Ironcraft/Titan/Cosmo FL-165 Flail Mower Belt Drive

[Bigbutler1532]

I recently found an opening in the never-ending rain to do some field mowing with my new flail and sure enough had my first failure (this is perhaps my third real use of the machine). I was mowing between a wood-line and a garden and managed to find an old garden hose someone abandoned there. The hose wrapped around the rotor and before I could react/realize what was happening I had already smoked the belts. After some internet research and failing to cross the belt numbers to anything remotely standard/readily available I threw in the towel and went to the dealer to find they are charging about $41 per belt (the flail needs three). I bought six belts and came home.

Tonight I started the process of changing the belts and noticed a slight bend in the side plate on the mower. I've never run into anything or otherwise exposed the mower to enough trauma for that to have happened since I bought it (new this spring) and I can't find any indication of the bend being anything other then a manufacturing imperfection. That being said, I checked pully alignment and found them fairly out of line. I started to loosen the drive pulley and found the cap screws on the power-lock "collet" to be barely hand tight. I re-aligned the pulleys, tightened all the cap screws (found those on the driven pulley power-lock to be loose as well) and began to install the belts. I found the first belt very difficult to "walk" on to the pulleys but this didn't surprise me too much based on the limited room for adjustment on the pulleys. The second belt went on noticeably easier and I was almost able to put the third belt on without "walking" it. I took all the belts back off and compared them as best as I could and found that they did appear to be different lengths (I know with the drive pulley assembly loose there could be misalignment or "toe-in" if you will that could make them seem to be progressively looser so I scrutinized this). I went through all six belts to find the three that were closest in length and noticed one of the belts the dealer sold me is a different brand then the others.

So, with my long-winded background explanation out of the way, I offer the following questions up to the wisdom of the internet:

• Is $41 per belt typical for flail mowers? I was expecting that to be closer to a price for a set of three.
• I've been told multiple belt assemblies at one time or perhaps for some applications were sold in sets to ensure consistent lengths. Is anyone aware if this is still how it should be done? The dealer has them packaged individually.
• Is there anyone out there with this same machine who has found a good source for these belts? Preferably that doesn't charge $41 per belt but I'd accept that a little easier if I could simply order them in.
• Has anyone successfully used a more standard belt size from Gates or Continental for this machine? I think there's enough adjustment in tighten direction that I could use a slightly longer belt but I haven't tried it yet.
• Is anyone familiar with power-lock pulley arbors? Should I use some blue lock-tite on the cap screws or is this a no-no for some reason?
• Does anyone know how to convince your in-laws to pick up their old garden hoses rather then leaving them for me to find with my equipment years later?

For reference: the belt provided on the machine are "Three V" brand AV13x930Li.

 

[Torvy]

I'm no expert, but you checked it out after eating the hose? May or may not be a rational assumption, but methinks the damage may have been caused by running over debris.

 

[Bigbutler1532]

I'm no expert, but you checked it out after eating the hose? May or may not be a rational assumption, but methinks the damage may have been caused by running over debris.

Yes, everything I describe is after eating the hose. You may be right, but I have a hard time envisioning the hose creating enough resistance/torque to warp the side plate without damaging something else as well. I took another look at it this morning and I suspect the warpage is a product of heat distortion from when they welded the plate to the side of the body. I'm sure the welds were done in a single pass without a whole lot of regard for heat control (I'm not criticizing it just would make sense given the thickness of steel and lack of any need for the side plate to be completely on-plane). I did look at the opposite side plate and found warpage there where the plate is free to move/as you get further from the welds. Photos attached for the curious.

 

[ericm979]

I wouldn't worry about the side plates. They don't need to be all that straight.

$41 a belt! You can likely get good Kevlar V belts for far less than that. All you need to know is the cross section and length, which are easy to measure. I forget where I last ordered belts from but it was a place like https://www.vbeltsupply.com

 

[Bigbutler1532]

I wouldn't worry about the side plates. They don't need to be all that straight.

