with installing the cable as seen at 1:52. For us there was metal on metal contact with the cable and chassis near the spring and pulling the cable control bar required a lot of effort. My wife spotted the chassis hole which is part of the space where you mount the cable clip (1:38) and put the cable ball end through the hole first before clipping the cable into place. Doing this allowed the cable to slide downward into the channel within the clip and the lawn mower drive works like new!

Thanks, you were the only one I found with a matching lawn mower after 30 minutes of searching with how the cable should go.

Very helpful. I needed to know where to attach new cable after old one broke, and I could not tell how exactly to attach to drive control unit. Thank you so much.

Thanks so much for this short and accurate steps for replacing the drive cable for my craftsman lawn mower. This helped me to stick with my mower without spending extra $$$ for a new mower.

thank you for posting this! I have a Honda mower with a broken cable. This video and the comments regarding the cable placement was exactly what I needed to fix it. I called a local repair shop and was told it was probably the transmission and wasn't worth fixing. It wasn't the transmission. The new cable fixed it and all is good! Thanks!

Thank you so much for this video. The cable broke on my Craftsman mower yesterday and I had no idea how to get that end attached again. You're a lifesaver!! :)

Thank you for posting this, Larry! You saved me a lot of time (and money!) It cost me about $20 for the new cable, and I watched your video on my phone while I replaced the cable. One thing though--My cable broke near the hole where the clip is. I deduced that it was because the cable rubbed against the edge where you said to "run your cable right through that big opening" (1:27). Looking at that plastic clip, there's a curved channel inside for the cable, and the hole that the clip goes in is kind of shaped like a keyhole for a reason. You'll see that the round part of that hole is just big enough to feed the spring through, so I fed my cable through that way. Anyone else notice that?

Thank you so much for saving me a lot of time finding out where the spring and everything else goes. It did take me about ten minutes, plus another thirty finding the right tools in my messy tool area, and some more draining and refilling the gas tank to prevent gasoline all over the place. I was trying to put a carb kit in on my Briggs engined Craftsman tiller one day and lost sight of where a certain spring attached itself. Like you, it took me hours on the Internet looking around before I finally found the spring's correct attachment point. Then, to add insult to injury, once rebuilt the damned carb wouldn't work. It would start right up with some fluid sprayed directly into the carb, but would not run after that fluid burned away. I tried this for hours one day and again the next and the next... Finally I set the thing aside where it has set for three years. As you might suspect the only small engine repair shop around is owned by a ripoff artist who I won't deal with ever again. Anyway, you're the greatest for saving so many people so much trouble.

God Bless you for placing this video on You Tube. It was the exact repair I needed to make. In fact, your video helped me to select the right parts from another place than sears who is no longer carrying the cable with the correct connectors. Thank you so much. I could not put my mower into my car and get it to a repair shop. You helped a girl get her mower back in service. I truly appreciate the help.

Thank you for a great video! I spent over an hour looking for a photo or video of how to attach the end of the cable to the transmission. The videos I ran across before this didn't give enough detail or weren't close enough. I did it the way you showed and had it attached in seconds! 👍👏

That was nice of you post this for anyone else that needs to replace the cable on their mower. I love videos like this. They've made my life easier many times! When our Samsung TV died, I found a RU-vid video about it and fixed it myself the next day for 98 cents plus tax!

Oh. My. God. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! I legit spent too much eff’n time trying to figure this bad boy out. I had it all installed, but could not find anything that showed me WHERE to connect it. Mine also broke off, so I had no idea where the end or spring went. You’re my favorite right now!!! 👍

Great video, I looked for an hour trying to attach the cable to the drive unit, Watched your video and found the hole. Thanks!!!!

Thank you so much. The cable broke today and I could not find out how it attached. I finally found it thanks to your video. I ordered part and new belt since i was fixing things . A lot cheaper than sending it to the shop.

