Mowing Gearbox Vent BX2200 MMM , mower deck belt tension

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( have never relaeased the tension on the belts )</font>

Releasing the tension sounds like a good idea, but I've never done it either. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Will_C]

Bird; I think it sounds like a good idea, too, and I mean to do every year when I store the MMM....But I haven't yet /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Will

 

[BIGUN]

I removed the 48” MMM deck from my BX1500 for the first time last week. It was very simple and easy to do. Even though the wheels don’t pivot sideways like they do on the larger decks, on the smooth concrete floor it slide out from under the tractor like it was on rails.

I was impressed but not surprised with the quality of its construction. After a full season of use the blades still had a very good edge on them and will not need sharpening.

The gearbox vent looks like an oil plug with a couple of very small holes in the side of it. I had the deck standing up for a good while scraping the grass from under it and no oil leaked from the vent. I hope this doesn’t mean the gearbox is low on oil, since I haven’t checked that yet. The spring was very tight and even though I was able to get a firm grip on it with vise-grips it had that feel like someone could get hurt pulling on it if they slipped. So remembering the suggestion someone gave to just roll the belt off the pulley, this is what I did and it worked great. As NY Yankees Fan suggest, I will try reinstalling it the same way.

 

[SnailTraX]

Instead of relieving the tension, I just reach under the mower and turn the blade 1/2 turn, once a week, during storage. I always turn in the direction of normal rotation so as to not forget which way I turned it last. The reason they want you to relive tension is to keep the belt from taking a set and cause vibration. The only time I have witnessed a belt taking a set was on a brand new deck that had been in storage for about 15 years that I bought for an old Cub 154 tractor that I use to own.