My LTX 1040 that I bought from neighbor as the second owner. Its 1 cyl with 42 inch deck . I,m having issues with pto engagement especially when I move height lever. I was looking under the tractor and noticed that both arms were factory stamped with the number 38?????? could this be the problem? Thanks for any remarks.
#2
Scrubcadet10
i have the same mower,
does it not engage at all? or has trouble staying engaged?
be sure the belt is around the first idler pulley too, that engages the blades. and be sure the keepers are in place.
Sitting on the mower, the belt comes from the engine pulley, to the engagement idler pulley on the left, around spindle pulley, across to the other spindle, back around another idler and back to the crank pulley.
Yes the belt is on correctly as per decal on deck. But what about that 38 stamped on the lift arms. The leveling and the height adjustments are designed to be a problem. I measeured the belt 96 3/4 inches. 1/4 inch stretch, I would think that little of wear would be compensated by the tension spring?
#4
Scrubcadet10
I've always kept my lift arms in the top notch for the pins to go through.
It could be your engagement spring/cable from the blade engage handle to the pivot on the deck is stretched and not putting enought tension on the belt.
engage the blades (mower off, of course) and feel how tight the belt is. the 38 is more than likely a stamped I.D. mark from the manufacturer.
I still have a question with regards to the Deck pins and also where lift cables attach to arms? When the deck is all the way up is that where more tension is put on belt? Do you agree that 1/4 inch of belt stretch is really NO issue?. I rigged the engage cable to be about 1/4 incg shorter I will take all advice and your personal modifications to thought. Thanks Juim
#6
Scrubcadet10
I don't think the tension on the belt varies depending on deck height.
i tried to get you a diagram from online but it wouldn't load up.
search Cub Cadet parts n more.com, and look for LTX1040, they have alot of parts and diagrams.
Yes the belt is on correctly as per decal on deck. But what about that 38 stamped on the lift arms. The leveling and the height adjustments are designed to be a problem. I measured the belt 96 3/4 inches. 1/4 inch stretch, I would think that little of wear would be compensated by the tension spring?
Kevlar belts do not stretch.
They wear on the contact faces so get thinner sit deeper & become loose.
Mower companies and in particular MTD us non standard belts like 21/32" wide, not std 5/8" wide.
The lengths are calculated to have a specific grip so they end up being things like 200 33/64" long or in your case 96 3/4".
That is the reason why mower belts are so expensive and why all those cheap "unbranded" belts bough on Amazon & ebay never seem to work as good as the originals and after a time damage the pulleys.
I can see what you are thinking but you are wrong.
Your mower was not accidentially fitted with 38" deck lifting arms.
The arms are the same on all of the mowers regardless of the deck size.
The decks themselves have the mounting points put in different positions so they fit the mower.
Well I haven,t bought anything9Parts) because I,m not sure what to get. I swear with pto engaged and locked in the belt still could be used as a jump rope so much slack . I tried using that front adjusting rod fro frame to frt.ctr of deck as a way to suck up more slack. Didn,t work . Bert said the belt wears on sides and bottom . So what kind of measurement should I be looking for. The holes in the lift levers, are they to be used for belt tension or will their placement only b affect lift? Guys I need my blades
to go round and round HELP Jim
#10
Scrubcadet10
the holes in the lift arms just give you different positions for the height of your deck. i always keep mine in the lowest hole to raise the deck the highest to save my blades.
I would order a new belt. (cub cadet parts n' more is my preferred online store) it could be the previous owner bought a cheap belt off amazon and it stretched out.
also, when you engage the blades how hard is it to push the lever down? is it fairly easy or do you have to p u s h it?
may also be your idler pulley bearings are shot and the pulleys wobble causing the belt to jump off when lowering the deck (happened to me before)
First,
The deck m height changes the position of the deck pulleys with respect to the engine pulley.
Usually they are in alignment at the middle cutting height.
That will be the height that the belt will be slackest .
As you go up or down the pulleys go out of alignment so the distance between the pulleys increases and the belt will be at the tightest.
When the blades are not spinning the belt has to go slack so it can slip on the engine pulley
When the blades are engaged then the belt goes tight.
If yours is slack in the engaged position then
1) belt is on wrong
2) tension spring is in wrong position
3) tensioning arm pivot is flogged out oval or is fouling on the deck
4) engagement lever is flogged out
5) engagement cable is stretched, in the wrong place or broken
