ZT deck belt frayed.

   / ZT deck belt frayed.
  • Thread Starter
#21  
Wife just got off the phone with the dealer. He says he could not find anything wrong with it. He said maybe I ran over a stick or a pine cone and messed up the belt. Twice. (Yes, that sounds pretty lame to me too). So I'm guessing he's going to charge me for belt and labor.

If it eats another belt I'm not sure what else I can do.

I may try contacting Cub Cadet but I've heard that their customer service is pretty bad (like everyone else's these days).

I don't think I can sell it to someone else in good conscience. I might have to sell it as-is and tell the buyer about the issue but I'll take a beating on it.

I'll ask the dealer if he'd take it in trade but I'd just be buying another Cub Cadet.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed. #22  
Worked on a S version which the steering wheel a couple of years ago that the owner was having issues with the belt getting damaged and getting burned off. What ended up being the issue was when the deck was lowered all the way down and the deck was engaged, the belt would jerk/jump and get stuck between the top of the idler pulley and the belt guide on the tension arm on the left pulley as you are setting on the seat.

Would just hang enough to jam the belt but wasn't enough room to wedge the belt between the pulley and the belt guide. Had to have an assistance that was watching closely to actually catch it because as soon as the PTO was disengaged it would go back to normal.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed.
  • Thread Starter
#23  
I will look into that. I'll have to get my wife to be on the mower to do it. I'm assuming this was fairly easy to see happen?

The thing is, I have never engaged the PTO with the deck all the way down. I might have done it with the deck at the highest setting but never at the lowest. In fact, it stays between 2.5 and 3.5 inches.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed. #24  
May take a few attempts but I will bet you will see where the problem is coming from. Middle settings should keep the belt in the center of the idler pulleys. I suspect it could be a belt slap issue against one of the idler pulley belt guides.
 
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   / ZT deck belt frayed.
  • Thread Starter
#25  
What can be done about that? They do not appear to be adjustable.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed. #26  
Engaging at a lower speed can minimize it but not eliminate it. The S version that I worked on came down to making a twist adjustment on the tension are and informing the customer not to engage the deck with it all the way down. He could engage and then lower and never had a problem, but if engaged at a low setting would rip the belt in two. Have a customer with an older husqvarna 54 inch that has a belt guide that is flat on top to bolt to the idler pulley and then turns downward as a 5/16 rod with the end sticking about 1/4 inch through a hole in the idler arm for correct positioning. And belt slap on that one will rip the belt guide out of the hole and put a 90 degree bend in the guide
 
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   / ZT deck belt frayed. #28  
Hope you get this figured out. I just got my ZT and nearly bought a Cub Cadet; but my local CC is useless and the savings over the Bad Boy were not enough to risk it.

I am sure it is a mechanical issue that is fixable but finding it may be challenging. BTW, I might buy some "cheap" belts until it gets figured out. Trashing $60 belts will get painful and I am not buying that a cheap belt will only last a few hours.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed. #29  
Richard001 said:
A rubber shock absorber to limit the tensioning pulley travel.
Click to expand...
Would help but would have to be something that could be easily removed when replacing the belt. most of the idler arms really don't move that much with deck engagement unless the blades are already under a load. A lot of it is the 2.5-3 foot distance from the engine pulley to the idler arm pulley that allows for a pretty good whip effect of the belt. I have seen both the tension side and the slack side of the belt between the deck and engine pulley slap together on engagement on some mowers.
 
   / ZT deck belt frayed. #30  
RANDYT said:
Would help but would have to be something that could be easily removed when replacing the belt. most of the idler arms really don't move that much with deck engagement unless the blades are already under a load. A lot of it is the 2.5-3 foot distance from the engine pulley to the idler arm pulley that allows for a pretty good whip effect of the belt. I have seen both the tension side and the slack side of the belt between the deck and engine pulley slap together on engagement on some mowers.
Click to expand...
Yep, belt stretch is amazing. Most people would not guess that the belts stretch that much.
 
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