GT2544 deck belt question

[BenS]

Hey guys, long time listener, first time caller.

I have an 07 2544. Yesterday I pulled the deck off to sharpen the blades and change the oil. When I got the deck off, I noticed that the pulley that drives the deck belt may be misaligned. This is the pulley under the deck PTO pulley. Two pulleys are stacked that swing away when you release the handle in the deck.

I noticed that the deck belt is making contact with the right side deck lift mount. It looks like the pulley is out if adjustment by about 1/4" to 1/2" and I can't figure out how that happened. Ive not enabled the PTO since I noticed this, and it looks like the yellow paint on the deck mount (where the belt would be rubbing) is still there, like it's not been ran with this issue.

I operated the handle that loosens and tightens these pulleys some yesterday to see if it would self adjust but it didn't seem to. I also didn't notice a way to adjust the two pulleys either.

Any thoughts?

 

[Captain Ned]

The deck belt always makes contact there with the deck off the mower. Once it's back on the mower with the PTO belt on, the release handle will move it off the lift mount as the tension from the PTO belt pulls the stacked pullies forward.

Took me a while to figure that out when I bought my 2544.

 

[JTKub]

Exactly. It looks alarming the first time or two you remove the deck and notice it. It almost looks to go out of plain with the other pulleys as well. Like the Captain says, once the deck is installed and the drive belt is tensioned fully, everything falls perfectly into place.

It sure is an easy deck to remove and replace though isn't it? It doesn't get any better.

Joel

 

[BenS]

The deck belt always makes contact there with the deck off the mower. Once it's back on the mower with the PTO belt on, the release handle will move it off the lift mount as the tension from the PTO belt pulls the stacked pullies forward.

Took me a while to figure that out when I bought my 2544.

Well, I noticed that I didn't clarify too well in my original post. The belt is still making contact with the right mount point after putting the deck back on the tractor. The addition of the PTO belt didn't seem to make a difference.

I have reviewed the manual in regards to deck installation and double checked everything I can think of.

 

[CCinCT]

If you are referring to the contact made in the attached photo, then you have nothing to worry about. It is supposed to be like that. I've got about 150 hours of mowing on my tractor and the belt shows no signs of wear.

 

[BenS]

If you are referring to the contact made in the attached photo, then you have nothing to worry about. It is supposed to be like that. I've got about 150 hours of mowing on my tractor and the belt shows no signs of wear.

Yep, that's it. The (wholly uneducated) engineer in me still thinks thats kind of a crappy solution, kinda like the oil drain pointed directly at the frame. :confused2:

Good to know it's lasted you so long. Even though my mower is a 2007 model, I bought it new in 2009 during a MY clearance and I've put less than 10 hrs on it.

 

[JTKub]

The belt is rubbing the mount during normal operation? Mine never did that. In fact it's still on the same belts @ 6yrs old / ~200hrs.

 

[CCinCT]

It rubs during operation. When you release the tension handle the belt clears that bracket.

 

[JTKub]

I guess I'm floored here??! If during use, the back of the belt is rubbing the hanger bracket as drastically as the above picture depicts, I CAN'T BELIEVE you guys aren't burning belts up and chewing right through that hanger bracket?

Like I say, I owned a 2544 and have 2 neighbors with them. None of them rub or even look like that during normal operation/use.

With the deck removed from the machine they DO look like that, but like said, everything falls into proper position with the drive belt in position and tentioned.

Joel

 

[CCinCT]

You may be right. I've never looked at this when the deck is installed. It's quite possible the PTO belt doesn't allow the pulley to move that far back when you have everything installed. I'll try to remember to look at that when I put the deck on, but that won't be for another month the way the weather is going so far.