L118 blade-brake noise & blades spin with PTO off?

[ken42]

Hi all,

I have a strange problem I'm hoping someone here can help figure out...

Root cause... ;-)
My daughter hit a tree root with our L118. The RH blade lodged in the
root and was bent, and the belt got smoked a bit. I had to remove the
deck to get it un-stuck (couldn't drive forward or back & couldn't
engage the blades - just smoked the belt even more). While removing
the deck, I damaged the PTO cable.

Repairs so far...
I've replaced both blades, the belt, the PTO cable, and checked
adjustment of the belt, PTO cable and deck height. Everything SEEMS
okay, with a couple of exceptions: A) The bottom of the deck
discharge opening is bent slightly up from being wedged against the
root & blade, resulting in the blade coming even with the bottom of
the deck at that spot (rather than being recessed 1/2" inside the
deck); B) When the deck is raised with the PTO off, the belt starts
to engage slightly causing the blades to turn just a bit, and making
noise from the blade-brake.

"A" I think I can live with - will maybe try bending it back once
everything else is working correctly.

"B" seems like a safety problem, and definitely not the way it worked
before the accident.

I have checked and re-checked the PTO cable adjustment. Right now, I
have it as loose as it will go and there is plenty of slack in the PTO
cable when disengaged, yet the belt still manages to turn one or both
blades.

I have checked and re-checked the blade-brake adjustments. The brakes
do NOT apply much force when engaged - I would have expected a lot
more braking. But the adjustment nuts are out far enough so that the
brakes are not restrained from contact with the sheaves with the PTO
off. I lubricated the springs & pivot-points thinking that would
allow the brakes to apply more force, but I can't tell any difference -
maybe a little better braking on the RH sheave. With the mower deck
fully lowered, the blades stop just barely within the 5-seconds after
disengaging the PTO, as specified in the Operator Manual. Just barely.

The Operator Manual says to adjust the belt tension by adjusting the
PTO cable - I don't see any other way to adjust belt tension.

Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks!
Ken

 

[Engine_Tech]

Since you have a new belt, it may be a bit sticky and grabby. Engage your PTO and mow or drive around for 30-min or so. That will break in and glaze the belt over and get rid of any sticky parts. Once that is done, it will disengage better.

Also make sure the belt guide at the engine did not get bent out of shape. If so, the belt may not expand properly around the pulley when disengaged, thus dragging.

 

[shot_gun]

Also check the pivot for the idler that tightens the belt on the deck. They are notorious for sticking in a half open/closed position. Usually you can grab it with your hand and push it back into a all the way open position. If this is the case take the bolt out of the center and clean lubricate it. Good luck

 

[ken42]

S_G and E_T,

Thanks very much for the advice! You were both right on.

One leg of the belt guide under the engine was bent in a little keeping the belt closer to the pulley on one side even with PTO disengaged. I bent it to match the other leg.

I disassembled the idler pivot and also the spring-pivot for the RH sheave brake (LH sheave brake moved freely but RH was sticky). Cleaned, lubed and reassembled. The whole mechanism worked more smoothly and returned closer to the limit when disengaging the PTO.

I also found that the return-spring on the idler pivot was about 1/2" too long to fully move to the limit when disengaging the PTO, so I shortened (bent the ends of) the spring so it now pulls the pivot arm all the way to the stop.

Now with everything reassembled and the deck reattached, the PTO works perfectly! And the blade-brakes are working better with the sheaves stopping after about 3.5 seconds instead of 5 seconds after the PTO is disengaged. I am HAPPY!

Thank you SO much!

Ken