ZT deck belt frayed.

[N80]

I have a new Cub Cadet ZT2 54" zero turn. It has about 8 hours on it. The deck belt came off of the center spindle pulley twice. I'm pretty sure that I did something wrong the first time; either shut the engine off with the PTO engaged or starting with it engaged. Not sure. Put it back on and mowed a lot with no problems. The second time I have no idea what happened but again it came off of the center spindle pulley. Put it back on and it has not come off again since then. Everything is perfect. But, both times I continued to mow for a moment after it came off because it was still driving the outboard spindles so I did not notice immediately. So the original belt was very frayed.

When I did the recommended 5 hour maintenance I went ahead and replaced the deck belt. I got a cheap $20 belt. (The Cub Cadet replacement belt is $60-$80 dollars). So for the last 3 hours of use time it has performed perfectly. Mows great. No unusual noises. But, I looked under there today and the new belt is frayed. Mostly on the lower (closer to the ground) edge of the belt but some on the upper edge as well. The contact surfaces of the belt look fine. I cannot see any obvious alignment issues with the various pulleys. Several pulleys have belt retainers on them. I'd heard of issues with those being bent and contacting belts but mine are straight with no clearance issues.

The mower is new so I can take it back to the dealer. But that's a 30-40 minute trip plus time without the mower and would rather not if I don't have to. Again, it is performing perfectly.

So I have two questions: 1) Are there simple things I should look for (this is my first ZT or riding mower of any kind). 2) Is it possible that a $20 belt is just going to fray at the edges.

Any help appreicated.

 

[5030]

Needs a Kevlar reinforced belt. Spend the money and quit being cheap.

 

[RandyT]

MTD and JD products don't tend to work well with standard off the shelf belts.. Need OEM or OEM style belts due to the unique cut angle and width.

 

[N80]

Too Scottish to quit being cheap.

 

[Richard001]

If I understand the OP, he only replaced the original belt because it became frayed after only 8 hours. We have to believe that the original belt was/is one of those expensive belts. So just replacing it with another expensive belt is not the answer.

He needs to find what is causing the problem. It appears that this mower was purchased at a dealer, not a box store, however the dealer could have assembled it incorrectly.

 

[N80]

If I understand the OP, he only replaced the original belt because it became frayed after only 8 hours.

Sorry I was confusing. The original belt was frayed, I believe, because it came off the center spindle pulley twice early on and rubbed on the center spindle shaft. After that it stayed on and functioned properly for nearly 5 hours. I only replaced it because it looked so bad. Why it came off the first two times is unknown. (Is it possible that it was frayed before it came off the first time? I suppose so.)

The second belt was the cheap one. It has 3 hours on it and functions properly. It has never come off. No noise, no burning smell, cutting properly etc. It is just frayed.

So yes, I feel like there is a problem somewhere but that problem is not belts coming off any longer. I wonder, since the two times it came off it came off the center spindle pulley if that one is the culprit? I cannot find anything wrong with it and it appears properly aligned.

The tension arm is functioning normally.

Anyway, at this point I will continue to run this cheap belt unless I begin to see issues. I will monitor it closely. I will have an OEM belt ready just in case. If I have to go to the OEM belt and it frays I will take it back to the dealer if it is still under warranty. I'll have to monitor that as well.

 

[skipmarcy]

Sounds like maybe one of the several pulleys might have had some drag for some reason. Possibly a defective pulley/bearing but more than likely an assembly error. Sometimes it's just putting that 1 flat washer on top of instead of under a bracket upon assembly causing a slight drag on a bearing race, or a cupped washer upside down etc. I would remove all/any deck belt(s) and hand-turn all pulleys for drag or wobble. Also - I notice on my ZT that with the deck all the way down, the belt angle is a little steep as well as at full high adjustment. Lucky for me I cut in the range that has my belt almost perfectly straight. I forgot to flip my tensioner lever back to tight after a deck flip-up cleaning once and cut for a little while before realizing my mistake - it put a little noticeable wear on the belt pretty quick just lacking that spring tension, possibly another thing to check.

 

[Tinhack]

It could be one or more of the pulleys have rough plating. Typically zinc and chromate. Perhaps the OEM cheaped-out and used hot-dipped zinc.

I spend the money up front on good belts. Saves money and time in the long run. I've got about 12 years on my 3-belt flail mower. About the same on my old and now retired Woods ZT mower. Got a new Bad Boy to replace it. It came with good belts.

 

[RjCorazza]

As skipmarcy states, remove all belts and check each spindle and tensioner pulley. My walk behind was chewing up belts and everything seemed fine until I removed the belts and looked at each pulley... The tensioner pulley was separating (2 halves connected with rivits), which was not noticable with the belt on.

 

[N80]

I did check everything when I changed the belt but I did not remove the deck. This time I will remove the deck and check everything out in the open and on both sides.