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I have a raptor SD that I bought last year...I've put 130 hours on it so far. I was wondering how long the drive and deck belts usually last? Also, what is the recommended oil change interval?

Read your Engine Manual, Operators & Parts Manuals cover to cover. You're way overdue on oil changes.

mechanic mark said:

Read your Engine Manual & Operators Manual cover to cover. You're way overdue on oil changes.

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Not if he is using that 100,000 mile Super Duper Wonder Amazing Amsoil. Course Briggs has them beat out with no oil changes ever LOL.

slomo

Guess it depends on the quality of the machine. My Snapper rear engine rider had used belts when I got it back in 2014. They were not the best looking at that time. Still going strong. Run nice and quiet knock on wood.

slomo

Belts get checked regularly and changed as required.
No such thing as average belt life way too many variables
Get a white paint pen and put a mark on the back of the belt
Then run it trough till you see the mark again noting how many cracks , burns etc you see.
Keep a pair of spare belts sitting on the shelf out of the sun because as sure as poo is brown they will break at the most inconvienant time.

Oh, I've done an oil change once already...getting ready to do the next one this week. Mine has the kawasaki engine. I guess I'll order some belts to keep on hand.

Kawasaki engine should have Early oil change done under 10 hours.

then yearly or 50 hours, whichever comes 1st.

Yup agreed on keeping spare belts. Especially if your mower is a known belt eater.

Oil is pretty tough at a yearly dump and fill. Now if I was a commercial guy or had some huge yard that took many hours to cut then I would do the hour thing. Probably follow the extreme dusty environment recommendation as in early oil dumps.

slomo

slomo said:

Yup agreed on keeping spare belts. Especially if your mower is a known belt eater.

Oil is pretty tough at a yearly dump and fill. Now if I was a commercial guy or had some huge yard that took many hours to cut then I would do the hour thing. Probably follow the extreme dusty environment recommendation as in early oil dumps.

slomo

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bought it new, and it now has 130 hours on it, original belts but it is also only a year old.
I did an oil change at 50 hours...Meant to do another before now but been busy cutting and slacked off. I will do it monday. Probably time for a new air filter as well...changed it out when I did the oil change last.

benhonda said:

bought it new, and it now has 130 hours on it, original belts but it is also only a year old.
I did an oil change at 50 hours...Meant to do another before now but been busy cutting and slacked off. I will do it monday. Probably time for a new air filter as well...changed it out when I did the oil change last.

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You missed an Important oil change, The Early one to get all the debris out from all the new parts scrubbing together.

7394 said:

You missed an Important oil change, The Early one to get all the debris out from all the new parts scrubbing together.

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Funny how people with mowers never change the oil proper. If I bought a new 0-turn at around 10 grand, I would READ the manual on oil dumps. These are not 18 wheeler oil sumps either with 30 quarts and a couple oil filters. Most are 1.5 quarts'ish possibly with a filter.

slomo

7394 said:

You missed an Important oil change, The Early one to get all the debris out from all the new parts scrubbing together.

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While that's true he missed that mark so might just move on with good maintenance at this point.?
Keep changing it at a regular intervals (50 hrs) or so and should be good.
As far as belts go I have a Woods (Grasshopper) that's a 1997 model and 1100 hours running on all the original belts. Hope I didn't just jinx myself ?

Slomo the Macks usually used 36 qts with one filter; unless they had the additional centrifuge filter. Some do, some don't. One particular one I serviced used 38 qts.

Most ZTRs here usually need two qts for the engine oil change as many have v-twins.

The hydros may or may not need the oil change at 500 hrs intervals just depends if they are design for oil changes or not. Sealed unit can stand the oil and filters changed but it requires the removal of the transaxle to do so as where when they use external filter the oil and filter can change while they are still mounted.

As for the belt life it is variable as the mowing conditions affects belt life more than just plain belt wear. Sticks for one damages the belts. Just check the belts every so often for their condition.

An out-of-line pulley will quickly shorten the life of even a very good belt. Often the bracket on the tension pulley will wear due to the constant vibration allowing the pulley to become cocked and out of line. Usually, it's an easy repair. Also, sometimes the tension pulley is set too high or low causing the belt to ride against the side of the pulley. Buy a good quality belt; it pays in the long run.