Rear Finish Mower Another belt!

[Rod in Forfar]

That's the third in two weeks, and I only have one left.

The mower is a 1987 Woods RM48**-C attached to the back of my 17 hp Bolens diesel. It's mowing the lawns (2 acres) and a 6 acre patch of new tree seedlings which ended up with rows too narrow for my larger tractors. So it's been getting a lot of hours, but the belt supply is becoming critical.

The last one to blow was one of two oem belts I found at a supplier. Could age be a factor in the belts' shaky durability?

I think I've been careful in installing them, pulling them into place with a 1" web belt rather than prying. Spring tension seems good. The pulleys aren't perfect, but I've seen worse. The trouble is that this 5/8" belt has to make a full twist and a couple of partial twists in order to complete its circuit around the big fan pulley off the pto shaft and the three spindles. Failure occurs after the belt gets twisted and runs a few circuits upside down, breaking the V part and producing vibration prior to failure.

Maybe that's why they went with gearboxes on the newer mowers: better belt durability.

I tried mowing on pto #3 but everything had to work too hard at that speed and the belt got hot. A more leisurely pace on pto #2 seems a better match.

Now I'm thinking I need a 4' bush hog, but would welcome advice. I quite like the mower and would prefer to keep it in use.

Thanks,

Rod in Forfar

 

[massey driver]

Hey there Rod all I can say is that at one time I was buying the cheaper belts and they would steadily break,twist,crack etc: for me.I didn't want to buy the better quality belts because they were more then double the cheaper ones.After doing this for awhile I finally broke down and bougth a good quality belt and now the belts seem to last forever.So you really didn't say what quality belt you were buying but I kinda suspect your buying the cheaper grade belt.Larry

 

[rhett]

Oh gosh, the finish mower belt delima. It strikes everyone sooner or later. I scratched my head many times and many belts later I recognized my problem. Sticks, twigs or some sort of object will get pinched between the belt and pully damaging the belt (cuts) causing it to break.

On topic, Two days ago I completely encased the belt system on my KK finish mower to help the belt last longer. Their design was like having a scoop to collect and direct debris into the belt, not any more.

Hope this helps, Good Luck

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Hey there Rod all I can say is that at one time I was buying the cheaper belts and they would steadily break,twist,crack etc: for me.I didn't want to buy the better quality belts because they were more then double the cheaper ones.After doing this for awhile I finally broke down and bougth a good quality belt and now the belts seem to last forever.So you really didn't say what quality belt you were buying but I kinda suspect your buying the cheaper grade belt.Larry

Larry:

I bought whatever I could get. There aren't a lot of belts for a 1987 Woods (126.7" X 5/8") out there that I could find and get shipped to Ontario.

Rod

 

[Rayrla]

During 1993 purchased a used Bolens 21 HP diesel along with a new 60 inch Woods finish mower. Sold the tractor and the mower ten years later. During this time cut lots of grass and some brush. Mower performed flawlessly. Replaced belt only twice during this time with both being Woods belts.After every third or fourth use would remove cover and blow out any debris. I do remember the belt made many twists and turns. Problem could be age of belts. You might try getting replacement belt from auto parts store.

 

[Rayrla]

Rod,

Reread your post. Your statement referring to pto #2 /#3 didn't compute during first read. I remember on my Bolens I had a two speed pto, 540 rpm and 1000 rpm. Dealer I purchased tractor and mower from cautioned me to use 540 rpm for the mower. I assume that your 17 HP has a three speed pto. Are you using 540 pto speed when using mower?

 

[rhett]

Here is another supplier if needed. The link should go to the 5/8 X 126.7" belt.
WOODS BELT BELT

If adjustments allow, another option might be "B" V-belts which are 21/32", a little wider than 5/8. For "B" belts subtract 3" from the belt length to get the part number. Example: 127" - 3 = B124 (like a Gates B124 might work or a Gates B123 tight fit)
V-Belt Supplier - V Belts - Mower Belts - Kevlar Belts, Industrial Belts - Agricultural Belts.

I still suggest using all the shielding for the belt system to prevent objects getting into the belts pulley drive path. Sheesh, countless belts on a Snapper Rider and 2 destroyed on my 5' finish mower, dawg gone twigs and such.

Good Luck

 

[Rod in Forfar]

Rod,

Reread your post. Your statement referring to pto #2 /#3 didn't compute during first read. I remember on my Bolens I had a two speed pto, 540 rpm and 1000 rpm. Dealer I purchased tractor and mower from cautioned me to use 540 rpm for the mower. I assume that your 17 HP has a three speed pto. Are you using 540 pto speed when using mower?

Rayrla:

Actually, the pto speeds at 2700 rpm are 472, 752, and 1177, according to the Bolens/Iseki owner's manual. I run it at about 2000 rpm (no tach) most of the time. That's where it sounds best. The Woods RM48YM-2 owner's manual calls for pto speeds of between 800 and 1000 rpm for operation of the mower. Most everyone agrees that this is too fast for this tractor/mower combination.

Remember that this is an early model mower ($1750 CDN new in 1987), before the switch to gearboxes similar to what I have on my bush hogs. This early one has a big fan belt on a spindle attached to the end of the pto shaft. It operates vertically, then the belt takes the power down to the horizontal through a variety of twists and turns.

The shielding of the belt and pulley is very effective. I'm pretty sure it's not sticks or other foreign material causing the damage to the belts.

I just did an hour of light cutting with the shields off. Everything seems fine with the latest (and possibly younger) belt. Two more acres of seedlings may change that, though.

Thanks for the input.

Rod

 

[RalphVa]

Do you have an industrial belt place near you? In Baton Rouge, the belt for engaging my TroyBilt Tomahawk kept going on me. So, instead of buying it from the Tomahawk dealer, I went to an industrial belt place. Those belts lasted MUCH longer.

Ralph

 

[leonz]

If you are stretching the belts to get them on rather than loosening the mountings/drawing back the snubber pulley to release tension you are DOOMED.


About the spring snubber flat fulley assuming it has one-

You should have room to use a wrench to release the snubber tension to slip the belt on

You can tape the belt to the transistion pulleys that twist to hold them in place before you pull the snubber pulley back to set the flat part of the belt there.



Both ozone and belt age plays a part in belt failure as well as operating speed
but a minor one.


Ideally any belt in storage should be the same LOT NUMBER as the master slitter labels each batch a lot number

I would wander down to your local auto supply store and buy the Gates green belts that are designed for high shock loads with the (same lot number) they will cost you more but that should solve the issue unless the mower has bad bearings in the snubber and transition pulleys or cannot be greased.



Another option is a 48 inch Caroni flail mower with four rows of knives if you continue to have problems as the flail mower will cut everthing down to a very fine mulch and you will have a much faster mower and no issues with twisted belts as the drive belts are set with a linear installation with twin belts.

The four rows of knives have more total cutting edge length than any bush hog or rear finish mower and they are a breeze to take care of as you dont even have to scrape the mower hood as the grass does not build up.

Another great thing is flail mowers do not thrown anything to make missles out of them either.



The agrisupply folks have an internet special price(buying directly from thier web page-for thier flail mowers which also includes frieght to your door.




Agri Supply - Farm Supplies, Tools, Lawn Mower Blades, Cast Iron Cookware



leonz