Drive Belt or Transaxle Problem?

[reynoldston]

Put a kevlar lawnmower belt on a Toyota pickup with the 22re engine once and the belt stretched like a rubber band. Nearly 3 inches in about 50 miles. Put a auto belt on a old wheel horse once that stretched 2 inches in about 10 minutes.

Where in the world are you buying your belts? Made in china? You have some kind problem there. By the time a belt had stretched 3 inches it couldn't of even been turning what it should of been turning much less any tension left on the belt. Three inches on a belt is a long ways. I am sure of one thing I sure would have a word or two with the place I buy my belts from. For one thing belts aren't cheap. You might want to try NAPA they have a lot better quality belts. I am still going to say a quality belt isn't going to stretch and I am not going to change my mine on that. I have taken off belts with over 100,000 miles on them and no stretch. I replaced the drive belt on my wheel horse last year with over 800hrs on it because it was coming apart and measured the old one to buy the new one and it had not stretched.

 

[KennyV]

It's been my experience that belts will wear narrower and that lets them set deeper in the pulleys... Makes the Idler take up a lot more slack than normal... But when they Try to get Longer they Break.
That has been with cheep and expensive belts. :smile:KennyV

 

[reynoldston]

It's been my experience that belts will wear narrower and that lets them set deeper in the pulleys... Makes the Idler take up a lot more slack than normal... But when they Try to get Longer they Break.
That has been with cheep and expensive belts. :smile:KennyV

Yes belts will wear, crack, break. burn, and glaze over but not get longer.

 

[wjjones]

Yes belts will wear, crack, break. burn, and glaze over but not get longer.

Well I am on my 2nd belt that has streched, and is longer the first one the sears tech changed it, and said he had never seen one do that before.. he said he had been with sears 25 years it was replaced the first year I had it, and now in the 5th year I had to replace it again for the same reason.. I held the old belt up to the new belt, and the old one is about 1 1/2"s longer than the new one.. As before after replacing the belt.. it works fine again now.. He nor I know what caused it to strech this way but it did, and the new belt got it back up to speed.. I dont pull anything I just mow so there is no weight factor to cause it to strech?? But this makes 2 times it was streched, and slipping enough to slow the mower down to about half the speed it should be traveling..

 

[jc56]

Hey Troy.I have a 2004 LT1000 Craftsman Hydro with a 17 kohler and mine does the exact same thing.But it only does it when I am grinding leaves.I keep mine in tip top shape and do regular maintenance...lol...very detailed maintenance.By the time I get it back to the shop,all is well.I assume that leaf dust,if you will,gets on the pulleys and allows the belt to slip.That's all I can figure.Hope that helps.:smile:

 

[mhomier]

im a 14 year sears lawnmower tech your problem is dirt 95percent of time new belt will do same thing . go to the left side of the tractor look under the frame below the clutch pedal there is a plate under the frame lock your brake down and reach on top of that plate and remove the big chunk of dirt thats compressed and see how much better it is

Hi, I've just been trying to clean the dirt off the steering deck on my Craftsman lawn tractor. Even with the deck lowered, it's a very hard fit/reach even with my small hands (lots of scrapes and bruising). Is there an easier way to clean this or access the steering deck without removing parts? I'm not much of a mechanic (understatement) but do want to learn how to keep this clean and running well.

I had the identical problem described in this thread, and had been mowing in very dusty conditions, using a mulching blade that seems to make the dust clouds and debris thrown up much worse.

Cheers,
mhomier

 

[dcpienta]

im a 14 year sears lawnmower tech your problem is dirt 95percent of time new belt will do same thing . go to the left side of the tractor look under the frame below the clutch pedal there is a plate under the frame lock your brake down and reach on top of that plate and remove the big chunk of dirt thats compressed and see how much better it is

This advice is still valid after 8 years. TY for saving me a lotta money and aggravation.