How long should a secondary mower belt last?

[sgoldste01]

This is more of a curiosity question than anything:

I have a JD GT245 with the 54" deck. I bought it used with 500 hours on it, and it's been great. Runs perfect, is well maintained, and stored in a garage.

I replaced the secondary mower belt (the long belt that wraps around all the pulleys on the deck, to power the three blades) two years ago when the tractor had 540 hours on it. Now, two years later with 600 hours on the tractor, I noticed that the belt needs to be replaced again.

How long (years or hours) should you expect from the secondary belt? I would have expected more than 2 years/60 hours. It's possible that it was an inferior quality belt (I bought it on Amazon or eBay, don't remember); it definitely wasn't a JD belt.

Have you found a particular brand of belt that works best?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[mfreund]

I use John Deere Belts because the dealer is 2 miles from me and I am too lazy to cross reference it. I replaced the belt on my 322 with the 42" deck 2 times in 635 hrs. Have not replaced the belt on my 4310 with a 72" deck with almost 1000 hrs. I do have replacements on the shelf for both, because they always break on Saturday afternoon.

60 hrs is way too short, I would not buy that brand again.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Talking about my Cub, I replaced the original belt after 8 yrs/250 hrs and it wasn't totally shot. I bought the replacement belts from VBELTS4LESS and they were relatively cheap. That belt has 2 yrs on it now and is in very good condition.

You've not said how your belts are wearing out / failing but you may want to take a look at the deck and see if you can find anything that may be contributing to the early failure. Any binding of the spindles that could be placing an additional load on the belt. How about the idler pulley. Does this replacement belt show signs of wear that may give you an indication of why the early failure. Then again, maybe it was just a bad belt.

I would think you would do yourself a favor if you make sure the next belt has Kevlar reinforcement cords.

 

[radioman]

In cub cadet manual, it says to use kevlar belts. Is your replacement belt kevlar? Have you checked the pulled for free movement with no noise? I'd take the deck off and spin all the pulleys with belt off and listen/feel the bearings. Replace any that doesnt feel/hear right.

 

[KENSFM]

I would use a John Deere belt, they may cost a little more but I think you will be happy with them. And as others have said make sure your sheaves and idlers are in good condition and free turning.
Ken

 

[Gator6x4]

I agree on using Kevlar Belts. Kevlar belts can withstand a lot of use and abuse.

 

[BBO]

How long (years or hours) should you expect from the secondary belt?

I normally get at least 300 hours. I have got 500 on JD belt.
All the idlers, bearings and bushings need to be good shape so nothing is running sideways.

Also what you mow is important. If you wait until the grass is 12" high it's lots harder on the belts and all the deck parts.
Some grass is thicker also, so this is hard to pinpoint.

 

[bullbreaker]

Got almost 500 HRS on my GT235 secondary original belt (after 10 years). Priced a new one from local dealer was about $45. Found an original JD belt from Flea Bay for $25 delivered and bought it. Replaced primary belt recently also (broke-gave way) with JD belt. Seen and had bad results from buying Huskee Kevlar belts trying to save $ from TSC. Just relaying personal experiences and what I have seen locally not trying to beat up on TSC or Huskee belts. For certain parts would recommend OEM! Just my :2cents:

Boone

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I changed the original belt on my 455 in 2011 I believe. This was after 15 yrs of service and it was still in excellent condition.

 

[Retired Iron Peddler]

I replaced the 54" mower deck belt on my JD 345 after 10 years of use with another JD belt from my local JD dealer. I learned the hard way with my previously owned Cub Cadets to use only OEM belts. The mower drive belt (engine to mower deck) and the transmission drive belts (engine to hydrostatic transmission) are still the originals after 13+ years and almost 700 hours of use.

Bill