Belt & idler question

[SHB]

Have a 4 year old eXmark radius, 60” deck. First deck belt lasted about 400 hours. Got a replacement at Rural King (dealer wasn’t open), it ran about 8 hours then disintegrated. Got a replacement from the local dealer, have run it about 8 hours, just came loose. I checked the deck pulleys, they turn freely, however the spring loaded tensioner / idler pully is floppy, is that normal (Might be that way to compensate for differing deck heights). Anything else I should check? I mow a lot of fairly high grass, so things get a workout.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Have a 4 year old eXmark radius, 60” deck. First deck belt lasted about 400 hours. Got a replacement at Rural King (dealer wasn’t open), it ran about 8 hours then disintegrated. Got a replacement from the local dealer, have run it about 8 hours, just came loose. I checked the deck pulleys, they turn freely, however the spring loaded tensioner / idler pully is floppy, is that normal (Might be that way to compensate for differing deck heights). Anything else I should check? I mow a lot of fairly high grass, so things get a workout.

The tensioner pulley mounted on the arm should not be floppy. Chances are it has a worn bushing or bearing and needs to be tight and move freely.

 

[Auto Doc's]

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[SHB]

The tensioner pulley mounted on the arm should not be floppy. Chances are it has a worn bushing or bearing and needs to be tight and move freely.

Turns out the bolt holding the pulley had backed off. Added some loctite & tightened, concerned with over tightening a bolt going into cast aluminum with no threaded insert. A week later the ⅜” bolt holding the assembly broke off, repaired yesterday, getting the idler springer back on was no fun.

 

[JD_Driver]

Turns out the bolt holding the pulley had backed off. Added some loctite & tightened, concerned with over tightening a bolt going into cast aluminum with no threaded insert. A week later the ⅜” bolt holding the assembly broke off, repaired yesterday, getting the idler springer back on was no fun.

Use a ratchet strap to install the spring.
I’m doing this exact thing this week. Idler pulley bearing is shot

 

[hlmorrison]

Turns out the bolt holding the pulley had backed off. Added some loctite & tightened, concerned with over tightening a bolt going into cast aluminum with no threaded insert. A week later the ⅜” bolt holding the assembly broke off, repaired yesterday, getting the idler springer back on was no fun.

You should check the bearings in the pulley put a bold through the pulley. Then try to see if there is any play in the bearings by wiggling it. If there is no play then spin the pulley on the bolt to see if you hear any noise coming from it. It should spin easily with not much friction. Also though if it spins a really long time probably means there isn’t much grease in it and it will more then likely go bad soon. So if it has play, makes a bad noise, or spins a very long time it needs replaced.