Still trying to get the mower deck right

I took 2 photos using the newest 5/8" x 100" kevlar belt I bought locally.

1.) I am pressing my finger and getting the belt taught and then showing how ( and with no blades engaged ) where it lines up with the midpoint of the smaller idler pulley.

2.) Using a spare small idler pulley, it seems the actual radius is 2" but the belt makes contact at the 1 3/4" point.

a)So an appropriate min. belt length might be 100+ 1 3/4 = 101&3/4" <----- this would fit but be very taught I am guessing, not the best.

b) And for maximum I would say 100" ( this is the belt right now ) + say 2 1/2" = 102&1/2" <--- don't know if this would be too loose?

So some dimension between 101&3/4" AND 102&1/2" seems correct.

So I took the suggestion of Forest and I added some washers and those washers went underneath the small idler pulley and also the large idler pulley it's maybe tough to tell from this photo but it seems like the small idler pulley is tilted away from the plane of the other three pulleys and I think possibly the arm that the small idler pulley is attached to could possibly be bent up.

So the last step would be to put the old belt on that's slightly shredded but the whole point would be to see if the constant ringing noise.

So the way it's mounted is frame then the belt guides on top of the belt guides go the washers and then the idler pulleys and then the washer on top of the either pulleys and then the nut, and the bolt going up through frame one thing I have done which is well it works for me is I got a piece of gray foam maybe 2 in by 2 in and I jam it up underneath the between the frame and the bottom of those carriage bolts and it forces those carriage bolts into that square pattern and it really does a good job you don't need to clamp that bolt somehow and then when you're done just take the gray foam away.

Jim

Ronnie Milsap can see that idler is not correct.

You might have to remove the deck and take the bracket off for a complete inspection. There may be a SHOULDER washer under the bracket that allows it to spring loaded swivel and a matching thru bolt with a nut under the deck. That bracket that the idler mounts to should have very little up and down play also. Make sure that the deck is not cracked around the shoulder washer area. The bolt that holds that bracket to the deck needs to be checked to see if it's tight/bent or ???

Anyway that area is of interest as the Police inspectors say.

Forest#2 said:

Ronnie Milsap can see that idler is not correct.

You might have to remove the deck and take the bracket off for a complete inspection. There may be a SHOULDER washer under the bracket that allows it to spring loaded swivel and a matching thru bolt with a nut under the deck. That bracket that the idler mounts to should have very little up and down play also. Make sure that the deck is not cracked around the shoulder washer area. The bolt that holds that bracket to the deck needs to be checked to see if it's tight/bent or ???

Anyway that area is of interest as the Police inspectors say.

Click to expand...

You know I forgot to mention and thanks for reply on this Forest so when I grab that small icer pulley I could move it towards the sky and move it back towards the ground and it wasn't a lot of movement but I didn't think that was right and I forgot to even ask the question but that's what happened so yeah I hear what you're saying about figuring out what's going on with that so the mower deck was already in place so the only thing I did was tighten down that not but it didn't really do much so I was thinking running the blades because it only takes a minute or two to put that old belt back on the one that's a half inch wide by 100.25 in Long just to see if I can get rid of that constant ringing noise and then separate the mower deck away from the frame and then do what you're saying to do.

I mean I just want to run the blades for maybe even 30 seconds just to see if I'm doing anything productive.

Jim

JimP2014 said:

You know I forgot to mention and thanks for reply on this Forest so when I grab that small icer pulley I could move it towards the sky and move it back towards the ground and it wasn't a lot of movement but I didn't think that was right and I forgot to even ask the question but that's what happened so yeah I hear what you're saying about figuring out what's going on with that so the mower deck was already in place so the only thing I did was tighten down that not but it didn't really do much so I was thinking running the blades because it only takes a minute or two to put that old belt back on the one that's a half inch wide by 100.25 in Long just to see if I can get rid of that constant ringing noise and then separate the mower deck away from the frame and then do what you're saying to do.

I mean I just want to run the blades for maybe even 30 seconds just to see if I'm doing anything productive.

Jim

Click to expand...

The only other thing is I wonder if you can independently look up the belt for this machine I mean I come up with the belt being according to them meaning Sears parts direct something like 1/2 in wide by 101 in long and in my opinion that's wrong I'm just curious I can get you the information it might be in the previous post but that's up to you but that's part of the problem but but let's say a minor one.


Don't know the policy on external links but this is for SEARS.

Time to punt!
You need to get the deck out from under the tractor and evaluate the problem. There may be a problem with the deck. Are any of the pulley, bracket mounting hole wallowed out? If those things check out, the part numbers need to be verified as correct to that mower. Those parts must be mounted correctly. That mean that the pulleys should all be level with one another.
Good Luck.

MParr said:

Time to punt!
You need to get the deck out from under the tractor and evaluate the problem. There may be a problem with the deck. Are any of the pulley, bracket mounting hole wallowed out? If those things check out, the part numbers need to be verified as correct to that mower. Those parts must be mounted correctly. That mean that the pulleys should all be level with one another.
Good Luck.

Click to expand...

You know what thanks for this because I just ran it + running pretty good as far as no more constant ringing noise but having said that I only ran it for a couple minutes so it seems like progress is being made so I will definitely take your advice and the advice of others but the most important part for me is to stop that constant ringing noise and I'm pretty sure when Forest made the suggestion of using customer supplied washers which I did the ringing noise went away but in a few days slide the mower deck out and go over everything.

Thanks,
Jim

JimP2014 said:

You know what thanks for this because I just ran it + running pretty good as far as no more constant ringing noise but having said that I only ran it for a couple minutes so it seems like progress is being made so I will definitely take your advice and the advice of others but the most important part for me is to stop that constant ringing noise and I'm pretty sure when Forest made the suggestion of using customer supplied washers which I did the ringing noise went away but in a few days slide the mower deck out and go over everything.

Thanks,
Jim

Click to expand...

But in retrospect I have those washers in place I guess for a few years and I got rid of them maybe a couple months ago because I'm saying why did I do such a stupid thing well the washers need to be there brand new right out of the factory I have no idea if you get that ringing noise when the blades are engaged don't know that.

Rivets said this too. Excellent advice on the steps needed so I will have this handy as a checklist.


1. Remove the deck.
2. One at a time remove each pulley and carriage bolt and check that there is no slop between bolt and pulley bearing. Were the pulleys you purchased OEM?
3. Verify that there is square hole the bolt goes through has no slop and the bolt fits snugly. You are using carriage bolts and Nyloc nuts?
4. Check the tensioner making sure that there is no slop in the pivot point. The arm should not move up/down.
5. Check the bracket where the stationary idler pulley mounts, that it is not worn or bent. There has to be a reason for the angle I see.

JimP2014 said:

Rivets said this too. Excellent advice on the steps needed so I will have this handy as a checklist.


1. Remove the deck.
2. One at a time remove each pulley and carriage bolt and check that there is no slop between bolt and pulley bearing. Were the pulleys you purchased OEM?
3. Verify that there is square hole the bolt goes through has no slop and the bolt fits snugly. You are using carriage bolts and Nyloc nuts?
4. Check the tensioner making sure that there is no slop in the pivot point. The arm should not move up/down.
5. Check the bracket where the stationary idler pulley mounts, that it is not worn or bent. There has to be a reason for the angle I see.

Click to expand...

Mr rivets to answer your question the other ones do not have that nylon on the inside of the nut but the brand new ones that I'm using do so I don't know what you're getting to about that but I'm using the nylon inset on the nut and that's for both idler pulleys the small one and the large one