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Craftsman Belt problems

#1

L

laird

Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.


#2

R

Rivets

Download this manual, check page 19, and tell us if this is how you have the belt routed. https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=6A37...F28D!3426&parId=6A3784F3AE6FF28D!2978&o=OneUp


#3

M

mechanic mark

Craftsman Tractor Parts Manual 944.601171

Craftsman Tractor Parts Manual 944.601171
www.rpmpieces.com www.rpmpieces.com
Are you using Craftsmen OEM belts etc.?


#4

L

laird

I checked that manual before I tried this site. Yes that is the way it is routed. If I had any hair left I would pull it out. This thing is really starting to pi## me off. I do appreciate any and all suggestions. Even the ones that say to burn it. And I might.


#5

StarTech

StarTech

Check and make sure idler pulley holder #143 is up against the LH lift bracket. It can move out place if loose.
AYP 42.JPG


#6

L

laird

Check that tomorrow and let you know. Thanks


#7

B

bertsmobile1

And check the belt keepers are all in place.
Drop the deck down to the lowest position and lay on the ground on the LEFT NON DISCHARGE side of the mower
Have an assistant start the mower and engage the blades.
Watch to see where the belt jumps off.
I have a Go-Pro camera I use for this.
A cracked spindle housing can also cause the belt to jump off because when the load is applied it allows the whole housing to tilt and flip the belt off.


#8

L

laird

Housings are good. I have had the deck off the machine and replaced the bearings. When I said the belt falls off the engine pulley, the machine isn't running. I can take the slack off the left pully a double loop of at least 3 inches to get it to a point where if I were to engage the drive mechanism the belt would tighten properly. A 90 inch standard 1/2 in V belt will tighten up but for some reason won't drive the blades. With no belt and the stops off you can spin the pulleys with one finger. I am beginning to wonder if there was a change made somewhere along the line and there is a belt to supercede(?) the original. There doesn't seem anything to indicate that so I am just thinking out loud, on paper that is. Thankyou for all suggestions so far. I will get this figured out sooner or later or have a dandy little fire in the backyard some night when there is lots of lightning.


#9

R

Rivets

Did someone possibly change the deck??


#10

L

laird

Could have I guess. It says it is a 42 in and all the mounts are correct. Something I should have mentioned but just thought of , it came with a bagger. I have never had a machine with a bagger before so never thought that it might change the equation.


#11

B

bertsmobile1

Lets go back a few steps
1) how long have you had the mower for ?
2) Why are you replacing the belt & do you have the one that was fitted to it ?
3) what do the pulleys look like ?
V pulleys wear so the belts sit deeper so are looser
People fit the cheapest flat idlers they can find which will often be a little smaller than the original
4) is the tension arm fitted properly ?
It can be fitted backwards so the right pulley swings & the left is fixed
The parts break down is incorrect as far as I can tell .
The tension arm generally pivots under the fixed pulley .
If you pull the tension arm back does it tighten the belt before the belt touches the rear run between the two spindle pulleys.
5) is the spring in the right place ?

A photo of the deck with the belt on it , taken from the top ( not on the mower ) would be a great help
6) And finally is the deck mounted correctly ?
This tractor can be fitted with a few different decks so it can be fitted wrongly.


#12

L

laird

I have had the mower for about a week. It was a freebie. There was no belt for the deck as it was sitting beside the machine when I picked it up. The pulleys look not to bad, could do with a little cleanup. The idlers look to be original. The right pulley does swing and the left is fixed. I can't see how the deck could be mounted any other way. It can't go back any further or the deck wheels will hit the tires. If you pull the tension pulley back the belt still falls off the engine pulley. Going to go to bed . Thanks again. I will keep you informed.


#13

I

ILENGINE

Definitely pull the deck off and get us a picture. something else to look at while the deck is off. Make sure the tension arm moves through its full range. That style of pivot with the brake arms will wear grooves in the back side where the brake arm rollers sit and will cause either binding preventing full rear motion. Or will hang up and no release. The full pivot is something in the range of 4-5 inches.


#14

L

laird

000_0001 (2).JPG


#15

L

laird

this a photo of the deck and the way the belt is routed


#16

Cusser

Cusser

I have 42" deck Craftsman LT1000 917.275371 from 2005. Yes, Sears model number stuff is pretty confusing.

Yes, the owner's manual lists slightly-different length/different part numbers for its two belts.

I use 95 x ½ inches Kevlar A93K for both the tractor belt and the mowing blades belt.


#17

I

ILENGINE

The fixed idler pulley is incorrectly mounted. The plate that it is attached to needs to be rotated 180 degrees. The belt will actually go behind the deck hanger like the moveable idler pulley in your picture.










Untitled.png


#18

B

bertsmobile1

That is also the wrong deck for the mower
So when you have sorted the fixed pulley position you still might need a different belt.
There is also a tension spring missing and probably a return spring as well
The deck cable & spring is not strong enough to keep the blades engaged and if the springs are missing then the cable will perpetually break.
So it looks like the original deck gave up the ghost & the previous owner gave up on getting that deck to work.
I am off to the hospital all day today so hopefully those with better knowledge than myself will be able to recognise the deck & point you to the correct IPL for it


#19

R

Rivets

Nice catch IL, I’ve been looking at it since he posted it, could tell something was wrong but I didn’t see that.


#20

L

laird

Thankyou to everyone who posted or thought about posting. I will see what happens when I adjust things. And to Rivets: An opinion is never wrong....others may disagree but an opinion is never wrong.


#21

L

laird

Thanks guys. Adjusted the fixed pulley as suggested, added a spring and went out and cut some grass.


