What grease do you use on your zero turn pully's?

[EddieWalker]

Somewhere in the past I got it in my head that Moly Lithium grease was the best for all my tractors. I've been using it for years, and guess it's doing a good job.

My zero turn has three pully's that my blades are attached to. There are two belts that turn the pully's. Just about every time that I start the blades, the belts jump off the pully's. I've replaced the belts, and looked for an issue with the pully's, but it hasn't helped. If I grease the pully's before using it, this usually doesn't happen, but sometimes it still does.

Once I put the belts back on, it never happens again that day.

I read some comments about Lucas Red and Tacky, so I gave it a try to see if it helped. I think it did, but not every time I mow.

This brings up my question. Am I using the wrong grease? Red and Tacky seems to be better then Moly Lithium grease. But is it the best for my mower's pully's, or is there something that is specially made to make they spin more easily so I don't throw the pully's after it's been sitting for a day or a week?

My current thought is that the grease I'm using gets stiff and it's causing he belts to jump off the pully's. Once the grease has started moving, then the pully's are loose again, and the belts remain on the pully's.

 

[kf4uda]

I use this on all my tractors,attachments and Zero turn mower:

X-TRA Heavy Duty Grease – Lucas Oil Products, Inc. – Keep That Engine Alive!

www.lucasoil.com

 

[DK35vince]

I use Wolfs Head lithium grease for everything I own including the zero turns.
GREASES

 

[5030]

Sounds to me like you have a belt alignment issue more than a grease issue.

 

[rgr33]

Not sure if this applies to you Eddie, but my z turn works best when throttle is fully engaged before Pto is engaged

If I try to engage blades at half throttle, it sounds like the belts are not happy

 

[5030]

The zero turn mower I had (and traded on on my Kubota F20 front mount drive shaft mower (no belts, all drive shaft) had a spring loaded belt tensioner on the deck belt as well as the belt that went from the engine pto drive to the deck and I never had any issue with the belts jumping off and I always engaged the deck at the lowest possible engine rpm because engaging the deck with the motor spinning fast just causes the belt to wear out faster, kind of like burning rubber with your car tires.

 

[Yander]

Don't know how many hours is on your mower but it sounds like you have a spindle bearing going bad and wobbling because the bearings are worn and causing a miss-alignment which is tossing the belt.

Perhaps greasing it prior is tightening up the bearing enough to reduce the play in it. I would pull the deck off and check all the bearings for play and replace any that have slop in them or just replace them all

Depending on your bearing setup, you can over grease a spindle bearing so you want to be careful not to do that.

Here is also an interesting video.

I use this on about everything at my place. https://www.ruralking.com/mystik-jt...ease-14-oz-10001200?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1

 

[CaptPat]

I'm having trouble following the idea that not greasing the spindles before use causes the belts to jump off. I grease my spindles every 10 hours of use (per the manual) and in over a decade I've never had a belt jump off the spindle. Maybe something else is amiss here. Maybe a bad bearing but the symptoms don't seem entirely consistent with that, why only at the first start of the day? BTW I've used lithium greases and Red N Tacky, I always engage the PTO at idle and then throttle up.

 

[5030]

I sure like the driveshaft driven deck on the F series Kubota diesel mower but then a Kubota F series diesel mower costs about 3 times what a zero turn gas powered mower costs. A new Kubota F series will set you back around 27 grand.

JD also offers one with I believe a Yanmar diesel engine for about the same price.

If you look, you can find them used a lot less. Most commercial entities have them and sell them used. One thing about any diesel powered mower is that the will be running fine, long after the gas powered ones have had their engines expire plus they are extremely frugal on fuel as well.

The one I traded in on the Kubota had a Kawasaki V twin that was an absolute gas hog, I had to fill it after about every mow. The F series just sips diesel, in fact, when I got it, I topped off the fuel tank and I have not had to add anymore fuel all summer, so far plus the diesel motor has way more grunt (in tall grass) that my Kawasaki ever dreamed of having. it gobbles up even overgrown grass like a hungry beast. I was dumping a 5 gallon can of gasoline in it every time I mowed. That is a distant memory now.

Like I said, not for everyone because the price is pretty steep (even used they command a hefty price) but longevity wise and fuel economy wise, you cannot beat them plus, with thee deck out front instead of underneath, it's real easy to see what you are cutting and they get under low tree branches as well.

My wife still has her ZTR but she rarely uses it anymore. I've been 100% relegated to mowing the yard now and unlike a ZTR, they ride pretty nice, mine came with the optional air ride seat but even the spring ride seat isn't bad.

 

[5030]

Don't know how many hours is on your mower but it sounds like you have a spindle bearing going bad and wobbling because the bearings are worn and causing a miss-alignment which is tossing the belt.

Perhaps greasing it prior is tightening up the bearing enough to reduce the play in it. I would pull the deck off and check all the bearings for play and replace any that have slop in them or just replace them all

Depending on your bearing setup, you can over grease a spindle bearing so you want to be careful not to do that.

Here is also an interesting video.

I use this on about everything at my place. https://www.ruralking.com/mystik-jt...ease-14-oz-10001200?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1

Good video and something I did to my traded in ZTR as well as my wife's ZTR. Keep 'em greased) and remove the inner seal and the will last about forever.

I think having sealed bearings in the spindles is all about planned failure.

FYI, Agri-Supply (ASC) sells replacement spindles for every make of mower, lots less than buying from a dealer. You still have to modify the bearings and add a grease fitting if they don't have one (some do, some don't) and add the weep hole as well. I did get all my replacement blades and parts from them. They sell Oregon blades btw. Still get my wife's blades from them. Have to buy Kubota blades for the F series sadly.