I was mowing and the LH trans bracket broke causing the belt to come off, Took it all apart, welded the bracket back up and now the belt comes off only when I turn left. Mows great going straight. Belt seeks to be in perfect alignment. New belt, tensioner pulley and spring.. I am a auto mechanic by trade and thought this was a no brainer, but I need advice from here.
Big Dog 54" Wont Keep The Drive Belt On
- Thread starter MarcSally
- Start date
Tiger Small Engine
Lawn Addict
Check all the transaxle mounting points on both left and right side. Hustler bought out Big Dog several years ago, and some of these zero turns are known for weak transaxle mounting brackets. I know from experience because I installed an upgrade repair kit on one two years ago. Four out of six mounting brackets were broken.
StarTech
Lawn Royalty
Did you check all three brackets all the screws [bolts]?
They are the same as Hustler ZTRs just painted Red. I keep the upgrade kits on hand; though. I am down to one already this year. Otherwise nearly all the parts are the parts are same except cosmetic ones. They are under the Excel corporation wings.
So you can get the same part for any the Excels built units which I get to play the pricing game. It the MTD ones or the Swisher ZTR mower I am working on that they claim all the parts are all NLA but it is a Husqvarna in drag so I just order the Husqvarna parts.
Even Exmark and Toro uses the same parts as long as the part number matches. Always check the pricings as one is usually lower in cost.
They are the same as Hustler ZTRs just painted Red. I keep the upgrade kits on hand; though. I am down to one already this year. Otherwise nearly all the parts are the parts are same except cosmetic ones. They are under the Excel corporation wings.
So you can get the same part for any the Excels built units which I get to play the pricing game. It the MTD ones or the Swisher ZTR mower I am working on that they claim all the parts are all NLA but it is a Husqvarna in drag so I just order the Husqvarna parts.
Even Exmark and Toro uses the same parts as long as the part number matches. Always check the pricings as one is usually lower in cost.
Last edited:
jaxontheweb
Member
Been fighting same challenge with a diferent mower and finally got a new pully and all is well. Check for interference with frame or linkage and the pulley can be the challenge. You can check that the belt is deep in the pulley before starting it. You can re-open the V in the pulley with a 1/2 inch extension and hammer with the pulley on a wood block.
Where I worked, we were a Big Dog dealer, and I replaced a lot of the bracket kits. It usually broke most all the brackets. The new brackets are much heavier.
Auto Doc's
Lawn Addict
Make sure you check all of the pulley guides; they often get bent out of place when things like this happens. The guides have to close to the pulley on each one.