Ride on mower problem

[viewer]

Couldn't quite figure where to place this, so Admin, please move to the correct spot where necessary.

I have a mtd yardman ride on that keeps "throwing" the main drive belt that propels the blades via it's 2 pulleys on the deck, and the B&S motor up front.

I assumed the belt may be stretched and fitted a new one.

Off I go again, and 5 mins later the belt slips off of the motor again. Back to my shed, re fit, and same keeps happening.

Any wise lawn tractor repairers or handymen out there that can give me a pointer of where to look/ adjust things to stop this?

Many thank you's as always...:

[global88]

the correct place may have been the automotive form.

try getting a straight edge ruler and putting it up against one of the pulleys, to see if the pulley is lined up to the other pulley. repeat this on all pullys to see if one is off line or out of square.

check your tensioner, is tensioning

if you post pics it may help

[mango]

i just read my operators manual and it says nothing about that, my guess is maybe the cutting deck out of alignment or not level or a bent shaft on 1 of the pulleys.

give ya friendly mtd service centre a ring, tell them you live a long way out of town, im sure they will have the answer.

[Mods]

Try these for a start. I used to work as a mechanic at a golf course, but without seeing it it's pretty hard to diagnose the problem. As mentioned earlier it's obviously an alignment issue of some sort, whether it be the the main wheels or the tensioner.

Cheers.

[mickc]

had 1 doing the same
thier is a adjusting rod both sides that positions the deck back a bit and tensions the belt
worked for me

[xr6t]

Sounds like the spring for the belt tensioner has fallen off

[global88]

Check your pulleys for line up and square. bent shaft like mango said will definatly let your belt jump off, loose pulley key will let pulley move on shaft up/down under torque, loose and unstable tensioner will also let belt jump under torque. Also a worn bearing will let a shaft go out of square. A siezed bearing on one of the pulleys due to wear/dirt or rubbish will also add extra force against the belt causing it to jump.
Just remember a pulley may look good and tight to the eye on the shaft but once under torque it will slip under power.


With cars it tends to be pulleys not lining up and not square with each other.

Please make sure your spark plug is out or disconected before you start.

An old saying my father taught me, Never put your finger where you wouldnt put your penis.
Be carefull around blades connected to engines.

[Learjet]

I had a Rover that would throw belts, but only in forwards. Solution was to mow in reverse.

[weirdo]

Thing with cutter deck pulleys is, they don't always line up.
They might at the middle cutting height setting but not when set to low or high.
I'd be looking at the cutterdeck positioning like mickc said.

[z80]

MTD head office in Dandenong Victoria have a service department.

Ask for their service department and they often offer advice an opinion on a problem.

Ask for Steve.

Bear in mind when getting the help you are seeking to mitigate payment for servicing a product out of warranty, and any help you get you should be grateful for.

[admin]

I'll move this to the automotive forum as suggested and leave a redirect

[global88]

this is interesting

if you dont have owners manual try here

[SystemRat]

I am in the process of rebuilding a ride on at the moment. On my unit one of the cutting deck bearings was stuffed and that caused belt problems. On my unit each spindle has two bearings and at $9.00 each it’s pretty cheap to replace the lot. Could be a problem if you don’t have access to a press.

I also found this forum which specializes in all forms of power gardening equipment.

They have a manuals and repair data area but you can’t get to it without making a donation to the site which I don’t object to but I am yet to see any clue there as to what the donation amount is so I’ve not made one.

I am currently trying to buy a set of rings for my 12 HP motor at the moment and I can’t believe the trouble I am having getting the dam things.

I’ve rebuilt lots of car motors and never had a problem buying rings Briggs and Stratton on the other hand seem to have very poor support in Oz or the dealers are more interested in selling new motors perhaps. I currently have an engine rebuilder chasing some rings if that does not work I will be ordering them from the US where there listed on a number of sites.

[viewer]

Wow...lots of reading here now...I'll toddle off and read up.

I do have the old manual that came with the mower that lists all the part numbers,along with schematics, but could see nothing in all the thousands of parts that mentions tensioner or where it is.It also showed everything EXCEPT a graphic and item numbers for anything to do with the actual mower deck that has the pulleys and everything on it....got every other bit though.

I looked at the line up ( quickly), and it appears square to the eye, and the spindles etc didn't seem to exhibit any sign of slop, movement sideways or anything.Having said that, more close examination out in the daylight on flat surface will be needed, and you guessed it, tis raining again here on North Coast (Coffs) so will have to look when it stops.

As always, thanks for the great response, and I will report back with results, or perhaps, more questions...

[viewer]

I had a Rover that would throw belts, but only in forwards. Solution was to mow in reverse.

I try that but my mower blades can't be engaged when in reverse !!...good logic though...how's the snakes?

[viewer]

I located this...looks like mine..now to print it out and start looking underneath the mower when it stops raining.

[global88]

hmmm diagram part num 4+5 are belt guards that act as belt guides.
figure 2 shows 2 or 3 bolts that act as guides to stop belt from flicking off.

same technique used by nascar, bolt fitted as close as possible to belt to stop it flicking off. interesting.

heaps of moving parts to go wrong.

didnt notice any belt tensioners. strange, maybe some adjustment on engine position. looks very primative in design

part number 51, the 2 rods look like they have some part in belt tension, could they be bent?

[viewer]

I spend a lengthy period of time today, working under the mower.

I noted a weld on a guard of one of the pulleys had failed, and appeared to be causing the belt to slightly deflect.After much fidgetting around, I removed both guards to see if/what a difference that would make.

I also replaced both jockey/deck wheels, as they were somewhat all over the place.Deck looks more ven now.

I took a good look at the bolt that sits next to the drive pulley. It is there to stop the belt coming off the front. I noted that was on an angle pointing to the side of the mower, rather than straight. I removed it, reset and put it in the correct location.Tis now hard for that belt to come off.There was only one of these on the right side.

I looked everywhere else underneath, ensuring all clips/split pins were in place...all looked good.

Couldn'l locate anything else that seemed to tension the deck...but there likely is..

The spindles didn't appear worn, and had no slop.

Blades pretty crappy and need replacing, as the end that "throws" the grass are stuffed...but not done that yet.

Cleaned my air filter...only a little dusty, confirmed oil ok, and went to mow.

Parramatta grass about 6-8" high..set deck to half way and went in for battle at speed 2...pretty slow.

All well for a while, then blades wanted to stop as the belt started screaming and wanting to smoke.....grass not cutting. Retracted blades, and backed up out of grass, then allowed blades to come on again and attacked...same again.I then restarted at speed 1 and crawled in, riding the clutch pedal to avoid the mower belt from screaming/stopping again, and got through a fair way until the same thing started to happen. I then decided to try and mow it via only doing half a strip at a time i.e going along where I had already done a strip, then mowing again over half the mowed area, and half the long, thus minimising the slave on the cutting.This worked, but eventually the belt threw off .I drove back into the shed, reworked the belt on, and again did as before.Within 5 mins, it did the same.

After frigging around all day, I parked it back in the shed, and gave it a few unsavory words, and banged the door shut on it.

Grrrrrr.......

Thanks for the help though fellas.

[Firebird]

Maximum tension the belt up to "FT" setting, tighten the nut up, tack weld a spot to one edge of the nut so it won't undo from engine viabrations .
(you can allways angle grind the weld off later if you need to replace the belt)

[viewer]

Maximum tension the belt up to "FT" setting, tighten the nut up, tack weld a spot to one edge of the nut so it won't undo from engine viabrations .
(you can allways angle grind the weld off later if you need to replace the belt)

Thanks...how do I max the tension to FT setting...sorry...don't know.