Widow with a Cub

[Eliza]

This my first post. I have searched but cannot find the information I need. I grew up on a farm and know some about handling tractors and machinery but know nothing about the mechanics of such. I have been widowed for 12 years and depend on friends & neighbors. Anyway my dilemma is this. I recently bought a used Cub Cadet 5252E with 50 hours on it. It has a 60" deck. It soon began throwing the belt off. My neighbor said the belt was bad so I bought a new one. After he put it on, it immediately threw it off. Tried different speeds and heights to no avail. I am just sick. My neighbor then suggested I buy a finish mower. He has one with a bigger tractor. His lawn is beautiful. The Cub Cadet website says a 5' finish mower is fine. When I shopped around I talked to many "experts". 3 have said yes a 5' will work. 4 have said I had better not use one over 4'. The reasoning was that with the electric clutch on the PTO, a 5' was too much and could harm my tractor. I can't afford to buy another or spend a lot on a repair bill. You all seem very knowledgable. Any advice? I do appreciate it.
Eliza

 

[Charlesaf3]

I don't have much knowledge, but my first guess is that it would be cheaper to repair the deck then buy a new mower...

As for throwing the belt, an out of alignment shaft? Hopefully someone more knowledgable will weigh in.

Always helpful if you have where you are under your name by the way.

 

[zzvyb6]

Where are you located? Maybe someone is nearby to help you directly. If not:

Is it the belt running the blades or the belt going from the engine/transmission to the main deck pulley?

Did you buy it from a dealer or an individual? I had a Simplicity that kept tossing drive belts off. Root cause was that the deck was not the one that came with the tractor. The pulley on the transmission (3/4") was not the same size as the one on the deck (5/8") so they were not happy with each other.

Can you provide us with a picture of the side and front view of your tractor with the deck in cutting possition? We can then check to see if anything is misaligned.

Is the belt cut or nicked in any place(s) as if there's an interference or a nicked pulley in the driveline.

Is there a bent or broken latch on the belt tensioner than releases unintensionally?

I presume you have the correct belt length and the correct routing of the belt on its path and good clearences for it to travel on.

Stay in touch. Pictures are worth a lot in this case.

 

[zzvyb6]

OK Update:

You can see a parts list at

http://www.messicks.com/cubparts.aspx?ID=2797&model=5252E Tractor S/N 1J015G & Before

Your 5252E ought to be a 25hp tractor with a 2000 rpm mid and 540 rpm rear pto. It comes with a 60" deck. For example, I run an 84" Landpride rear finish mower on the same power for lawn mowing. My JD F935 easily runs a 72" deck on 22 hp. So you could beg borrow or steal a rear finish mower to cut the grass until the mid-pto powered deck gets fixed and working.

The parts diagram shows a 133" vbelt part #754-3103. It's a shaft drive gearbox. The diagram also shows the belt routing. My first guess's now are that you have a bent or worn idler shaft that's causing the belt to jump off, the wrong belt length, leading to insufficient restraint tension, or a misrouted belt. Do all the blades turn the same way when you turn the mid-pto shaft by hand (engine off, of course). With the covers off, see if it will stay on long enough to see how much belt flutter or pully wobbling is going on

 

[OhioGuy]

Eliza,

The early 5252's has the problem you are describing and I believe they added another idler pulley to correct it.

I own a 5252 with the 60 deck, it's been very reliable.

I'll try and post a picture of the additional pulley, actually, you may be able to search for 5252 and find the original posts here about this exact problem.

My 52 has been a really good, reliable tractor.

Hope you can get some help from the posts.

If you can't locate the pictures. I'll repost them.

Curt

 

[OhioGuy]

Eliza,

Look at the third page of this thread for the added pulley.
By the way, the Mid Mount Mower is so much easier for most people to operate than a rear finish.

Curt "Ohioguy"

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/cub-cadet/61374-cub-5000-mmm-eating-belts-3.html?highlight=5252