$41 a belt! You can likely get good Kevlar V belts for far less than that. All you need to know is the cross section and length, which are easy to measure. I forget where I last ordered belts from but it was a place like https://www.vbeltsupply.com

That's what I figured but I've had trouble finding the right length domestically. I think I'll try a slightly longer offering though as it does look like there's room to take up more slack if needed. I'll check out the link - thanks!

 

[Bigbutler1532]

So, I installed the new belts and did a quick fluid check and greasing. Found the grease fitting on the driven pulley side wouldn't take grease so I decided to remove and inspect/clean it. It all but fell off when I put a socket on it. Threads completely stripped. I was irritated but figured that I'll just chase the threads with a tap. Sent a tap in there (by hand) and promptly bottomed out and pulled all the remaining threads out... I look in the hole and found a broken tap in there from manufacturing! Ruined grease fitting now explained. Dealer says 50/50 chance Ironcraft would go good for it and if they did, they'd simply send a replacement part (which would be the whole rotor). So I weigh my options and fix what I have given either way I'm removing the whole rotor on my own time/dime. I managed to drive the old tap deeper in the grease channel (was getting nowhere with removing or drilling it out), removed the rotor, stripped the bearing off, and verified grease flow around the tap to the bearing. When I inspected the opposite bearing I found a set screw floating around in the grease! There is no part that needs a set screw on that end so who knows where that came from! End result: I put it back together and mowed a couple acres without failure.

I may still try for a warranty claim but I don't hold out much hope. Waiting around for weeks to wait for a claim denial seemed foolish when it would be more work on my part to replace the rotor all together. Besides temporary rage at the situation and extra hours of effort, I guess all's well that ends well but I'll be thinking twice about an Ironcraft implement in the future which is a bummer because I've been a fan until now.

Poor quality pictures for the curious.

 

[DANfromDANVILLE]

So, I installed the new belts and did a quick fluid check and greasing. Found the grease fitting on the driven pulley side wouldn't take grease so I decided to remove and inspect/clean it. It all but fell off when I put a socket on it. Threads completely stripped. I was irritated but figured that I'll just chase the threads with a tap. Sent a tap in there (by hand) and promptly bottomed out and pulled all the remaining threads out... I look in the hole and found a broken tap in there from manufacturing! Ruined grease fitting now explained. Dealer says 50/50 chance Ironcraft would go good for it and if they did, they'd simply send a replacement part (which would be the whole rotor). So I weigh my options and fix what I have given either way I'm removing the whole rotor on my own time/dime. I managed to drive the old tap deeper in the grease channel (was getting nowhere with removing or drilling it out), removed the rotor, stripped the bearing off, and verified grease flow around the tap to the bearing. When I inspected the opposite bearing I found a set screw floating around in the grease! There is no part that needs a set screw on that end so who knows where that came from! End result: I put it back together and mowed a couple acres without failure.

I may still try for a warranty claim but I don't hold out much hope. Waiting around for weeks to wait for a claim denial seemed foolish when it would be more work on my part to replace the rotor all together. Besides temporary rage at the situation and extra hours of effort, I guess all's well that ends well but I'll be thinking twice about an Ironcraft implement in the future which is a bummer because I've been a fan until now.

Poor quality pictures for the curious.

I have the same flail as you (Cosmo FL 165) and ripped through all three belts last weekend. I'm not sure what happened but I smelled burning and a few seconds later the mower stopped. I took out the belts and brought one to NAPA. They were AV 13x930Li. They didn't have exact matches but ordered 3 new imperial measured belts that are close: 924mm long. It's about 36-3/8", only 6mm shorter than what was on it. I figured I could de-tension a bit to make them fit. Trying to put on the belts, I lowered the tensioner as low as it can go. I can not get these on the wheels. I measured the distance with a rope and I'm coming up with between 37" to 38". You said the first one was difficult to walk on. How difficult was it to get your belts on the wheels? What tricks do you use to persuade on a tight belt?

 

[scloutier]

not to hijack this, but I'm looking at my options for a flail mower as well, I was just curious about how you like that Cosmo FL 165 as it's one of my options here .. other being TMG industrial (china made)

thanks