Finish mower belt problem

[Dozernut]

bubenburg said it all, follow his instructions. Thanks Bird for answering for me! I have been trying to unplug a downspout in between rains. Wished you had some of this H2O, we've had plenty and from the looks of the sky, more is on the way.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>Wished you had some of this H2O</font color=blue>

Me, too! On the TV news tonight, they were talking about the flooding and the fact that Dallas has already had over 20" of rain this year, and here I am 60 miles south of them and have only gotten 6.07" all year./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

And to make matters worse, I discovered today that I have too much water one place; the water heater has a slow drip that has apparently been doing it long enough that I'm not only going to have to replace the water heater, but also a section of flooring./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[Steve_in_Ont]

While you're spinning the shaft (checking the bearings), also confirm that the pulleys are running straight and true... When you turn the shaft, the edges and groove of the pulley should not move up and down or side to side. Make certain that you check all of the pulleys, even any tension pulley.

And one other thing... I hate to ask, (but keeping with that only dump question thing...). Are you certain that the belts are installed correctly? Any tension pulleys should only touch the belt on the unloaded side of the belt. From the drive (PTO) pulley, the belt should travel to the driven (blade) pulley, then on to any tension system, then back to the drive pulley.

 

[rlk]

Bird, this is exactly why when I build or remodel a house, I never, ever, put a water heater inside the house. Putting it in the crawl space, or in an attached utility room, or garage makes a lot more sense.

On new houses in this area, they are actually putting water heaters in the attic. Even though they are sitting in a drip pan, I have seen many of the drip pan drains plugged with insulation. So when the water heater leaks (and they are all going to leak eventually) the drip pan will fill up, and the ceiling will get wet. With sheet rock ceilings it does not take much water before the entire ceiling has to be replaced. Saw one house where a plumbing fitting on a water heater in the attic cracked and water ran for about a week while the owners were on vacation. All the ceilings in the house, as well as the carpet and hardwood floors had to be replaced. If the builder had put the water heater in the crawl space, storage room or garage this would not have resulted in much if any damage.

O.K., I'm off my soap box now.

Bob

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Bob, they really do some dumb things when they build houses at times. My water heater has a drip pan, but it isn't big enough./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif The drain valve has been leaking outside the pan.

 

[tanner]

Thanks to all of your advice, I found my problem. This afternoon I began disassembling the mower and inspecting all the pulleys, shafts, etc. Suddenly I discovered that the lock nut is missing on the right spindle shaft. Of course, the key is missing as well. Tomorrow I'll go purchase a new lock nut and key. Clean everything and re-assemble. With a little luck, I'll be back in the seat mowing tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[Bird]

Greg, my Bush Hog finish mower lost the lock nut and key once, and the pulley came off the spindle. I had a lock nut on hand, but never could find a woodruff key of the right size, so I finally ground one down to fit.

 

[Dozernut]

Way to go! Your now a veteran!/w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Bird,
Thats what the bench grinder is for...........improvising
/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Glad you're still with us /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[tanner]

thanks dozernut! It is pretty [censored] exciting to be able to fix this problem on my own (with your and others help!) I'm a newbie to the country life, so it doesn't take much to excite me!