Best source for mower belts?

[/pine]

I need the deck and PTO belts for a MTD rider...many of the mower part suppliers want $30+ for the belts...I see the same (part #) belts on e-bay and some other sites (like Sears) for much less...what is the skinny on the difference?...anyone have a quality source for inexpensive replacement belts?

 

[big bubba]

sometimes i take the belt to Napa and have them match it. otherwise for all my small engine needs, this vendor's the best by far:
Parts Lookup - Exploded Diagrams for Outdoor Power Equipment

 

[Stimw]

I have been buying belts from ebay for a while now with no problems.
If your OEM belt is Kevlar make sure that is what you are getting!

 

[4570Man]

I use Napa belts. They are usually $20 or less. They are about 1/3 the price of OEM belts, and I've noticed no reduction in life span.

 

[chim]

I've used this place:

Vbelts4less - Mower V Belts - V-Belts - Banded V Belts - Kevlar V Belts - Cogged V Belts - Industrial V Belts

 

[TractorGuy]

I have bought from ebay when I have time to wait.

Tractor Supply has a good selection of L4 Kevlar belts for less than $20 each. If you have your old belt you can match it up with one of those and it should work fine. I haven't had any problem switching from an A belt to an L4. The listed size isn't exactly the diameter of the belt so you have to measure in the store. Mark your old belt and run a tape measure around the outside. Then take the tape measure with you to TS and measure the belts to get the right diameter. The listed sizes will be about an inch and a half off from actual.

 

[Walt 2002]

There is an Oil Field Supply business in our town. I get name brand belts there for half what they cost other places.

Walt Conner

 

[LD1]

Forget OEM and OEM part numbers. Get the sizes of the belt. Width and length to nearest inch. The use the common numbering systems, like B60 or 5v620. That will open a whole new world of options and prices.

When it comes belts, i compare those to nuts/bolts, hydraulic fittings/hoses, tires, bearings, etc. In that I dont order them based off a MFG number. I order by trade size/dimension. If you needed a standard run-of-the-mill hex bolt for your machine, would you try to find that bolt by its OEM part #, or would you just go buy the size you need?

 

[moeh1]

I'm with Chim, vbeltsforless has worked well for me. They are a division of Belarus tractors. Seems to 1/3 to 1/2 of local and they have a good selection of Kevlar wrapped too.

 

[art]

Depending on how the belt is used makes a difference as to the generics belts life. We have seen difference as to the lower priced belts life span actually costing far more and cutting life by over one third. Some belts are not built to change drive angles or to have an idler on the back for tightness.
We do find that sometimes the reason for failure is not the belts problem and some belts will exist with pulley and idler issues.

 

[JRobyn]

I have used both vbeltsforless and vbeltsupply. Both are good - I usually prefer vbeltsupply for no particular reason.

I used to really like Jack's, but on a recent batch of orders I got 3 WRONG parts, and their advertised "service after the sale" was very difficult to get. Plan to be on hold for a while. In fairness, the bad parts were (I believe) due to MTD/TroyBilt/Poulan/Weedwacker having faulty part numbers on the parts diagrams. In one case, the parts was simply manufactured wrong by Poulan.

 

[roadhunter]

I've found it's much cheaper to buy on ebay, literally half in some cases compared to my local parts stores.

I've also pretty much quit going to the local parts stores for auto parts as Rock Auto is much much cheaper if you can wait a couple of days.

 

[RalphVa]

If you have an industrial belt place near you, get them there. We had one in Baton Rouge, and there's one here. I kept going through belts on my Tomahawk shredder, buying them from the local TroyBilt outfit. Bought one from the industrial belt place, and it was still on the machine when I sold it after moving here.

Ralph

 

[Steave]

sometimes i take the belt to Napa and have them match it. otherwise for all my small engine needs, this vendor's the best by far:
Parts Lookup - Exploded Diagrams for Outdoor Power Equipment

I also use them for outdoor power equipment. Good service been using them about 5-6 years with no problems.

 

[Steave]

Sometimes use this one too.

Lawn Mower Parts and lawn tractor parts and more Outdoor Distributors - Lawn Mower Parts

 

[Fesntkilr]

What size deck? I bought a bunch of closeout belts from Walmart for MTD 42" & 38" decksa nd listed them in my eBay store. The 42" belts all sold out in a week. I still have a couple of the 38" belts.

 

[mcfarmall]

I'll second the vbeltsupply.com They are good folks to work with, prices are reasonable and they send you discount offers/free shipping stuff in your e-mail.

 

[MIkeWard]

I have a couple of craftsman mowers that needed deck and drive belts
I searched on eBay and Amazon fir the correct belts by part number and got a variety of prices.
Next I searched for 1/2 inch and correct length and Kevlar - not by part number number.
Very interesting some of the vendors have the exact same belt with manufacturer part number listed for a wide variety of prices and listed with different model part numbers. ----- the EXACT SAME BELT ?? And the prices were all over the place too
From now on I am searching by the length and width of the belt and Kevlar

 

[japody]

"I'll second the vbeltsupply.com They are good folks to work with, prices are reasonable and they send you discount offers/free shipping stuff in your e-mail. "



+1:thumbsup:

 

[Fesntkilr]

I have a couple of craftsman mowers that needed deck and drive belts
I searched on eBay and Amazon fir the correct belts by part number and got a variety of prices.
Next I searched for 1/2 inch and correct length and Kevlar - not by part number number.
Very interesting some of the vendors have the exact same belt with manufacturer part number listed for a wide variety of prices and listed with different model part numbers. ----- the EXACT SAME BELT ?? And the prices were all over the place too
From now on I am searching by the length and width of the belt and Kevlar

When you said you measure the exact length, how were you able to accurately measure exact length? Just curious