I built a mini brush hog mounted on the fel of my Kubota. It is a Toro 36 inch 2 blade deck, driven by a Kawasaki FC420v engine. It works great except sometimes it "squeals like a stuck pig" when the blades are engaged. All moving parts are fine on the mower. I spun the spindles up with a drill, tried a new electric clutch and the idler pulley bearing is smooth and quiet. The strange part is it will be fine for a while, then squeal for a while. Nothing ever gets hot, just makes an awful sound. Sure would like to fix it!
Roadworthy
Elite Member
As a quick fix you could try some automotive belt dressing on your drive belt. It may be slipping under load.
alexpops
Veteran Member
Is the belt the right size for all your pulleys? from the pics, it looks like only half the belt is engaging, & that looks shiny like it's been slipping. PTO clutch pulley smaller than deck pulleys?
Well, the noise comes without load on the mower, even at an idle.
oldnslo
Super Member
Does the squeal happen when you are mowing or just sitting stationary with deck running or both?
Does this happen with just the engine running without the deck engaged?
Does this happen with just the engine running without the deck engaged?
Midniteoyl
Super Member
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What are the size of the blades? Could it be the blade tips syncing and rubbing then unsyncing again?
Even if the right size, a non-concentric center hole, or slop in the hole or spindle would also allow it to happen.
The spindle pulley we can see doesn't look mounted normally.
Even if the right size, a non-concentric center hole, or slop in the hole or spindle would also allow it to happen.
The spindle pulley we can see doesn't look mounted normally.
It can happen anytime the clutch is powered (blades spinning)
The blades are the correct size and not interfering with each other. The spacers stored on top are for setting the blade height.
Any good pics of the belt drive from the top? From here, the location of your tension / adjuster pulley doesn't seem ideal to me. It is very close to both the spindle and drive pulley. Your only option this way is to stress the belt and draw it too deep into the vee. Do you also have a spring tension pulley in the drive?
oldnslo
Super Member
If only happens when blades are spinning would definitely point towards the deck vs motor. I would start looking very, very closely at the pulleys and belts for any signs of strange wear. A pulley face slightly touching something metal could squeal.
Midniteoyl
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Are the pulley keys still good? Otherwise gotta be a bearing.
alexpops
Veteran Member
If you're positive it's not belt slippage, got to agree with @Midniteoyl. You said that the idler bearing is good, so check the spindle bearings (especially if they are of the sealed, "lifetime lube" variety).
I am pretty sure it is not belt related since it sounds like metal to metal. I think if it happens again I will let it run until something fails
I took the belt off, used a drill with a socket to spin the spindles up, both sounded smooth and quiet.
Midniteoyl
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You're taking load off the bearings when you do that. Free spinning a bearing usually detects very bad bearings and may look ok until you throw that side load on them. And don't forget the idler bearing.
There's not much else it could be if the pulleys and clutch are not slipping.
