Mowing What size belt for Ford flail mower 22-124 / 907

[chrislee]

Howdy All,

Our church just purchased a the Ford 22-14 flail mower. It started out great but then the belt broke off as we were testing the best speed combination to cut with. I've read on this forum that folks recommend a C-52 belt with 7/8 Inch Top Width X 56 Inch Outside Measurement. I've also read that folks suggest B with 5/8 top width type belts (and most agree that kevlar is the way to for durability). I can't find a kevlar C-52 belt but can find it in the smaller B sizes.

So, what belt size should I order? C-52 or something similar in the B range. If we go with B, should the overall outside measurement of the belt be different.

Also, what speed do you good folk mow with. In our test run, it did great mowing in 1st-Low but that'll make for a long day mowing the church grounds and we wanted to go in 3rd-Low. Our tractor is a Massey Ferguson 135.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

New Holland's web site shows a .92"W X 57.00"L belt fits your 907 mower and all of their other 907 mowers.

 

[chrislee]

New Holland's web site shows a .92"W X 57.00"L belt fits your 907 mower and all of their other 907 mowers.

Thanks for the reply. This seems different than what others have reported using. We put a 5/8 54" belt on it yesterday to test out how well it can mow. It was tight getting the belt on but I noticed it smoking and slipping at times when mowing. It appears that the tensioner spring is losing it's tension and the belt may be rubbing against it at times.

How can one get the tension right? It seems like if we can get the belt and tension right, we'll have a good mower but until then it's not really usable.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[jimmysisson]

The wider belt will be longer as it hits higher in the pulley groove. It may have more grip as well. You should probably try it with the spec'd belt before declaring it no good. Spring may be weak, and is probably cheap, too.
Also I find the flail you have to mow slower ground speed to get the fine cut. Depending on what I'm cutting, my Alamo SHD 88 requires low range (out of three) third ( out of four). I can use med range 1 with the 5' bush hog. Tho it is slower the flail is much wider so cut time is reduced and appearance is better. It's a fine-cut flail, 108 pair of knives. YMMV.
Jim

 

[chrislee]

So, would you recommend getting the .92" width belt or the 7/8" C-52 that other folks have recommended in other threads? I believe the wider belt is the way to go but it seems to be more difficult in finding a belt of that size online (whereas the C-52 can be found at numerous places online).

As to cutting speed, I guess I'll need to go slow as the field is thick and about 1' high. Once it's done, I wonder if subsequent mowing can be done quicker?