Caroni Flail Belt Failure

[IslandTractor]

Has anyone had experience with the Kevlar belts over Gates B43? Being new to the Caroni flail mower, I'm a bit confused over which replacement belts to have on hand? Thanks.

Gates Kevlar size B43 are the replacement belts most of us use. They last at least 2-3 times as long as the factory belts.

 

[JayRm]

I think my confusion stemmed from not finding anything listed as a Gates Kevlar B43 - just a Gates B43. I can't find anything that is described as being Kevlar. Thank you.

 

[McCulley Heights]

So my original belts on my TM1900 lasted no more than 15 hours. I got some Gates B43 belts as replacements, but before I put them on, I'd like to get some opinions about the tension the original belts were set at, if they were adjusted too tight at the factory, and how the clean up the belt residual on the roller.

BUT, I can't figure out how to post pics. Can anyone tell me what I need to do in order to post pics?

Thanks.

 

[leonz]

So my original belts on my TM1900 lasted no more than 15 hours. I got some Gates B43 belts as replacements, but before I put them on, I'd like to get some opinions about the tension the original belts were set at, if they were adjusted too tight at the factory, and how the clean up the belt residual on the roller.

BUT, I can't figure out how to post pics. Can anyone tell me what I need to do in order to post pics?

Thanks.

=========================================================================================

Hello Mculley Heights,


I want to welcome you as the newest resident member of the "Flail Mower Nations".


The issue with posting the pictures is something I cannot help you with as I have a
flip phone and I post them that way with the chip in my digital camera.

NOW as to your flail mower;

Are the B 43 V belts the green kevlar belts??? The other thing that you must do it this;

Each B43 V belt MUST and I repeat MUST come from the same lot number which
is melted into the V belt carcass on the top of the V belt. They have to have the same lot number as each lot number has a single batch of nylon which is woven into the carcass of the V belt in question and the same goes for the Kevlar V belts which are shock resistant.

Before you do anything else I would like to you to purchase a V belt tension gauge as that is the proper way to tension your belts with the snubber pulley on your TM1900.

You can purchase them on amazon and have the gauge in a a couple of days.

If you can tell me more about your mowing conditions that would help a lot as mowing
in reverse using a very low speed in tall brush on the first pass will lessen the load on the drive belts.


NOW as to your issue with cleaning the V belt pulleys. You need to clean the pulleys with Isopropyl Alcohol soaked rags wrapped around the pulleys. The blue Scotts brand shop towels are good for this job. you need to let the alcohol work and then use a small metal wire brush to clean the remaining rubber dust off the pulleys.


I will be back in a couple of minutes and I will return after I get the mail.

 

[leonz]

The Gates 91107 V belt tension gauge is $11.83 with free shipping with orders over $25.00 from amazon.


The kevlar V belts have the Aramid fiber in them and they can either be flat black or green in color.

 

[McCulley Heights]

The Gates 91107 V belt tension gauge is $11.83 with free shipping with orders over $25.00 from amazon.


The kevlar V belts have the Aramid fiber in them and they can either be flat black or green in color.

Did I get the wrong belts? I got Gates Hi-Power II B43 belts.

I'm not mowing any tall grass (<1ft) or brush. Mowing in 1 low, and based on the speed chart, that's between 0.5-1.75 mph. I think my issue is more the roller on the tensioner. It appears pitted.

 

[leonz]

Hello McCulley Heights

what is you cutting height? Are you mowing with the 540 RPM PTO engine speed ??????

Is the snubber pulley free spinning???? it should spin freely with no difficulty.

Did you grease the snubber pulley grease fitting?



You have the right belts, The new belts should not flex more than an 1/8 of an inch when properly tensioned with the snubber pulley.


The spring arm attached to the snubber does all the work to tension the V-belts. Just be sure to have the flat side of the three belts against the snubber pulley making sure the snubber pulley is on the outside of the 3 V-belts.

 

[McCulley Heights]

Hello McCulley Heights


Are you mowing with the 540 RPM PTO engine speed ??????

Is the snubber pulley free spinning???? it should spin freely with no difficulty.





You have the right belts, The new belts should not flex more than an 1/8 of an inch when properly tensioned with the snubber pulley.

Leonz,

Yes to both questions. I greased everything and checked to see if everything was moving freely before hooking it up to tractor.

 

[leonz]

The only thing left to do is install the new V belts after you clean the pulleys with alcohol and a small metal wire brush and then run it with no load for ten minutes after you start at idle and then mow as the factory belts have had a habit of dying in a very short time. The spring tensioned idler snubber pulley would not cause a failure like that unless the bearings were shot.

 

[DoubleDeere]

McCulley Heights, You might want to go over to the let's talk flail mowers thread and read posts 4816 thru 4868 (pg.482-pg.487). Member Houser52 tried one size shorter belt on his Caroni last year. There are some links to PDF's & some photos in a couple of the posts that help explain idler pulleys and issues they can cause. I have not been on here in a long time so not sure how it worked out for him, hopefully he might chime in to let you know.

Re: Let's talk flail mowers

I got in some 45 kevlar belts to try. They were really no harder to get on the pulleys than the 46 belts but after installed they were tighter than the 46 belt. They may be tight enough that the idler pulley might not have to be used but I adjusted it to where the belts can be deflected slightly with my thumb, probably less than 1/2 There is definitely less belt contact on the idler compared to the 46 belts. Hopefully there will be less friction and less heat build up on the pulleys
I had already mowed everything so I did not ave any high grass to try it out on but I did mow a couple patches that had grown some since last week. So far so good.