New Holland 930B Mower Belt Issue

[Welshman]

Hello,
I've been reading these forums for some time, but this is my first post. I bought a new New Holland 930B 72" finish mower, less than 2 years ago, and like it. Last spring, it threw the blade drive belt, and ordered a replacement (NH# 86514532). To make a very long story short, the new belt, and several others, is about 1 inch too short. My dealer tells me that NH is aware of the problem, but so far, hasn't resolved it.
I'm not looking for repair or modification advice, I want to find out if there is anyone else who has experienced this issue, and if there are any NH "Pro's" out there who know about it.
Thanks.

 

[zzvyb6]

Check to see if you have the right driven pulley on the gearbox spindle. its common with the 48" mower. Maybe you have the 60" pulley on there by mistake.

 

[Welshman]

Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify, are you saying it is/was "common" for the factory to put on the wrong pulley, and if so, how did the factory installed belts fit? Do you have any idea what the pulley size differences are?

 

[zzvyb6]

All I did was to inspect the mower parts list for this model mower. It shows a common pulley for 48 and 72. If you had the oem belt you can compare the old with the new to see what the lengths are. Could be that the belts were made wrong or the guy who puts them on has 3 arms. Even the part number diagram could be wrong.

I know myself that its often the belt routing that is the cause of this problem. I've even seen belt routing diagrams wrong. Try again to put it on, remembering that the blades all rotate the same way. If they are not going to rotate the same by the way you are trying to load the belt, you have it misrouted. Before you engage the spring loaded idler, there ought to be plenty of belt to contend with. Since these idlers have idler pin holes in many places, a change may be in order. Could be that there was a belt clearance problem and a belt size was changed to prevent slapping issues.

 

[Welshman]

Thanks again for your reply. Yes, the belts are made wrong - New Holland admits this; they are about an inch short. They thought it was with one date code only, but that has turned out not to be the case. I'm probably going to have to go to an aftermarket belt. I just wanted to see if I could find out how widespread this problem is, and if ther were any NH parts/tech people on this forum, to discuss it. When you call NH customer service, they tell you that you must work through the dealer. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be providing much info to the dealer.
My original belt was shredded, so I can't compare it to the new one; all we're going by is spec. length. I am now going to try and find out, based on your thought, what the pulley diameters are supposed to be.

 

[RickB]

Thanks again for your reply. Yes, the belts are made wrong - New Holland admits this; they are about an inch short. They thought it was with one date code only, but that has turned out not to be the case. I'm probably going to have to go to an aftermarket belt. I just wanted to see if I could find out how widespread this problem is, and if ther were any NH parts/tech people on this forum, to discuss it. When you call NH customer service, they tell you that you must work through the dealer. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be providing much info to the dealer.
My original belt was shredded, so I can't compare it to the new one; all we're going by is spec. length. I am now going to try and find out, based on your thought, what the pulley diameters are supposed to be.

Any competent parts manager can request a QC inspection of parts depot stock when ordering. Whether it gets properly done or not can be spotty. One would think depot stock would have already been checked if there is a known problem.

 

[Welshman]

Thanks for your response. I absolutely agree with you. The dealer parts man did request verification before shipment, but they still got the short belts. This is one reason I've been frustrated.
I see by your profile that you work at a NH dealership. Any chance you can ask about this issue (Belt# 86514532 - Mower 930B 72"), in your area? It seems that there is a weak link in the chain here locally.

 

[Welshman]

Well, I picked up my rebuilt blade spindle assembly from the dealer today (this is the third time!). The dealer has been very good about it (covered under warranty), but they are almost as frustrated about it as I am. Apparently, still no answers from New Holland.
The dealer had previously moved the belt tensioner link anchor point over two inches in (closer), but the belt is still too tight. I've now fabricated a longer link and installed it, so I'll try that. I tried to verify the drive pulley diameter, as suggested by zzvyb6, but NH gave the dealer an obviously wrong spec. (2 inches larger than what I have, in which case the belt wouldn't fit at all).
RickB, any comments?

 

[RickB]

RickB, any comments?

Unfortunately I have been distracted by family health issues and fulfilling basic responsibilities at the dealership. No input at this time.

 

[Welshman]

Update:
The rebuilt spindle failed again. The dealer called me a couple of days later, to tell me that a Rep from New Holland had contacted them and said to get the mower in again to see if they could resolve the problem, all under warranty. I took it in, and they ordered a complete new spindle assembly, and a new belt. The new spindle is designed much differently from the original, and I'm told the original has been dicontinued, but nobody seems to know why. The spindle was replaced, but, again, the belt was too short.
I'm using my homemade extended tension link, the dealer- modified link anchor, and am "experimenting" with belt tension settings. The New Holland Rep apparently told the dealer he doesn't know why the belts won't fit, and I guess that's that. It's really hard to believe that I'm the only one with this problem.
I'm mowing again, at least for now, and will keep you advised.
Does anyone know how to decipher a manufacture date from the full model number, or product I.D.?