Ideas for repairing drive belts.

[Treemonkey1000]

Ok I had misunderstood where the chunks of wood were getting wedged in. I thought they were getting on top of the deck into the belt system. I take it the blades are good and sharp? If you do try to shorten the blades make sure you get them balanced pretty good. Otherwise the vibration is going to wear out your bearings in a hurry. I would think if you lengthened your belt that might create more slippage and heat?
Is any of the metal work underneath in the mowing deck bent up where it is causing the small gap?

 

[Danno1]

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Go to www.mcmastercarr.com and type "v belt" into the search block. Scroll down near the bottom of the page and you will see the twist lock v-belts in various widths. (better selection than Small Parts)

It seems that the factory splices are vulcanized, which you're not going to be able to do at home.

Check out the v-belt splices on this site:

Fasteners

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[Mundy]

The belt you found on google looks about the same as what I described but black rather than red. They were pretty tough and I think even gave you a few more seconds to shut things down when the blade bound before the pully burned a flat spot in them. And best of all the broken section could be replaced in the field. They are not cheap but what is now a days.

 

[Mundy]

Just re read the link. The one shown is black but the text says color is Red.

 

[ampsucker]

you can't shorten the blades without leaving a gap of uncut grass unless your blades have significant overlap.

have you considered adjusting the engagement clutch/spring to put less tension on the belts so they slip when the blades get bound up rather than breaking? i think you could hear it slipping and disengage very quickly before you burned up a belt in this manner.

you could also throttle down to get less rpm when hitting the brush. that might kill the engine before breaking a belt.

sounds like you need a tougher belt/pulley system or a cheap, convenient source of disposable ones.

no, i, nor anyone i know, has ever sucessfully repaired a broken belt. i would like to see a before and after photo of one done with electrical tape, though. just for grins... ;-)

good luck.

 

[studor]

The short answer is yes you can successfully splice the belt -- but --it takes at least a couple of inches on either end to create the splice (tapered or v groove) so you are too short for your current application after the splice. Given that you are trying to repair a belt that broke due to friction or stretch, it will not be as strong as the original even though the splice might be. Also @ about $60 an hour labour cost, the cost of splicing the belt rapidly out does the cost of a new belt. So even though I could get my belts spliced professionally in a shop for free -- I do not. Try and find a kevlar belt of the right dimensions and buy two. My Craftsman mower deck would go through a belt a season (and sometimes a spindle) as my wife tried to shorten rocks in a our yard. Found a kevlar belt at a farm supply that was cheaper than the standards and is 3/8" shorter -- have not replaced in over three seasons

 

[alchemysa]

you can't shorten the blades without leaving a gap of uncut grass unless your blades have significant overlap.
i, nor anyone i know, has ever sucessfully repaired a broken belt. i would like to see a before and after photo of one done with electrical tape, though. just for grins... ;-)good luck.

Yep, the overlap issue was one reason I've never got serious about shortening the blades. That, and I didn't want to upset the aerodynamics under the deck. But I think a 1/4 inch off shouldn't be too much.

As for repairing the belt... I feel a challenge coming on here. I wish I'd kept all those busted belts. I'll let you know how it goes. (Hey, I'm not simply going to wrap electrical tape around it!)

 

[art]

I've only seen pic's of those decks. I haven't looked close at them but they must not run the normal(for us) double V backed belts.

 

[Pooh_Bear]

You can cut half lap joints on each end of the broken belt
and then sew the ends together using upholstry thread.
But if all you are wanting to do is have a belt ready just
in case you break one then buy a spare to keep around.

I solved the problem using two different methods.
First, I started buying belts with a one year guarantee.
That way I only needed to buy one belt per year.
After a couple of years of doing it that way
I did some inspecting of the pulley system on my
mower deck. I replaced 3 pulleys. Two idler pulleys
and the big main pulley (rear finish mower). The big
pulley was worn to the point of being razor sharp.
Since I replaced the pulleys, I haven't had a problem.

Not exceeding the design limits of the equipment would help a lot.

Pooh Bear

 

[AlanB]

Is your tensioner spring loaded on that belt?

I would not consider shortening my blades, because however much you shorten, will probably double the overlap issue.

I might consider opening up the deck a bit, but find it hard to believe it is needed.

My experience has been, if I get a mower eating belts, something else has gone wrong with pulleys etc.

If I was seeing sticks wedged in blades I would be verifying correct blades for the deck application.

I don't believe I have ever had a stick wedge one of our blades while mowing.