Thanks for the video and great tip on turning mower on oil side down to find the hole. Great info!!! I’m going to try this once I receive new cable.

Thanks. My cable was fine. The belt had come off the wheel. There was no tension on the belt and I learned by watching ur video that the handle puts that tension on the belt. I used a hose to clean out the accumulation of grass underneath the mover and under the cover for the front end.

Small engine equipment, the bane of my existence. Nice instructional!

Thank you so much. I would never have found the connecting spot or the cotter pin. You have saved me some money as well as saving me a lot of embarassment if I had to haul it to a repair shop.

Thanks very much. This was a huge help. I can't find "the hole" for anything and will try again tomorrow. I also appreciate the comments about putting the cable through the clip hole. Thank you! Very helpful.

Thank you brother. I ordered the part from amazon, once it came in I installed it in the time it took my pops to get a couple of beers. You were lots of help!

Thank you so much for this video!!! I already spent about an hour trying to install the new drive cable..... The large spring was also missing. The manual showed a spring, but not where to hook it up to. Great video. Thanks again!

Awesome You saved us from buying a new mower. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the video! I also had a hard time to find the hole for my Husqvarna HU700F. After watching this, I use a toothpick to uncover the hole full of dirt.:-)

Seriously, big thank you for posting this video!! By the comments I’ve seen with this video being 7 years old, you’ve helped a lot of other people out as well! Thanks again man

Thank you so much for showing how to replace the drive cable. Great job!!!!

Thank you so much for this video - it saved me hours of trying to figure it out. Also, thank you for those who noted to make sure to put the spring through the hole right in front of the clip! The video is very well done!

Many thanks...saved me hours of frustration...clear and to the point...the way every video should be

Thanks, worked out great, lawnmower shop wanted for 3 weeks, again thanks!

But the cable doesn't go through the big rectangular opening in the deck. That would cause it to rub against the edge of the opening every time you pull on it; it will just keep wearing out and breaking over and over. What you have to do is put the spring through the circular opening at the front of the slot where the retaining clip snaps into the deck before you snap the clip into place. It looks like it won't fit, but if you line the spring up vertically and insert it straight downwards it will wiggle right through the hole. Then snap the clip into place and attach the spring as shown in the video. Hope this helps.

Your video was a life saver. I am a 61 year old, single so if I could do it anybody can :)

I'm very thankful of your video. I have a Husqvarna mower, couldn't figure out where and how to attach the spring end of the cable to the drive box, fortunately it was the same as yours. Thanks for sharing it!

OMG, Thank you so very much! I would have never found the hole to put the spring.

Thank you so much. I have that exact same mower and my cable broke. You explained it all very well and I found your video to be very helpful. I just replaced mine and it was easy. Thanks again.

Thanks My cable broke yesterday and this was huge help

Thank you! this saved me a lot of time and expense sorting this out.

Thank you! I had the exact same scenario. Your video is a real time saver. Also, my cable was a little too short. I had to drive a new hole in the handle to mount the cable holder higher up, to reach the self-propel handle.

My self propelled cable broke today , thanks for the upload man I appreciate that !!!

Excellent video. Saved me a lot of time. If anyone was watching me I would look like I know what I am doing. Thanks.

Have the same identical model. Absolutely LOVE IT! They don’t make them the same anymore 🥲

Thank you so much for posting this. I couldn't for the life of me find that stupid hole. You saved me some $$ today. :)

Good simple explanation. Thanks. Be sure to read the comment from drummo5 for cable location. I ordered the cable from a site on e-bay. It was about half the cost of purchasing direct from Sears parts.

Thank you. It’s 2020 and your video was exactly what I needed. Manual doesn’t show the connection underneath. Thank you. The only difference for me is I have a 650 series and my cable does run through the same hole as the clip.

Great, do the throttle cable next. Please.

That's were I got lost. Thank you for your video

My cable broke yesterday. Thanks a lot

Thats right Sean, feed the cable spring hook through the hole where the plasic clip is to be attached.

