BX2200 MMM belt sloppy while running (HELP)

pings · Mar 5, 2004

My tractor is three years old and has 225 hrs. on it. The mower belt is real sloppy while running, however I can still see the Kubota writing on the belt can it be worn out already. I remove my deck every winter to clean it and paint the underside, but I cannot remove the belt because I don't know how to take the tension of pulley without scratching the deck all up. Is there a secret to this.

Junkman · Mar 5, 2004

Here is a thread where the belt removal has been discussed in detail along with other aspects of the mower deck. After 3 years, I would think that it is time to replace the belt. It might not look worn out, but I am certain that it has been stretched and is now beyond it useful life expectancy. Mower deck storage and belt discussion......

r0GuE · Mar 6, 2004

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( It might not look worn out, but I am certain that it has been stretched and is now beyond it useful life expectancy. )</font>

Really!?!!
You caught me off gaurd there. So you think a 3 year old belt is shot based on.. time? What if there were only 100 hours on the unit? Or is it just that the belt has been under tension for 3 years? Everyone agree on this? Perhaps it is time for me to replace also. I noticed the thing was getting a bit noisy last fall. I was assuming it was the belt.

Anybody know what a new belt costs?

NY_Yankees_Fan · Mar 6, 2004

Tractorsmart says for a 60 MMM deck part number K5371-34710 cost is $52.22 I would hope you would get more then 2-3 seasons of cutting before you need a new belt. I know I got at least 5-6 seasons out of my last mower deck belt for my old Ingersoll 60 inch deck. I never removed the belt tension to get that length of service either as Kubota suggests you need to do with the 60 inch MMM. Being in the North we mow say April to October.

surfran · Mar 6, 2004

I rolled the belt off with my hand by pulling it up on the edge of the pulley and then rotating it around to come off. This is my first Winter of storage, so I am not sure how easily it will go back on yet, but will find out in another month or so.

I read all the nightmares about vice grips etc. and decided I liked this method best and it worked like a charm. Of course it is the same way I've put belts on and off my Cub for years (when taking the mower deck on and off, never for storing /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif).

As for life expectancy, I don't have an opinion as I haven't had mine long enough to know. I would sure hope I get more than 3 years, but that is also why I am removing tension to hopefully help /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Junkman · Mar 6, 2004

I didn't base my opinion of the belt being shot on it being 3 years old, but based on his description. Since there is no way to adjust the belt and he describes the belt as "real sloppy while running". I assume that the word "sloppy" in this instant is used to mean "loose". Since I am using the term loose and sloppy interchangeable, and the only thing that can cause a loose or sloppy belt is a belt that is too long, then it is time to change the belt. However, I might be mistaken, he might have a worn bearing that is allowing a pulley to lean to one side giving the belt the appearance of being sloppy when in actuality it is not the belt itself, but a defective bearing that is the real culprit. He doesn't mention noise as being a problem, so I will discount this bad bearing theory as not being correct and return to the belt being stretched beyond its useful life theory. I can only answer the question based on the information given. I can't and won't make any comment on how long a mower deck belt should last unless I were to have all the pertinent facts to make a proper mathematical time calculation. Such pertinent facts would be size of deck, hours of use, RPM of PTO, whether constant or intermittent, length of grass, density of grass, grass type, whether mowing in daytime or night time, etc. Then I would compare that to the the chart of useful belt life under normal lawn mower deck belt life simulation tables as established by the International Lawn Mower Racing Association published in 2003. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Henro · Mar 6, 2004

We need Pings to stop back and define sloppy a little better... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My take on it was that it was not loose, but rather flopped around, as it might if it had taken a set at several points, from sitting under tension over two or three winters.

Judging from the use I have gotten out of mower deck belts on lawn tractors in the past, I would expect to get more than three years out of the Kubota belt. My problem with the smaller decks was always with the drive belts that came off the engine pully, and I don't even remember having to change a belt on the decks I have had...of course, my memory like other things seems to be growing shorter all the time... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

b6200hst · Mar 6, 2004

Can you see the belt while running? How did you realize it was sloppy in the first place? The belt is covered, isn't it? If you are hearing a lot of noise, maybe it is a bearing problem.

art · Mar 6, 2004

Most belts will vary with the tensioner while accelerating the engine. The tensioner if frozen, set-up or to tight would allow it to happen at most anytime. The tensioner not working properly is the cause of most belt failures. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif