I bought my 2008-2009 bronco knowing the belt needed changed as the guy couldn’t get the right size. I ordered a 109 inch one and it is about 2-3 inches too long. It won’t tighten at all at any height when the pto is engaged. Does anyone know what might be my issue. The deck seems straight and everything seems to be tight.
Welcome
It sort of helps if we know the actual deck size and the model number dosent hurt either
Then we might know if you have a 34" deck or a 58" deck cause believe it or not they take different length belts
And usually an electric PTO belt is a couple of inches shorter than a manual PTO belt
Two blade decks are hard to route wrong but 3 blade spindles can present lots of alternatives for routing the belt wrong .
Model 13AV60KG011
Won’t let me upload a photo. Says it’s too big.
#6
StarTech
Knowing how DIYers like to rig things check the pulley diameters on the deck. Spindle pulleys are 6.3" OD and the idler is 4-1/4" across the flat with an overall OD of 4-7/8".
So Parts Tree come up with part No # 954-04045 which they list as an A 109
And the deck diagram shows that it is one of the weird belt runs , shown below
So if your belt is run like shown & it measures 109 inches ( measure it , don't believe what is on the sleeve ) then that only leaves the tension arm spring weaak or in the wrong place so the pulley is not far enough back or the idlers having been replaced with smaller ones or the deck itself being too far forward
As it is a late model quick release deck, there is little chance of the latter unless it has the wrong lift arms fitted or the pins are in the wrong holes on the lift arm ( some have more than one set of holes ).
Check everything
When I took over the service run all sorts of "interesting" repairs by the previous owner became apparent.
He worked like a night shift factory fitter so it was a case o making it run now with whatever is on hand.
One such "interesting" fix was a 42" Craftsman where he had fitted smaller spindle pulleys & larger idlers to sort of compensate for it .
Thus the blades were spinning around 4500 rpm in place of 3000 rpm and it would pick up rocks and toss then clear across the neighbours yard into their neighbours yard .
It would go through blades at an alarming rate , ate spindle bearings for breakfast and followed by deck belts for afternoon tea .
And of course the belt sizes that worked were nothing like the factory specification.
Being new to mower repairs it took me 3 years to sort this one out .
#10
StarTech
Sounds familiar...It when I walk into a couple different jobs years ago. The previous techs were lazy. The first job it took me nearly two years to get things under control so I wasn't just putting fires (emergency calls). I didn't like driving six to eight hours a day to get things repaired. I was there for 8 years when the work force reduction fad came by. I had the service area down to four days a week for field work and one day for paperwork. The second job the previous tech apparently had a thing about collecting the customer's screws. Coffee cans everywhere full of screws. It took nearly six months to get most screws back home where they were supposed to be. I left the second job when the boss's father wanted to start a fight over me not getting things done because the company wasn't paying their parts bills on time so the part sources were refusing to send the parts I had ordered. But when I left there was only one coffee can screws left.
This is why I suggested checking the deck pulley sizes by giving their spec'd sizes.
Sounds like you are well on your way to an honary Sherlock Holms award
Smaller pulleys will work, for a while till you get some wear then there will just not be enough tension to make the belt grip
The DPO was probably using a smaller belt
I regularly fir the next sixe down belt to compensate for pulley wear till the belts end up running on the root of the V and no longer gripping
Made a good friend customer by doing just that
The brand name workshop is obliged to replace all of the pulleys which made for a $ 650 repair bill as comparred to a shorter belt + $ 20 for fitting it .
To make matters even better the shorter belt from RGS was $ 55 and the OEM one was $ 112 & the customer had been putting on a new belt every years .
#13
StarTech
Sounds familiar to a particular 46" MTD deck here where MTD specs a 1/2 x 103 belt which perfers a 1/2 x 102 belt to work right. Even when all the pulleys are new the 103 belt is still slipping in short order.
www.troybilt.com