#22

R

riceski@gmail.com

laird said:
Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Send a photo of the deck OFF the machine - with the routing of the belt to the front of the engine.


#23

B

Bellcrank

bertsmobile1 said:
And check the belt keepers are all in place.
Drop the deck down to the lowest position and lay on the ground on the LEFT NON DISCHARGE side of the mower
Have an assistant start the mower and engage the blades.
Watch to see where the belt jumps off.
I have a Go-Pro camera I use for this.
A cracked spindle housing can also cause the belt to jump off because when the load is applied it allows the whole housing to tilt and flip the belt off
Click to expand...


#24

J

jimbocanuk

laird said:
Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
the 95 1/2 is the drive belt--the mower belt is 88 1/2
AYP144200 is what i use one on my 42 inch deck


#25

I

ILENGINE

@riceski@gmail.com @jimbocanuk the issue was due to a incorrectly installed fixed idler pulley arm on the deck. OP put the fixed idler in the location that I posted about and went to mow as posted in #21


#26

R

RhotaRhotaling1@comcling1

laird said:
Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I had that problem on a 15.5 HP 42"and solved it. I will have to check my notes
rhotaling11@gmail.com


#27

T

Tommy Mckeown

If you say it is routed correct and you still need a shorter belt that is ~92", why not just put that size belt on it? Seriously, a belt is like $10 and they come in 1 inch increments. I have bought stuff from these people before. https://www.surpluscenter.com/Pulleys-V-Belts/V-Belts/A-1-2-V-Belts/?page_no=10


#28

R

Rivets

Tommy and Rhota, if you carefully read the entire thread, as IL said, problem has been solved.


#29

M

milliswhitty

I can't remember the belt part number but the manual is wrong. It's not your tractor deck. It happened to me many times. If I can find the # i'll get back to you. Any numbers off the old belt? Go to tractor supply and buy belts that are in the ball park and return the ones that don't fit. I have had to do that also. It's not your tractor. It drove me crazy.


#30

E

e bock

riceski@gmail.com said:
Send a photo of the deck OFF the machine - with the routing of the belt to the front of the engine.
Click to expand...
It Take A 144200 1/2 x 88in Belt


#31

E

e bock

It Take A 1/2 x 88in belt


#32

icon2000

icon2000

You also look to have missing belt guides. Glad it fixed.


#33

K

ken2

My guess would be the arm the idler pulley is mounted to is rusted up and not moving correctly. Very common problem on Craftsman and John Deere.


#34

S

S854

?‍♂️


#35

R

rminnehan

3 things in addition to the pulley being on wrong: first, the brake return spring on the left brake arm is incorrect and looks weak as compared to the correct spring (part number 532179748) which is correctly the one on the right side. The brake idler spring (part number 169022) is missing. Third, the blade idler pulley arm (part number 155046) has a groove worn into it, which is a common problem. This will cause the engagement mechanism to jam when trying to disengage the blades so that the blades keep spinning when you try to disengage them. That should be replaced as it is a safety issue. A tip-before you disassemble anything take LOTS of pictures.


#36

N

Need2learn

laird said:
Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Hello I had problems with my deck belt as well, the problem I had was every belt I tried was to tight, and would engage when try starting the engine. So what I did was end up pulling the whole deck out checked all the pulleys, and ordering a original craftsman belt, not and OEM belt. The black belts were the OEM, the craftsman original belts were like a brownish color.


#37

S

slomo

I like those kevlar belts with some mustard and biscuits.

slomo


#38

tagpop

tagpop

Did you remove the main drive pulley from the engine during your work? Sometimes they can be difficult to line up the key and the keyway ( or maybe the key fail out) . I assume this is a mechanicly engaged belt drive with levers and "springs" appling the belt tension, sometimes springs have been incorrectly installed or replaced with wrong length/strength spring.


#39

S

shania50

laird said:
Goodday to all. New to the site so I hope someone can give some help. I have a Craftsman 944.601171 17.5 hp, 42 in deck. Anything I can find for the deck belt calls for belt pt# 144959 which is 95.5x 1/2. I have checked the routing 50 times if I did it once, this according to the diagram on the deck. VERY simple routing. There is no possible way that the belt will work as it falls off the engine pulley when it is engaged. I am hoping someone else has run across this problem and can give me some hope of ever getting the right belt. I have tried all kinds of length of belts . A 92x1/2 comes the closest. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
check and make sure the pulleys on your spindles are the right size, if they are too small, it will cause the belt to be too long


#40

B

bertsmobile1

Need2learn said:
Hello I had problems with my deck belt as well, the problem I had was every belt I tried was to tight, and would engage when try starting the engine. So what I did was end up pulling the whole deck out checked all the pulleys, and ordering a original craftsman belt, not and OEM belt. The black belts were the OEM, the craftsman original belts were like a brownish color.
Click to expand...
Clutching belts must be wrapped otherwise they can not slip.
Plain belts are not wrapped because they want the belt to get sticky when hot so it does not stick.
Very few belt factories use black wrapping because it makes it too easy to confuse wrapped belts with unwrapped belts
Just about every belt factory on the planet has at one time supplied belts to every mower factory so they can rightfully claim to be OEM
Add to that 1,000,000 + online scammers who buy $ 2 belts from CHina, India , Russia etc then sell them on Ebay & Amazon because neither checks any of their vendors .


#41

W

wingnut1955

ILENGINE said:
The fixed idler pulley is incorrectly mounted. The plate that it is attached to needs to be rotated 180 degrees. The belt will actually go behind the deck hanger like the moveable idler pulley in your picture.


pulley is mounted wrong . i looked at my 42 inch deck to confirm i have a different model but have the same deck







View attachment 56431
Click to expand...


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