Ideas for repairing drive belts.

[alchemysa]

Over the years I've busted so many belts on my ride-on mower that I think I've paid for the machine twice. (Replacement belts are around $30 to $40 a pop, and 300ks away). I've tried expensive fabric coated belts and cheap rubber belts. All seem to have a similar failure rate .

It's normally a piece of wood stuck under the deck that causes the snap, but I'm theorizing that under normal circumstance the belts are under not much strain. So the question is "Are they sufficiently repairable to cope with a normal load?". I'm wondering if thin strips of canvas (or some other mesh) glued to the belt with contact cement then wrapped with a bit of fabric electrical tape would do the trick. They might not last as long as a new belt, but 2 or 3 of these repaired belts ready to go at a moments notice sounds like good value. Anyone tried it or got any ideas?

(edit.) I just had another thought. Maybe I could slice the ends and glue a strengthening tongue into the slice.

 

[zzvyb6]

I once had a Simplicity lawn tractor that ate belts every month. Turns out there was a 3/4" pulley on the mower deck and a 5/8 on the transmission clutch. Obviously the mower deck was not the original. Check to see if either of the pulleys have notches or scrapes that could lead to belt shearing. New pulleys or polish your own on a mill.

Another option would be to replace with a double headed pulley set and run 2 belts.

If this tractor has a Kohler engine, the problem may be that you are running the motor too low in rpm. Kohlers are know to 'chug' their drivelines because they tend to have very high torque at low rpm. You should be running that motor at high rpm anyways if its air cooled. Always amaizes me to see folks cutting their grass in low gear as slow as the machine will go. You should be running qualifying laps on that thing, especially with the price of gas these days. Just don't outrun the blade tip speed in corners.

 

[alchemysa]

zzvyb6. You make good points. I've improved things on the mower where possible and I've already wound up the rpm's, but ultimately a chunk of wood jammed between the deck and the blades is going to cause problems - and i seem to hit those all too often. It's a centre-chute, rear catcher, mower with counter-rotating blades that gives a very nice finish but is very fussy about what it runs over. (And i have a bad habit of heading into scrub that I should avoid). One other idea I have is to add an extra pound or two of flat steel to the blades to give them a bit more momentum.

Anyway, my concern wasn't really about how to solve my mower problems, it was to hear if you guys had ever successfully fixed ANY kind of drive belts. Sometimes, even when the money is available, a replacement belt can be a long way away.

 

[MasseyWV]

If there are no obvious problems causing the belts to fail (other than debris), replacement belts can sometimes be found at an auto parts store much cheaper than the ones specifically marketed for mowers.

I have never known of anyone who had any success trying to repair a broken belt.

 

[Mundy]

A company I worked for some years ago had replaced the belts on the walk behind concrete saw with an industrial adjustable belt. We would buy the pieces at a place called Manufacture supply. the belt was made up of pieces about 26mm long. They were shaped like an arrow attached to a loop <-o. when they broke you would just replace the one thet broke.
I have seen these belts on large break presses and other industrial equipment and they have always been red. The arrow is inserted through the loop in front of it and so on. They were very handy as walk behind concrete sawing is very hard on belts, the concrete likes to move and bind the blade like your pieces of wood are doing.

Maybe omeone here will know the name of the belt or a source for them.

 

[MrJimi]

A mower belt is different than a normal V belt, I have found a good selection at AutoZone and great prices and in your situation, I would get a few at one time and save a few trips to the belt store and something has to be eating your belts. I get over 5 years on one belt !!

 

[alchemysa]

A company I worked for some years ago had replaced the belts on the walk behind concrete saw with an industrial adjustable belt.Maybe omeone here will know the name of the belt or a source for them.

Very interesting. I Googled 'adjustable drive belts' and came up with..
Polyurethane Adjustable V-Belt
Not really a bad price either compared to what I've spent on 73 inch belts over the years.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

So is there a reasonable way to put some sort of shield in there to prevent some of that debris to get in there to the belt? And for the love of God quit driving over things you aren't supposed to?
"And i have a bad habit of heading into scrub that I should avoid"

 

[allenr]

Never successfully repaired a belt.

Have used an adjustable belt similar to the one you provided a link to, but red like the one Mundy referred to. However it has a rivet in one link to push through a hole in the next.

Handy for places where you need to dismantle a lot of gear to fit a normal V- belt but don't think you'd expect to put a lot of power through it.

I've found Carlisle Super II (formerly Dayco, made in the USA) belts stand up to hard use much better than any others, they have reinforcing threads right to the bottom of the V.

MC & DP Grocke in Tanunda sell these, they're BSC Motion Technology bearing suppliers so I'm guessing other BSC agents would have them too.

 

[alchemysa]

A mower belt is different than a normal V belt, I have found a good selection at AutoZone and great prices and in your situation, I would get a few at one time and save a few trips to the belt store and something has to be eating your belts. I get over 5 years on one belt !!

Well I've gone through about 6 or 7 belts in 5 years. (And the mower only gets used about once a month.) I think the basic problem is that theres only about a half inch gap between the blade tip and the deck. Even relatively small sticks can get jammed. I should take another 1/4 inch off the blades. And maybe the next belt I get should be an inch longer to give a bit more slip.