Fixing drive belt on low end riding mower.

[4570Man]

I had a guy call me about fixing the drive belt on his riding mower. I was expecting a 20 minute job and he only lives about 2 miles away so I ran over and picked it up. First I realized it’s the transmission drive belt not the deck. It’s the most ridiculous routing I’ve seen in a long time and multiple guards in place to prevent it from slipping off. I’ll probably have to pull the motor to get it on. The idler in the top is junk and I don’t have high hopes for the other half dozen on the bottom. And the belt is a lot flatter than a regular V belt and there’s 2 of them. So instead of paying $15 at the part store I’ll probably have to go OEM and pay a lot more. It’ll be running a couple hundred labor plus parts. My take is to junk the whole thing and move on. Am I letting my hatred for junk mowers skew my view point?

 

[Roadworthy]

Troybilt was once one of the best, but not lately. I got one of their pressure washers years ago and couldn't get any response about parts. You might consider giving the mower's owner your assessment and estimate before getting any further into it. I don't even know if the company is still around. I think the name is now owned by the same company that has Cub Cadet.

 

[4570Man]

Troybilt was once one of the best, but not lately. I got one of their pressure washers years ago and couldn't get any response about parts. You might consider giving the mower's owner your assessment and estimate before getting any further into it. I don't even know if the company is still around. I think the name is now owned by the same company that has Cub Cadet.

I do plan on giving the owner my assessment but I was checking if I was in line with it. And the mower is no doubt junk. That part wasn’t up for discussion. Even if it’s fixed who knows what else is going to go out soon after.

 

[Topzide]

Welcome to the mass production mowers! When I was working at a lawn and garden sales and repairs shop, low end mowers sold at the box stores, we shied away from! The owners usually didn't want to spend the money to fix them. Anything that was sold for less than $1500 and we didn't sell it, we got a deposit to cover the diagnostic for repairs needed. That way we weren't bogged down with nickel and dime repairs.

 

[4570Man]

Welcome to the mass production mowers! When I was working at a lawn and garden sales and repairs shop, low end mowers sold at the box stores, we shied away from! The owners usually didn't want to spend the money to fix them. Anything that was sold for less than $1500 and we didn't sell it, we got a deposit to cover the diagnostic for repairs needed. That way we weren't bogged down with nickel and dime repairs.

I wasn’t ever under any false pretenses on the quality of them. I am surprised with the total lack of serviceability. I could change all 3 belts on my Grasshopper in 20 minutes or less and a pry bar is the only tool I’d need. On this thing I’m an experienced and well equipped wrench turner and this will take a few hours. For the average homeowner using these things it’s pretty un feasible.

 

[Diggin It]

My Crapsman is a single belt from the PTO pulley to the input pulley on the transmission. You have to pull the mower deck, then hoist the whole frame up so you can get under it. You have to drop the PTO pulley off the engine to get it out beyond the belt guard that is part of the frame, not removable. I think one or two other bolts need to be loosened or removed to snake the belt out and back in, but you can do the whole replacement in less than an hour.

But I ain't doin' a golldurned thing in a 100+ heat index.

 

[4570Man]

Here’s a couple more pictures of this thing. I don’t see any way to get the belt on around the motor pulley without pulling the motor loose. I confirmed my suspicions that the bottom side idlers are junk. There’s 3 on the transmission belt and several more on the deck which are probably junk as well. And there’s zero clearance to work on anything. I had to flip it on its side to take the pictures. Which I accomplished by hand it’s built so heavy duty. Oh and this thing only has like 350 hours on it. My Grasshopper has so far out lived this thing in hours by about 7 times and it’s it’s still cutting grass. On the more fair comparison with grass cut the Grasshopper is probably 100x ahead.

 

[Diggin It]

Hard to see clearly, but that first picture looks like what I was talking about. Pull the bolt holding the pulleys on (they're probably one piece) the PTO. Should slide away from the engine so you can work the belt into place then slide it back up.

 

[4570Man]

Hard to see clearly, but that first picture looks like what I was talking about. Pull the bolt holding the pulleys on (they're probably one piece) the PTO. Should slide away from the engine so you can work the belt into place then slide it back up.

I didn’t figure they’d slid off and they’re so dinky a puller will bend them.

 

[Diggin It]

That I can't comment on. Mine has a magnetic PTO clutch that engages the deck belt. It comes off pretty easy and the drive belt pulley does also. Once you get that bottom bolt off, see if it moves, if not try the Blaster trick.

That one should be similar to this: