ZF 50 Electric clutch or belts slipping???

[Sigma]

Z Force 50, 1 year old with about 40 hours.

I've noticed that when I engage the electric PTO for the mowing deck it seems to take a long time for the blades to reach operating speed. Also when mowing tall grass I have to slow way down to prevent the mower from slipping.

Over the winter I sharpened the blades and cleaned the deck out, so I thought maybe I got some grease on a belt.

I've sprayed the main deck belt with belt dressing, but this didn't seem to help.

Could the electric clutch be slipping? How could I check that?

Thanks for any input or advise where to look for info.

Greg.

 

[Rhoderman]

On my 2042, I had issues with the blades not coming up to speed if the deck was at a higher setting. When it's lower, it puts a hair more tension on the belts due to the geometry of the raise/lower action.

I was almost ready to take it to the dealer when I noticed that the deck belt (goes around the idler and blade pulleys) was loose when the deck was up. The arm that is under spring tension isn't all that great of a design. When they tighten down the arm pivot bolt, it tightens up the arm pivot. I backed the bolt off a bit and greased the pivot point well. Now the arm can swing all the way like it should, and the belts stay tight.

For the clutch, that's a hard one, unless you have marking paint and a strobe light. Or, you could wait it out. If it's slipping, you'll know soon enough...

Lower your deck all the way and engage the PTO. Run it up, idle it down, and shut off the PTO and the engine. Then raise the deck to it's highest setting and check the tension on the blade belt. If it's loose, you may be on to it.

Jim

ps - just thought of something: use a timing light to watch the clutch in a dimly lit area. A chalk mark on the driven part shouldn't move with respect to the engine fire cycle since the clutch is on the main shaft.

 

[Sigma]

In the lowest setting it doesn't slip. As the deck is raised, the more it slips. Apparently, it isn't the clutch. I need to get more tension on the belt at the higher setting.

Thanks, for the input Rhoderman.

As time allows, I will experiment with getting the belt tighter.

 

[Rhoderman]

Take the deck out from under it and pull the belt off the deck. Work the tension arm back and forth with the tension spring unloaded. If it's stiff, you should be able to loosen the pivot bolt about 1/16 of a turn to free it up.

 

[Sigma]

ok I found the problem. The belt running from the PTO to the deck was running on the wrong side of the idler pulley. I could not find a diagram anywhere (in the manual or illustrated parts list) apparently the correct route should have been obvious.

Thanks for the posts Rhoderman.