Craftsman PYT9000 deck belt breaking

[jmwall67]

I've had that happen on an old craftsman 42" deck. A couple things I found to watch for YMMV ... TSC Blue belts seemed to hold up better than the cheaper ones found @ Home Depot. Also, check the spindles closely, I've had the mounting ears crack & you couldn't tell until a load caused the spindle to tilt which threw the belt & shredded it. Check the idler pully for parallel as they age, they can get out of line with the other pulleys & throw belts. Finally, check the spring tension on your idler. My spring was worn/weak over time, so slippage at start & under load would heat up the belt & then it would get worse & worse, then throw or shred.

Thanks, I haven't pulled the deck out yet. When I do I'll check the spindles and pulleys closely.

 

[alexpops]

When you pull the deck out, check it carefully for cracks/flexing. Mine was a stamped deck & had some stress cracks/rust through that allowed flexing of the deck/shifts to the bracketry. Simple to reweld, but that can cause the pullies to get out of line.

 

[tomplum]

The belt shows as 162" on Stens and Main Belts Sizes Reference
Stens: 265-219 MTD and Rotary longer spec. There is a place on EBay called Propartsplace. I've gotten a number of Deere belts from them and have been happy with the spec on the belts.
EXACT OEM HD ARAMID BELT CUB CADET 754-04240 954-04240 LTX1050 LTX1050VT 50" CUT | eBay

There are a couple actual OEM belts on the EBay for less than list.

I have a customer who breaks at least a belt a year on theirs. What helped them was getting them to engage the deck WOT and use the MIR (mow in reverse). They still break the OEM belt though. Pitch is perfect, no abnormal wear etc.

BTW you can put the length and width into a search above and it will reference several Deere belts that are better price. As Randy mentioned the cross measurement / tapers can be different.

 

[Richard001]

Here is a photo of the belt. Hope it is useful and tells you something.

Thanks,
Jeff


View attachment 800447

Is there any shredding on the belt in other areas of the belt ?

In the photo, there appears to be some skiffing of the belt at the bottom of the photo. I take it that this belt connects to all the spindles and to the PTO clutch. Is the correct ?

 

[Richard001]

Is there any shredding on the belt in other areas of the belt ?

In the photo, there appears to be some skiffing of the belt at the bottom of the photo. I take it that this belt connects to all the spindles and to the PTO clutch. Is the correct ?

I know this may sound strange, but I think it is better to understand why the belt keeps breaking instead of just searching for a stronger and more expensive belt that will also break.

This is why I'm asking these questions.