I have a 52" Chariot Jr that has had issues lately. In the past I have replaced the electronic clutch and all was good. Recently, the center blade seems to be laying down the grass and leaving a strip that is not fully cut. The pulley is red hot to the touch, so it is obvious that the belt is slipping. I replaced the spindles, belt, pulleys, blades, and spring... no change. I have tried looser belt tension and tighter belt tension... no change. What am I missing here? I checked belt routing and that is all good, and yes, the blades are on the correct way. What is the deal? Any thoughts?
#2
BlazNT
Are you running the engine at wide open throttle? If the belt is removed do the spindles spin freely. Did you grease the spindles before use?
get the mower up in the air ( easier said than done, thems is heavy buggers ).
now remove the belt all together, slip under the deck after making sure it is firmly supported.
spin each blade the same amount with your finger.
Each blade should feel the same and continue spinning for about the same time.
They should also stop at random places.
Have you owned it from new & do you have the owners &/or parts book for it ?
I ask this because a couple of home owners in my run bought theirs second hand and the seller removed the front idler and ran the belt from the left blade to the middle then on to the right.
from the left & right pulleys he ran the belt to the fixed idler & moving idler then down the the engine so the belt looks like an arrow.
The the moron saved $ 60 on a new idler pulley and $ 40 on a smaller belt.
Because owners have some sort of mental block about reading owners manual eventually one brought it to me .
The also mentioned it was much stronger pulling on one side than the other.
They argued & complained cause they had just paid out $ 600 for a deck rebuild and I had to take them to court for the money.
His brother seeing that the other one was working fine brought his in happily paid the money and has been a good customer ever since.
Not only had the used mower robber bodged the deck but he had also fitted a smaller drive belt with the tensioner backwards so it pushed the belt out and away from the left pulley thus it slipped under load.
Now getting back to your mower.
The belt should run ( clockwise ) from the engine to the tensioning idler then around the left spindle pulley then around the centre spindle the around the large ( front ) fixed idler pulley the right spindle pulley , then the right side fixed idler and back to the engine.
The other common problem I see is people putting the large thin idler on the tensioning arm and fitting both the small pulleys into the fixed pulley positions.
Left - right is facing forward as if you were mowing
Finally did you fit the spacer tube between the two bearings ?
Again very common for it to be left out.
Over time they also get mushroomed a bit so when the blades are done up tight the bearings get crushed so resist turning and this gets a lot worse as they get hot.
The commercial customers who get new spindle bearings annually ( recommended service schedule ) get the spacers replaced about every 5 years.
