Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping?

   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #1  

tillboy2001

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2004
Messages
455
Hi

I've got a Cub Cadet Super LT 1550 that I bought new last year. I'm VERY happy with it - except for one thing. I live on fairly steep hills. On the steepest part of my yard when going uphill, with the pedal all the way down at full throttle, I hear a sort of grinding sound and I feel vibrations under the tractor as it strains to pull up the hill. At first it almost seemed to me something like the feel of a plastic gear grinding....but the more I pay attention to it, it seems more like a belt slipping or more like jumping.

Does anyone know if it's possible that it's simply a matter of a drive belt that needs to be tighter? I'm assuming this would be something I could do at home without having to tear the whole thing apart to get to the belt?

Thanks!
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #2  
There was a service bulletin or recall or something with the 1000's and 1500's last year. Some spring the helped keep the proper tension on the drive belt was too weak from the factory, and caused a lot of tractors to fizzle out going up hill. There were a lot of posts from people with this problem, but only a few responded back after having it fixed. But those few seemed to think that it was in fact fixed. Haven't heard much more about this problem since last Summer. I would contact your dealer while it's still under warranty and get his input.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping?
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Hmmm....I guess I better call a dealer that does service and ask about that. Makes sense to me that this would be the problem.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
I found the guilty spring. The spring is indeed fairly thin and weak. But he biggest problem I saw was there was hardly any tension on the spring. I found another spring in my basement - one that's much thicker but a little too long to use as a direct replacement. I found a factory drilled hole in the frame though that was just right! I attached my new spring in the tensioner hole along with the factory spring and stretched it over to the frame hole. It doesn't slip at all now :) The tranny sure whines and moans, but I believe that's normal when it's under a heavy load.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #5  
In my Opinion; I would replace the spring with the proper one. If under warranty, I would have dealer rrepair it. If I remember right, there was n issue with proper alignment of pulleys also.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #6  
These guys are right, and CC is well aware of that issue. Go to your dealer, and get the right parts and repair. -Fordlords-
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping?
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I'll probably talk to the dealer and see if they can order the spring for me, but I'd like to put it on myself. I understand that's it's under warranty and technically the dealer should fix this...but since we're just talking about a spring...There's no way I'm going to haul my tractor all the way over to the dealer just for them to take the deck off and spend 5 minutes snapping a new spring on. From the looks of it, that's all it could be. That's the only tensioner and spring I see that does the job of keeping the drive belt tight. So that has to be the spring they'd replace. If they say there's a lot more to the real fix than just putting on a new spring, I will have to re-think not taking it in.

I wish Cub Cadet would allow owners access to a manual that shows ALL of the tractor parts like Sears does. For all the ragging on Sears mowers that people do, I have to give that to them - they give you a manual that shows all the parts with part numbers. It seems Cub Cadet is hoping to drive in more business by hiding that info from the do-it-yourself type of owners. After the waranty is expired, it becomes almost a necessity to have a manual that shows all the parts and the part numbers. Unless of course you like to pay the dealer to do everything. I don't :). If I can do it at home, I do. I know when to say when though. There are some times when it's not worth the time or aggravation of trying to fix something at home.

As far as this spring goes that I put on - on the scale of jury-rigging from 1 to 10 (10 being the most jurry-rigged), I'd say my fix is maybe a 2. The spring really does fit rather well where it's placed and it's not in the way of anything (I checked) and it's not overly tight. It really does seem to fit the need very well. Still though, for a couple bucks I'll certainly check on getting a new spring from the dealer for the official fix.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #8  
Go to the Cub web site and click on "Buy Cub Cadet Parts" on the left hand side, under the "Cub Cadet Services" section. From there, you search for parts by name or part number. As you get results, you can display illustrations of the part or assembly by clicking on the appropriate link on the right hand side.
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping?
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Cool....thanks
 
   / Super LT 1550 Belt Slipping? #10  
pz31g22 said:
..I understand that's it's under warranty and technically the dealer should fix this...but since we're just talking about a spring...There's no way I'm going to haul my tractor all the way over to the dealer..

I'm with you there. Your fix may be better than the CC spec'd fix anyway. Try it out and see.

Joel
 
 
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