belt soot on BX 2200 60 inch deck

upgw · Sep 29, 2002

I've got about 90 hours mowing on the machine, just noticed a good amount of what appears to be belt 'soot' (sticky black stuff like a ground up belt). It's concentrated around the leftmost spindle, under the cover, on the deck surface, etc. The belt looks ok.

Everything has been well lubed, spins freely, nothing appears loose/stuck, etc.

Any ideas? Could the belt just be at the end of its life already? Anybody know what these cost to replace? I've done a fair amount of mowing at nearly full power in 3ft fields.

Thanks,
- Patrick

kubmech · Sep 29, 2002

If everything on the mower checks out mechanically and the belt looks good, it may be mold spores in the lawn. During periods of hot and dry weather these mold spores will grow in the lawn. They cause a fine black dust to cling to your machine. If it's built up on the front of the mower as well, that's most likely your problem.

kubmech · Sep 29, 2002

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upgw · Sep 29, 2002

It's not generally all over, and it definitely is not diesel soot from the exhaust (I get plenty of that elsewhere)... it has a spun-out look, under the cover over that spindle, on the spindle, and around it. The rest of the deck is clean... I just noticed it after the last few mowing. I'd almost certain it's belt material... I can find nothing mechanically wrong.

RoyJackson · Sep 29, 2002

"I've got about 90 hours mowing on the machine, just noticed a good amount of what appears to be belt 'soot' (sticky black stuff like a ground up belt)"

I had the same thing shortly after replacing my belt. it turned out the belt had jumped one of the pulleys (jammed under it).

Suggest you pull the mower covers off. I think you'll find the belt is being abraided by something. Check out the condition of the belt...you may have to replace it. If it is rubbing against something, you surely will be replacing the belt soon.

kubmech · Sep 29, 2002

What Roy said...... Also check to make sure there is'nt something wedged in the "v" of the pulley like a piece of stick or something. When you have the cover off see if you can see anywhere the belt is hitting, don't forget to look on the bottom of the cover as well.

upgw · Sep 30, 2002

I took off the shields, fired it up, lowered the deck to the lowest position and watched everything turning.. everything looks perfect. I'll check the V grooves for debris, that's a very interesting possibility. Also, I must reconsider the mold spore possibility. It's been brutally dry... At first glance, I did not see any black stuff on the rest of the deck, but upon closer inspection, I think it's there. I wiped it off with a white paper towel and I got lots of black stuff, all over the deck. But still most is around the left spindle.

- Patrick W.

techman · Sep 30, 2002

I see similar on my BX22. It is definitely not soot since it is under the guards. The belt seems fine so I'm thinkin' that it may be just from breaking in a new belt. It seems to have generated most of the dirt in the first 10 or so hours.

paul

msocko3 · Sep 30, 2002

Sounds like dirty grease, everytime I grease the 60"MMM on my BX1800 it throughs grease which looks and sounds like you are discribing. A good grease is sticky too the touch and when flung by a fast spinning mower it will splatter.

techman · Sep 30, 2002

Just FYI, the "soot" that I had seen that I described as not grease, but definitely particulate rubber.

One other possibility is that if you start the PTO with some engine RPMs, the "burn out" as the blades spin up may cause some bits or rubber to shed.

As I found, there is no visible wear or damage to the belt, so I didn't worry about it. Also I always try to engage the PTO at or near idle (when I am paying attention).

paul