Belts

RayMcD

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IMO.......O.E.M. belts is the only way to go! They might cost more but....they FIT as designed and LAST a lot longer!
That's all we have used for decades, and almost never have a problem with them!
That's one of the many things I like about the Dealership I work at.... we use almost all O.E.M. belts and parts, plus we use Kohler oil in Kohlers, Kawasaki oil in Kawasaki, B&S oil in Briggs & Stratton, everything seems to work smoother with less problems that way and....customers see this and know you're not cutting corners!
If it works for you go with it, Kohler, Kawasaki or B&S don't make oil nor does BobCat make Belts. Cheers, Ray
 

StarTech

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I have similar with different distributors. The MTD 918-06980 Gardner wanted $81 each but RBI only wanted 65.31 each. So who do you think got the order for three of them that I got in stock now? I tjust took one extra day to get them delivered.

As compensating for pulley wear can only go so far as once the belt bottoms in a v-pulley there is no far adjustment for wear; unless, you go to next wider belt which not all pulleys can work with.
 

bkeller500

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Sir, thanks for the reply, FYI, neither of the BOBCAT part#'s cross on either of these sites..
They might not cross reference the exact part number for your machine ( their data base might not show your part number) but if you can figure out your belt length and width, you may be able to locate a match. I had to do that and found one with same width and within 1/2" in length ( shorter) and it worked perfectly. You can be a little shorter but not longer and be Ok. good luck
 

bertsmobile1

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When you go to the above web page click on the red "Vehicle Parts Search " button.
This brings up a pop up window with 3 options Vehicle : Vin : Interchange
Vin : only works with cars & trucks
Interchange works with the OEM part number for the belt
Vehicle , various drop downs but you will need to know the make , model NUMBER & year of your mower for that to work.

You should then have a list to pick from as the same part numbers can apply to lots of different things .
The Gates part number is a hot link so clicking on that will bring up the belt specifications
OEM part numbers can be a little tricky as some times spaces are ignored, some times they will need a - or a / to break them up and other times the number must have no spaces or separator marks at all .

Gates is the only interchange list I trust.
Most of the others on the web have been coppied from each other and contain a lot of mistakes
 

bertsmobile1

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Very incomplete & lots of errors
Like a lot of sites like this, there is no provision for feed back when you come across an omission or error.
Not meaning to diss them because a lot of work goes into them even if it is just a cut & paste job.
But without the ability to edit they are not worth the effort of clicking on.

Lots of retail sites that also pretend to do an interchange but most of them direct you to the next nearst stocked size of belt with the specifications of their belt, not the original belt.
Getting my head round belts was the single hardest thing to do when I set out & bought the repair run.
Two of the 4 wholesalers I kicked off with, did exactly as above and while it sort of works if you are just doing a belt swap, it is not much help when trying to work out why a mower is using too many belts.
I am yet to find an error in the gates catalogue and even better when a part has been renumbers by the OEM several times, all of the numbers , old & new will bring up the belt.
Very handy when you are not a dealer so have very restricted access to dealer information.
 
Last edited:

RayMcD

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When you go to the above web page click on the red "Vehicle Parts Search " button.
This brings up a pop up window with 3 options Vehicle : Vin : Interchange
Vin : only works with cars & trucks
Interchange works with the OEM part number for the belt
Vehicle , various drop downs but you will need to know the make , model NUMBER & year of your mower for that to work.

You should then have a list to pick from as the same part numbers can apply to lots of different things .
The Gates part number is a hot link so clicking on that will bring up the belt specifications
OEM part numbers can be a little tricky as some times spaces are ignored, some times they will need a - or a / to break them up and other times the number must have no spaces or separator marks at all .

Gates is the only interchange list I trust.
Most of the others on the web have been coppied from each other and contain a lot of mistakes
Bert, thanks, one could easily give up trying to match up bett sizes, interchange works well, r
 
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