Those riding mower belts......

[Mus408]

Now last September I replaced both the drive and cutting deck belts on my 20 yr. old Sears 20 horse lawn tractor. I had noticed one belt had a chunk missing and hey...20 years of use was plenty!

So this morning I fired the beast up to get on with cutting BUT when I engaged the blades I heard a clunk and no roar from the cutting deck. No way as I had replaced them and no issues since!!

Yep the cutting deck belt was cut and so much for doing preventive maintenance!

Got a new belt and will see if something caused this as I wanted to hope a new belt made today would at least live half as long as the original factory 20 year old belt!!

 

[nekvermont]

I have an old Snapper riding mower that I replaced the belt on and the replaced belt didn't even last a season. Took it back to the auto parts store and complained and the guy said I should of bought a "hi torque" belt. The new "high torque" belt is obviously a lot more stout, is green in color and has not failed me yet. Wish I had known before I bought the first one.

 

[graygun]

I have an old Snapper riding mower that I replaced the belt on and the replaced belt didn't even last a season. Took it back to the auto parts store and complained and the guy said I should of bought a "hi torque" belt. The new "high torque" belt is obviously a lot more stout, is green in color and has not failed me yet. Wish I had known before I bought the first one.

Yes,a regular auto 'fan belt' is not as strong as one made for a deck but to just break right away is very unusual. I've had the auto type last a few months and don't buy those type any longer.


OP: pulleys,etc. OK ?

 

[gunzo]

I have an old Snapper riding mower that I replaced the belt on and the replaced belt didn't even last a season. Took it back to the auto parts store and complained and the guy said I should of bought a "hi torque" belt. The new "high torque" belt is obviously a lot more stout, is green in color and has not failed me yet. Wish I had known before I bought the first one.

Yes, the green ones, I prefer Gates brand. I use them whenever I can find them in the size I need.

 

[Mus408]

These are the Oregon brand made in Mexico and a brown color and a good sized V-belt.

 

[DGW1949]

The original drive belt on my 42" Craftsman mower lasted 19 years before it finally gave up last week. I think(?) I'm presently on my 4th deck belt, but deck belts operate under a lot more stress than the drive belt, so no surprise there.
At any rate...this time around, I've installed a set of those new-fangled Kevlar belts along with all new pulleys, tensioner springs, blades, blade-spindles and brake arms...none of which was bought from the cheapest bidder.

Expensive, yes...but hey, have ya priced a new mower lately? :shock: .

DGW

 

[GunnyGene]

The thread title is somewhat open to misinterpretation. I tried riding a mower belt once, but it kept gettin' stuck in the crack of my .... so gave up on the idea. YMMV. :wink: :lol:

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I wuz gonna relate my belt story, but I can't follow that one.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Mus408]

Took care of it....jacked it up and slid a new Kubota under it!

 

[nlocke]

Two years ago my 15 year-old Craftsman 48" mower began tearing up deck belts. Like many, I thought that it was possibly due to cheap belts. After replacing a belt for the second time within a month, I carefully checked the deck trying to find something that might be causing it. Everything seemed to be OK.
I was telling a friend about it and he said it might be due to worn pulleys. He's a manager for a maintenance crew at the local utility's power station and works with belts and pulleys all the time. So, I took the pulleys off for him to look at. He said that the V in the pulleys were worn to the extent that the belts were bottoming out in the V. According to him, the sides of the belt are the only part that should contact the pulley and a worn pulley that allows the belt to bottom out will tear up the belt.

I replaced the pulleys and installed the less-expensive belts and it's now on the third year with no problems.