craftman lawn and garden versus drive belt

[bettyp]

i inherited a 1990's craftman 25 hpv twin, kohler command 50 hydro cut. but....seems it had a history of the drive belt breaking whenever it was placed engaged. it would ride around all day like a golf cart as long as you did not try cutting the grass. 3 mechanics and 20 belts later i have gotten it. does anyone have this problem? did sears/craftman just put out a piece of expensive junk? i have looked at the alignment of the pulleys and they seem to fall in line. and the fact that it will ride me around all day just not cut grass is very confusing. Help help help

 

[KennyV]

Hello betty....
Get a good quality belt, Kevlar.... You may need to take the broken belt to an industrial supply to get it crossed...

When you engage the PTO drive are you letting the engine run at or near idle speed???
There are a lot of people that think it's ok to engage mower decks at any engine RPM... it is not good for belts or pulleys, blade spindles or engines...

Welcome to LMF:smile:KennyV

 

[fastback]

Hi Betty, Question, do you have two belts? One for driving the tractor and one for driving the deck. I had a problem with my 96 Craftsman, it has a 46 inch deck and I was blowing mower drive belts one after the other. I found that it was caused by a retaineer at the idler. It's an "L" shaped belt retainer bracket. It was very slightly bent and was cutting the belts. I made a new on and allowed a little more clearance for the belt and that problem was cured. It took a number of belts before I was able to figure it out. Almost parted with the tractor at that point.

Last year I started having problems with belts again. The first one was a fluke a stick got caught in the primary mower drive belt and stopped the belt it started smoking and ruined the belt. Ok, my bad I should have cleaned the deck better. Decided that I could save money if I bought a replacement at TS. Well although the price was right it only lasted an hour. Thought if I bought a inch longer belt it would cure the problem, same results. Both of these belts were 1/2 inch wide. I then went to a 5/8 inch belt again the same results. I was getting a little (a lot) disscusted I needed to get this machine back up and running. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a belt from Sears. Well it was the same length, but it was a little different in width. I installed it and crossed my fingers and voila it worked. This cemented the decsion to replace this mower as my first line of attack.

Hope that maybe some of this helps. Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[bettyp]

:thumbsup:

Hi Betty, Question, do you have two belts? One for driving the tractor and one for driving the deck. I had a problem with my 96 Craftsman, it has a 46 inch deck and I was blowing mower drive belts one after the other. I found that it was caused by a retaineer at the idler. It's an "L" shaped belt retainer bracket. It was very slightly bent and was cutting the belts. I made a new on and allowed a little more clearance for the belt and that problem was cured. It took a number of belts before I was able to figure it out. Almost parted with the tractor at that point.

Last year I started having problems with belts again. The first one was a fluke a stick got caught in the primary mower drive belt and stopped the belt it started smoking and ruined the belt. Ok, my bad I should have cleaned the deck better. Decided that I could save money if I bought a replacement at TS. Well although the price was right it only lasted an hour. Thought if I bought a inch longer belt it would cure the problem, same results. Both of these belts were 1/2 inch wide. I then went to a 5/8 inch belt again the same results. I was getting a little (a lot) disscusted I needed to get this machine back up and running. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a belt from Sears. Well it was the same length, but it was a little different in width. I installed it and crossed my fingers and voila it worked. This cemented the decsion to replace this mower as my first line of attack.

Hope that maybe some of this helps. Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[bettyp]

:smile::smile:

Hi Betty, Question, do you have two belts? One for driving the tractor and one for driving the deck. I had a problem with my 96 Craftsman, it has a 46 inch deck and I was blowing mower drive belts one after the other. I found that it was caused by a retaineer at the idler. It's an "L" shaped belt retainer bracket. It was very slightly bent and was cutting the belts. I made a new on and allowed a little more clearance for the belt and that problem was cured. It took a number of belts before I was able to figure it out. Almost parted with the tractor at that point.

