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Hi There,

We have some friends with a John Deere LTR 180, I'm writing this on behalf of them.

The mower drives and rides perfectly when the deck is off however when attached, it causes nothing but problems. Every time it is started, the drive that comes directly from under the engine seen here:

seems to be constantly spinning. I'm not very experienced with these smaller mowers but I presume it's supposed to always spin? The problem is that the spinning drive continuously rubs on the belt, eventually getting so hot that it smokes and smells of burning rubber. This has happened 3 times now, the mower would usually stall when you engage the deck too. Although as this is the 3rd time it's happened now, I just shut the mower off without even trying to engage it. It's had 3 belts replaced on it now.

I've posted some more images below if it helps anyone who might be able to diagnose the issue.







Any help would be very much appreciated.

Ben.

the way that old belt looks, i would check for any burrs or sharpness in the grooves of the idler pulleys,
That pulley up front is the crankshaft pulley and should always spin, Another thing i do when someone has blades that always spin is check to be sure they have the correct belt.
I did find the parts list, https://partscatalog.deere.com/jdrc/navigation/equipment/65576
It appears the correct belt is 110" in length and 1/2" wide V belt, is that what you got?

First verify that the after market you are using is actually 110" OD in length as many are not what are label as especially the A&I (Sunbelt). Measure it and don't trust the labeling. I had so much problems with them coming in one inch short I had to quit buying them.

Now the JD M152630 belt is .559" x 110.338" so a standard .5" x 110" should work.

@StarTech @Scrubcadet10 Thank you both for your help. I'll pass the information on and hopefully, we'll be able to fix it.

I may be totally wrong, but is the belt guide by the stack pulley mounted in the proper location? I normally see the belt going straight back to the deck pulley. Just a thought.

Buy an OEM belt. That looks to be an aftermarket kevlar V-belt.

StarTech said:

First verify that the after market you are using is actually 110" OD in length as many are not what are label as especially the A&I (Sunbelt). Measure it and don't trust the labeling. I had so much problems with them coming in one inch short I had to quit buying them.

Now the JD M152630 belt is .559" x 110.338" so a standard .5" x 110" should work.

Click to expand...

Here at work, we buy tons of belts for our air handlers. You can buy 8 of the same belt from the same maker. Non are the same size. Changing brands, same thing.