craftsman transmission newer model

[Rpmp3]

model # 917.203900 all plastic tranny case and appears all components on external plastic also, symptoms loss of drive, I pulled deck checked main belt, its on pulleys nice and tight, the other smaller belt still on pulleys tight also, tried pulling and pushing in hydro disconnect and trying same result pulled rear fuel tank to look for anything obvious nothing jumps out at me. Went to sear parts direct looking at schematics get some idea what to check, read some forums on this tractors trans and a few dissatisfied customers, they claim having replacing complete trans 2 in only a few yrs time at $649. a pop. Any help in common know issues would be very helpful
Thanks in advance

[KE4AVB]

What you have is the General Transmissions RS800P. I personally once seen one in my shop and the customer would not give me enough time to even trouble the drive problems he was having. Only external components available. The drive case and internal components are not available, IE only complete replacement if it is internal problem. As far as I know all the Husqvarna YTA series are using this transmission. Your Craftsman is a Husqvarna YTA in Craftsman dress.

In the Downloads section of this board under the topic General Transmissions is what service info I have on hand about this transmission. These transmission have debris prone problems which General Transmissions have now put out an Anti Debris upgrade kit.

If anyone else here have experience with the problems of the RS800P please provide some input.