Land Pride FDR2560, Belt will not stay on

[Beedo]

I bought a Land Pride FDR 2560 finishing mower recently, used, I cannot keep the belt on the mower. I see from the parts drawing that the tensioning setup on the mower doesn't exactly match the Land Pride manual. Clearly the previous owner changed out some of the parts with stuff he bought at the hardware store. It is a minor change but I'm am restoring those to factory parts (all in the tensioner assembly). I don't know that the correct belt is on it so that is also on order.

I noticed that every time the belt fell off, it was because the tensioning spring unhooked from the eye-bolt/chain. There is some pretty good flutter in the belt and the tensioning pulley is also shaking a lot along with the tensioning spring. It is not an especially long belt run maybe 24" pulley-to-pulley but I'm surprised that Land Pride didn't put some kind of keeper on the deck. My 60" Kubota min-mount mower has a 3/8" pin welded to the deck which is very close to the belt (but it is a much longer belt run).

I tightened the belt tension to beyond what I thought was a good idea and the belt didn't jump off, but it tore the belt apart after running a few minutes. Everything moves freely the blade spindles and the idler pulley seems in good shape (one spindle is noiser than the other two), the tensioning pulley is a little loose moving up and down (the direction it shouldn't move) but the idler seems wide enough to accommodate the belt thickness and some reasonable vertical movement.

Any ideas what is going on here? Also, how much tension should be on the belt? It never seemed really critical on the Kubota and it's been operating for 30 years on the belt that came with it. I'd appreciate anyone's help.

 

[chim]

...........................Clearly the previous owner changed out some of the parts with stuff he bought at the hardware store.......................................


.............................Any ideas what is going on here?...................................

Looks like you had it figured out early in your post. Although nothing is impossible, very few implement buyers would be successful swapping out factory parts with things found in a hardware store. My guess is that when you make the non-factory parts go away the problems will go away too.

 

[Beedo]

Chim you are correct! Good news is that it was only the belt and how the previous owner cobbled up a solution for the tensioner was problematic. Replacing both solved the problem for about $30. The place called the V-Belt Guys have what appears to be a good belt, only time will tell. Next time I drive to Philly you're kind of on the way. I'll buy coffee and doughnut or a beer

 

[chim]

Always like to hear a success story. Congrats!

 

[Dave M7040]

Chim you are correct! Good news is that it was only the belt and how the previous owner cobbled up a solution for the tensioner was problematic. Replacing both solved the problem for about $30. The place called the V-Belt Guys have what appears to be a good belt, only time will tell. Next time I drive to Philly you're kind of on the way. I'll buy coffee and doughnut or a beer

I offer this from a previous post about the importance of buying V belts with Kevlar for mower decks.

Re: Land Pride FDR1660 Mowing Deck Belt Replacement

You need to appreciate the critical number in the belt description is the letter P standing for Kevlar.

You need to get a belt with something like BP120 not B120.

Youtube has lots of videos on how to measure your existing belt so you can start searching for one using the generic descriptor which all manufactures use in addition to their own part number,
How to Measure V-Belts - YouTube
How to Measure V-Belts - YouTube

A Gates, Dayco, Carlisle, BP120 will all be the same.

If you have been using belts without the letter P, then they will be failing frequently when used on mower decks.

My Landpride FDR2572 uses a BP160 while my Cub Cadet uses an AP103.

The letters A and B designate belt width as you will learn in the youtube video.

Dave M7040