My father passed 2 years ago and left me his Scag 26 HP 61" cut Tiger Cat Zero Turn Mower Model # STC61V-26CV-EFI. It had been left in a storage building and used a few dozen times since then.
I was able to bring it home and give it the once over but the drive belt broke right away :-(
I am not near any local shop to have it serviced so Its on me to get it going again.
I was able to get a new belt ,it's jacked up and on ramps. I have read a number of helpful comments here about using a square drive socket and cheater bar to loosing the tensioner and a few other tips.
But I am still a little unsure how the belt goes on. do I need to remove the mower belt first to get the drive belt on ?
Once I get this done should I check the hours and carry out all maintenance tasks or because it's been left for so long are there any other things I should take care of ?
I was able to release the drive tensioner for the deck belt and this then allowed me get the drive belt on.
The trick was using the breaker bar and socket (Thank you old posts ) having an extension would have helped massively but was able to squeeze the bar in and get it in to the square hole.
If anyone could let me know about other maintenance I should do right away. I am thinking oil change ? Recommended oil Kawasaki? And oil filter ?
Thanks for the manual , I will review the maintenance schedule,
Bad news the drive belt came off again it did not break this time but it did come off after about 10 minutes of mowing .
Any ideas what it could be Yes it is a OEM belt but company did a very good write up to define that it was made to same SAG spec and lengths of original belt and that came off as well ( and broke maybe there is another issue)
Check all pulleys, making sure they are in good condition and bearings are very smooth. Also, make sure the tensioner arm is moving freely and it’s bearing surface is not worn.
On top of what Rivets wrote check the transmission mountng bolts are tight and in particular the brace bar between the two of them .
Also double checkthat you are putting the belt into the pulleys and not between the fan & the pulley.
We have all done this more than once .
Have a good look at the belt for any defects like burn marks .
LEt us know what you find.
#7
Monzsta
When you have the belt off always check the idler pulleys. They should spin freely with no noise. I had a deck idler on my SCAG Tiger Cub that was locked up and the belt was sliding on it.
Thanks for all the help,, I checked all the pulleys and all seem to be moving free and look in good shape. I am pretty sure I know why it came off yesterday as I did not have it on the crank shaft correctly.
I am trying to put it now on the correctly pulley (head shame) and wow it's tight even with the retention arm moved.
Any tricks on getting it on the pulley. If I leave the belt in the sun will it stretch a little ?
If you have the tension pulley pulled back as far......or is it as far as it can go, you should be able to get it on. A little story changing mine the 1st time it broke. I had a time getting a jack under it because I was up back mowing and it was on a little slant. So anyhoo......, I was using a tire iron and some rope to hold it back and when I was putting on the belt, I rotated the rear pulley and noticed a small rock wedged itself in the pulley. That's what broke it to begin with. Glad I found it. It would have lasted about 1 minute and I'd have been stuck again. So...., rotate those pulleys to make sure they are in good shape before you put on a new belt.
So I measured the belt and contacted the supplier and they said it measured the same as the scag and when I measured it was about a 1inch smaller than the broken belt, Was able to get a real scag belt and confirmed that it was indeed longer. Put the new belt on and it went on without any issues.
Not advised to roll the belt on. Loosen tensioners/idlers enough to place the belt on proper. You tend to stretch the belt causing belt fatigue issues later. I know you shop guys throw the belt on as fast as possible. Us owners like belts and pulley to last.
