Brand New - Betstco FH-EFGCH195 Burning Belts

[ptsg]

Can you try to mow at a slower speed and see if the belts still get hot? I wonder if you're going too fast, therefore almost overloading the mower. You have plenty of HP for that mower, so I can see how it could be slipping the belts.

 

[slckeys]

Those belts sure seem to be riding too high in the pulley, causing the sharp edge to start the belt damaging process.
I'm not an expert, but there's just no way those belts can survive getting pulled into that sharp edge.

I have to agree with this. There's also 0 tolerance for those belts to move the slightest without riding that sharp edge. I just walked out and looked at my woodmaxx that's 8 years old on original belts, not a single fray. I didn't take the cover off to look at what the pulley's look like though.

 

[bctxprop]

Can you try to mow at a slower speed and see if the belts still get hot? I wonder if you're going too fast, therefore almost overloading the mower. You have plenty of HP for that mower, so I can see how it could be slipping the belts.

77" Cut Heavy Duty Hydraulic Offset Flail Mower, FH-EFGCH195KIT | Betstco Sales, Parts, and Service: min HP is 35 and I'm running a 60hp tractor. Obviously my PTO hp is less (52 I think). I'm mowing between 1.5-2.5 mph so don't see how going slower is going to help. You can see how much I was able to cut before both sets of belts burned. Mower cuts nice just the belts burning up is a big issue.

 

[bctxprop]

I have to agree with this. There's also 0 tolerance for those belts to move the slightest without riding that sharp edge. I just walked out and looked at my woodmaxx that's 8 years old on original belts, not a single fray. I didn't take the cover off to look at what the pulley's look like though.

so what's the solution? Should I return it and would this be considered a manufactures defect?

 

[5030]

You could if you have a competent machine shop in the vicinity, have them machine both the upper and lower sheaves so the belts ride lower in the sheaves. That would eliminate them riding the edge of them. Not complex machining either very straight forward actually or you could switch the belts to a set with a smaller cross section. Two choices there... better than sending it back and taking a bath on shipping and possibly not getting all your money back as well.

 

[Mud2Money]

I would remove the flails and then spin the shaft. I had a tiller that the bearings seemed fine until I removed the gears and tines. The shaft had .250” run out and a bad end bearing. The bearing had no factory grease.

I had a older ford flail that would eat belts till it got new bearings. The shaft had side to side play and this caused the belt wear. Another thing to check would be parallel amongst the top and bottom shaft. Belts could be in alignment to the pulley grooves but a pulley on a angle in any direction will shred the edges of belts.

 

[5030]

Not a bad idea actually. Just because it's new don't mean it's been greased.

 

[LouNY]

Before wasting the money to have someone machine the pulleys to get the belts to sit lower get another set of belts.
Check your pulley alignment with a steel square or ruler or 2 ft level to be sure of the alignment, wood is not straight enough.
Then either raise your cut height or reduce your ground speed. Also on some of those the rear door can be opened to eliminate the "recutter" action many flails have.

V belts are designed to grip on the wedge action on the sides of the belts they should not bottom in the belt groove.

Your belts the B-991 is a B series metric belt so 17 mm wide on top, then they throw in a wrinkle by using 991 or 991mm "inside" circumference, so the B-991 is a 17 x 991 inside circumference belt.
That should also correspond to a metric B series 1067 belt with the 1067 being the outer circumference.
The on top of that an American SAE belt of the spec of B39 or a 5/8x42 inch belt is the same belt,
Another option would be a cogged V belt this might be a good fit.

 

[slckeys]

Those cheaper belts previously mentioned might be a good idea then spin it by hand to be sure it's running true. If it wasn't a downpour right now, I'd go out and take the belt cover off to see what mine looks like and let you know.

 

[LittleBill21]

do you have a photo of the side of the belts, even the old one?