Last year I started having problems with belts again. The first one was a fluke a stick got caught in the primary mower drive belt and stopped the belt it started smoking and ruined the belt. Ok, my bad I should have cleaned the deck better. Decided that I could save money if I bought a replacement at TS. Well although the price was right it only lasted an hour. Thought if I bought a inch longer belt it would cure the problem, same results. Both of these belts were 1/2 inch wide. I then went to a 5/8 inch belt again the same results. I was getting a little (a lot) disscusted I needed to get this machine back up and running. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a belt from Sears. Well it was the same length, but it was a little different in width. I installed it and crossed my fingers and voila it worked. This cemented the decsion to replace this mower as my first line of attack.

Hope that maybe some of this helps. Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[bettyp]

Thanks for the suggestions and clues as where to look. I'll definately check out this "L" - could have been bent on a stump by previous owner. i have over 5 acres to cut an the 50 inche would really come in handy. the owners step daughter told me it would ride all day - just when you engaged it the belt would snap or stetch and fall off. in its day it was certainly the mower to own. but everyone who came in contact with it - gave up 3 small engine mechanics and 20 belts later. it has sat unused for 5 years. a new battery and it turned over. the carberator sounds off, but i'm sure it needs cleaning. but before i invest more time an money - including the belt i snapped yesterday i have to figure this problem out. i'd like to have it out on the lawn as soon as possible. i'll keep kennys suggestion in mind and make sure i don't engage at full rpm.

 

[JDgreen]

Thanks for the suggestions and clues as where to look. I'll definately check out this "L" - could have been bent on a stump by previous owner. i have over 5 acres to cut an the 50 inche would really come in handy. the owners step daughter told me it would ride all day - just when you engaged it the belt would snap or stetch and fall off. in its day it was certainly the mower to own. but everyone who came in contact with it - gave up 3 small engine mechanics and 20 belts later. it has sat unused for 5 years. a new battery and it turned over. the carberator sounds off, but i'm sure it needs cleaning. but before i invest more time an money - including the belt i snapped yesterday i have to figure this problem out. i'd like to have it out on the lawn as soon as possible. i'll keep kennys suggestion in mind and make sure i don't engage at full rpm.

I have NEVER seen a broken belt occur on powered lawn care equipment...worn out, abraded from improper adjustment, etc. but BROKEN?? Maybe your mower is trying to demonstrate it's power by tearing the belts apart? Are the belts actually breaking, or just being abraded somehow so they fail? There is NO REASON a belt should break in normal use, if properly fitted and adjusted.

 

[fastback]

JD, the belt problem I was discribing on my 96 Craftsman was a clean break. I think maybe it was the retainer on the idler tha was actually cutting the belt. Betty may be experiencing the same thing. I am just not sure which belt she is talking about. If its the tractor drive belt it may not be the same problem.

 

[bettyp]

its the tractor drive belt that keeps breaking. the deck belts are fine. one belt to the deck, and the belt for the blades is fine. its the dang drive belt that breaks when i engage the blades. that is why its such a puzzle. new belts - not worn or frazzeled. it just eats new belts. got the deck off. now i just have to figure out whats causing the problem

 

[fastback]

Betty, the only thing that the mower drive belt and tractor drive belt have in common is the engine's crankshaft. I would start there. Is it possible that there is a conflict of some sort at that location. I would expect that your tractor has an electric drive for the mower deck (also called a PTO, by some). These are normally connected to the crankshaft on the engine. When this is engaged is there anything that could be coming in contact with the tractors drive belt? My Craftman has the tractor drive belt on top and the electric pto below. There is a pin that keeps the pto from turning. I remember that there are a couple of bent rods to keep the drive belt in place when the brake is depressed. Make sure that these are on the outside of the belt if the belt is allowed to overlap it will definitely shorten the belt life. My advice is to lay under the machine (whith out the deck) and study the drive belt and its path. There has to be something there that is being overlooked. Good luck.