Rear Finish Mower Finish mower keeps breaking belts

crankshaft21 · May 28, 2011

I had a 60 inch Bigbee rfm and used it 15 years and when I sold it a few months ago it still had the same belt that came on it. I would suspect that your idler pully is not running straight. If so , it will cause the belt to ride over one of the pullies. I had a pickup that the idler pully was running with a tilt to it and it would cause the belt to get on a pully and cut it and then it would break. AS you said the idler has a tilt, I would replace the idler. Thats what I did on the pickup and solved the problem.

Pooh_Bear · May 29, 2011

Tightening the swivel bolt on the idler arm took the tilt out of the pulley and this seems to have solved the problem. I have mowed several times this year already, and in some thick grass and the belt shows no signs of wear yet.

Pooh Bear

SSRTOW · May 29, 2011

great:thumbsup:

paulstagner · Apr 30, 2012

I've gone through several belts on my Big Bee 60 as well. I finally bought a tractor with a mid-mount mower and will sell the Big Bee. I do want to figure out what's eating belts though. Not right to sell it to someone expecting a good mower (like I was looking forward to).

Rosedalegarden · Apr 30, 2012

There's only one belt that will work on that mower, and you get it through the company. It will eat any others. I had a 4 ft one that I sold with my yanmar that was 12 yrs old and still had the original belt on it. There were a couple of suggestions they had also that I didn't need to do once I got their belt. Here is the company link: Darrell Harp Enterprises - Home

jrm1966 · May 24, 2012

I also have the same belt problem on my BigBee 60. I purchased last Aug. and have put 3 Pix Kevlar belts on mine. First one came apart and dealer sold me a new Pix and stated that the original belts were weak and didn't last long ??? The belts just seem to start fraying and coming apart. The dealer suggested that the tension area was a problem after second belt broke and told me to drill a hole in the deck and install a bolt with a piece of rubber around it next to the tension pulley. He said tension pulley was probably bouncing and cutting the belt. So far I haven't done that. Belt was about to break again so I removed it and went back to the dealer. So far about $ 80.00 in belt replacement.

This time he actually gave me a new belt and suggested I polish all the pulleys.
I did this and am starting to cut again. Guess I will see if that works.

I must say I am not real pleased with me having to do the mods. Kinda seems like they should do them and clear up the problem but wondered what you guys think. I will be checking back with this post to see if anyone finds a cure.
Thanks Great info on the site

Rosedalegarden · May 24, 2012

I went to the manufacture first of last summer after going through 3 belts. The one that came with it, I mowed over a stump and it got kicked off and shredded. I posted the link above. I bought 2 belts just in case. I've done a lot of mowing since then and the second belt is still hanging in the barn.

boggen · May 25, 2012

is the spindles that attach to pulley and then to blades. loose? allowing pulley to move up and down?

have you taken off the "shields" while mowing. to make sure you are not cutting to tall of grass, and causing blades to jam up completely. causing belt to just melt / heat up around the pulley that the blade is stuck?

if you have the belt shields on. did you install them correctly? some shields will wobble/ bounce / vibrate some. possibly snagging the belt. i have had problems with shields over the years. were vibration of mower deck alone has sheared some bolts that hold the belt shields on. and before bolts / pins completely sheared, the shield was allowed to move enough to tear up the belt.

hitting a stump should not cause a belt to tear up. the belt should slip around pulley. and most likely damage a blade. vs tearing up belt. at least that is my experience.

on other hand with others, there are different grades of belts. the allis chalmers CA with belly mower. using very long belt. that costs close to $100 bucks.

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other thought, do not use any sort of "belt grip" spray stuff or like. on the belt or pulleys. the stuff may cause more belt slipping pending on what the belt is made from. more slipping = belt heats up quickly. and just melts / tears up. also more heat can cause more stretching. perhaps enough to cause enough wobble in belt. to allow belt to snag something and break.

double check your 3pt hitch arms and linkages. and as your mowing, make sure the deck is not rising up and then slamming down into the ground. (could be front of deck, could be rear of deck rising and slamming into the ground) the slamming into the ground may be causing belt to slid off of tension pulley and in a heart beat, belt gets messed up.

on new belt, give the belt a break in period. as to allow the belt to stretch some. and wear some, to your pulley groves. perhaps there is enough friction going on, that is causing new belt to over heat. to point it goes over belt ability to handle the heat and then breaks. other words do not get on mower, and go at it for a few hours. get off tractor and check belt every 15 minutes. and see how it is doing. for the first 2 to 6 hours. ya you should not have to do that. but... *shrugs*

Pooh_Bear · May 25, 2012

I'm still mowing with that last Gates belt I bought.
I haven't had to put the blue kevlar belt on yet.
So I guess it was the bolt in the idler arm.

Pooh Bear