Thank you, perfect directions!

Thank You... Very well done sir...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, would have taken me 2 hours to spot that little hole too as I had the mower tipped the other way. But agree with another comment below. The cable should go through the hole. That was how it was threaded on my original cable and the little plastic clip has a conduit to guide it down. EDIT: Ah, the annotation you added about that issue unfortunately doesn't show up on mobile RU-vid which is what I was using in my garden shed! :-)

Thank you. Very helpful.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Only thing I did, was put the round part of the cable along with the cable, as it was before. Thanks

Thanks for posting this. What a help and actually will now be easy to replace this cable.

Thank you for posting this!!!

thank you! this was driving me crazy

Thank you so much. Very helpful 👍

Thanks you saved me 2 hours!

Thank you...u saved me lots of time..

Very helpful indeed!

Great Video! I did mine but ran the cable down the hole where the plastic housing snaps in. That way the cable doesn't run over the edge and cut through.

thanks for the vid! save me a lot of time !

thank you for posting this video! It was very helpful!!

This helped so much, thanks!

On my Craftsman mower # 917.375923(4WD),the hard part is to figure out the debris guard removal! ONE bolt on the bottom and 2 screws on top: One next to the hose wash out fitting and the other inside the battery box!(Electric start). WHEW! Used a bicycle cable for the replacement. Don't forget to add lube to the front gear drive box. I just used 90 wt. gear oil.

Thank you. you saved me some time.

thank you for making this video.

Thank You for making this video i had the same problem even made the same mistake running the cable into the big hole even after you added the correction comment .trying to save money can cost you more

Excellent instruction.

Awesome video

Great video and thank you for the advice but I have a question I just purchased my 1st self propelled Craftsman it's similar to that 1 but what I want to know is if for some reason that cable fails Or anything goes wrong with the front wheel drive transmission Would I be able to just push the mower manually To cut my grass

great video saved me a couple of hours too

great vid. thanks man

thanks for the post helped me!

awesome, THANK YOU!!!!!

thanks for sharing.do you know the part number for the cable?

Your video explained a lot but the problem I'm having is how do I get that cover off to attach the cable back? I enjoyed the simple instructions on you know where to put it and look for that tiny hole but I need to take the cover off of the front wheel drive first and I don't know how. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mine just broke. Thanks for the vid!!

Helpful video but you already have the top cover off when you start. How do you get it off? I see the bolt head easy but it is recessed just enough that I can't find a thin walled enough socket head to get in there!

Thank You sooooo much!!!!

nice! thanks!

Nice 😀

Thank you

Anyone know what length belt the 650 series takes? I went to a shop and they cross referenced the part number. Gave me a 3/4"x33" belt and it's too long!

Good Video

Thank you so much because a hade it on the gasoline side all the time. 😂

where did you get that cable? can't find it anywhere

This was SO helpful. Appreciate you posting it!

Could you please tell me what color key came with this lawnmower? Have a bet going.

the cabl goes throuth the round hole under the cable or if you do it in the big hole it will rub and break

thnx

Could you tell me what part number of the Replacement cable? Can't find it now

How long is the cable

How do I remove drive cable on a craftsman 9.50 223cc walk behind mower

Can you please help me with the part number of the cable? Craftsman EZ walk 700 series

Can I get the cable on Amazon?

Damn, I picked up a used mower and wondered how the hell that my mower moves slower as I pull the handle toward me. Turned out the cable was not hook to the right position.

HEY BUDDY THANKS . JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. SAVE ME ALOT OF SWEAT.

Does anyone here know the color of the key that goes to this lawn mower?

Ahhhhh Larry, my least favorite thing to work on....a small mower! LOL Ok, weed-eaters may trump it but... haha Good video. If you monetize this one, you will probably make a good deal of $ off of it... Just a thought.

Easy pezy

What's the part number of the cable?