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IS700z Busting Belts Right & Left
#1
B
BreedloveGuy
B
BreedloveGuy
Our nonprofit wildlife sanctuary bought a new Ferris IS700z last summer to replace several hand-me-downs that we'd been struggling to keep running the previous summer. It was the biggest expense single expense we've taken on in years and we were really excited to get it. Our excitement quickly turned to frustration when our drive belt broke with less than 3 hours on the machine. Within a week the deck belt had also broken. This machine is less than a year old and we have now replaced the drive belt 2x and the deck belt 4x. WTH is going on? The dealer took it back to the shop last month to check all the pulleys for burrs and found nothing. Another dealer suggested we check to make sure the engine is not loose - it's on hard as a rock. The dealer who sold it to us believes that sweetgum balls and pine cones are getting caught under the belts causing them to break - but this much? Can anyone else recommend any fixes. We are about $600 in on maintenance for this thing in the first year for belts alone. Not very happy with Ferris right now.
Thank you!
Thank you!
#2
S
Shughes717
Do you clean off the deck after each use? If you are washing the deck with water after every use you should engage the blades for a couple of minutes to clear the water from the pulleys. Water pooling on top of the pulleys can seep into the bearings causing them to go down. Are you picking the tree limbs up before mowing? Grass build up and limbs caught behind the pulleys can cause belt problems. Is there any slack in the pulley bearings on the deck? If a bearing is going down it could be causing the belt to slip, or the pulley cold be out of line causing damage to the belt. Are the drive and deck belts tight? Loose belts will slip and break. I own a snapper pro s150xt which has the same icd deck and is built on the same frame (snapper pro doesn't have the suspension). I have 120 hours on my mower and have not had to replace any belts.
S
Shughes717
Our nonprofit wildlife sanctuary bought a new Ferris IS700z last summer to replace several hand-me-downs that we'd been struggling to keep running the previous summer. It was the biggest expense single expense we've taken on in years and we were really excited to get it. Our excitement quickly turned to frustration when our drive belt broke with less than 3 hours on the machine. Within a week the deck belt had also broken. This machine is less than a year old and we have now replaced the drive belt 2x and the deck belt 4x. WTH is going on? The dealer took it back to the shop last month to check all the pulleys for burrs and found nothing. Another dealer suggested we check to make sure the engine is not loose - it's on hard as a rock. The dealer who sold it to us believes that sweetgum balls and pine cones are getting caught under the belts causing them to break - but this much? Can anyone else recommend any fixes. We are about $600 in on maintenance for this thing in the first year for belts alone. Not very happy with Ferris right now.
Thank you!
Do you clean off the deck after each use? If you are washing the deck with water after every use you should engage the blades for a couple of minutes to clear the water from the pulleys. Water pooling on top of the pulleys can seep into the bearings causing them to go down. Are you picking the tree limbs up before mowing? Grass build up and limbs caught behind the pulleys can cause belt problems. Is there any slack in the pulley bearings on the deck? If a bearing is going down it could be causing the belt to slip, or the pulley cold be out of line causing damage to the belt. Are the drive and deck belts tight? Loose belts will slip and break. I own a snapper pro s150xt which has the same icd deck and is built on the same frame (snapper pro doesn't have the suspension). I have 120 hours on my mower and have not had to replace any belts.
#3
B
BreedloveGuy
I'll check all those things, Shughes; thanks for the feedback. We do mow some pretty rough terrain here, but that it started so early and has been so frequent has me flustered.
B
BreedloveGuy
Do you clean off the deck after each use? If you are washing the deck with water after every use you should engage the blades for a couple of minutes to clear the water from the pulleys. Water pooling on top of the pulleys can seep into the bearings causing them to go down. Are you picking the tree limbs up before mowing? Grass build up and limbs caught behind the pulleys can cause belt problems. Is there any slack in the pulley bearings on the deck? If a bearing is going down it could be causing the belt to slip, or the pulley cold be out of line causing damage to the belt. Are the drive and deck belts tight? Loose belts will slip and break. I own a snapper pro s150xt which has the same icd deck and is built on the same frame (snapper pro doesn't have the suspension). I have 120 hours on my mower and have not had to replace any belts.
I'll check all those things, Shughes; thanks for the feedback. We do mow some pretty rough terrain here, but that it started so early and has been so frequent has me flustered.
#4
M
mechanic mark
M
mechanic mark
I fully understand, way too much money on new machine. I would return mower to dealer & get money back. Check out Kubota's at nearest dealer, tell them type of terrain and heavy duty use, lastly test drive operating all controls.
#5
KrashnKraka
There are some machines that just will not handle any debri in or
around the drive gear, that's true. I have owned them.
Part of buying in is to check how belts and fans run and how exposed
they are. Some manufactuters fit guards which themselves become a PITA.
Reading you says(to me) you yourself are not operating the machine, if that is the case
I would suggest you find some way to assess if it is indeed the machine setup
or operator error, or something else.
If it proves to be the machine you should seek other input as to setup.
I aint going to say here just how rough my terrain can get but I know for sure
a swathe of pine cones isn't going to be a problem. Branches can be, but WTF
rides over timber?
Look deeper, my friend, deeper.
KK
KrashnKraka
I'll check all those things, Shughes; thanks for the feedback. We do mow some pretty rough terrain here, but that it started so early and has been so frequent has me flustered.
There are some machines that just will not handle any debri in or
around the drive gear, that's true. I have owned them.
Part of buying in is to check how belts and fans run and how exposed
they are. Some manufactuters fit guards which themselves become a PITA.
Reading you says(to me) you yourself are not operating the machine, if that is the case
I would suggest you find some way to assess if it is indeed the machine setup
or operator error, or something else.
If it proves to be the machine you should seek other input as to setup.
I aint going to say here just how rough my terrain can get but I know for sure
a swathe of pine cones isn't going to be a problem. Branches can be, but WTF
rides over timber?
Look deeper, my friend, deeper.
KK
#6
F
floydaharris
F
floydaharris
At 9.9 hours on my IS700Z the mower belt jumped off yesterday. I just finished putting in back on and I found a small piece of pine cone stuck in the groove of the back pulley. Does Ferris have any kind of add on kit or anything to help keep this kind of stuff away from the pulleys? Thanks for any advice.
#7
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
As previous posted, some mowers simply do not handle sticks & stones at all while others run over anything no problems.
I have no specific knowledge of the Ferris model you mention, I rarely see a Ferris down here.
However as you are a charity and as mower companies are always looking for good PR opportunities I suggest that you contact Ferris direct and explain your problem to them.
In particular keep the broken belts, they are very important to the service people as the belt tells them why it broke.
Be humble & truthful, ask them if they think you have the wrong mower for your application.
Being volunteers there is no way every operator in going to do a lawn sweep before each mow and as that is a big mower I assume you have a lot of mowing to do.
Ask for their help.
Being a charity they may be able to do some thing nice for you like refunding your money as a "donation" or swapping the mower for one more suited to your needs in return for an acknowledgement that visitors can see.
If that fails try to return the mower or sell it.
Call in some local landscape maintenance contractors for advice as to what would need to maintain you property.
Take some photos of your unmown lawn, particularly the areas under the trees when the debris tends to build up.
Post your images and if you can a plan of your site.
There are a lot of contractors on this site many of which have to mow rough dirty groundds and do not have the time to rake before hand.
Living in the land of the gum tree I know just how much debris they drop and just how tough some of it can be.
I have no specific knowledge of the Ferris model you mention, I rarely see a Ferris down here.
However as you are a charity and as mower companies are always looking for good PR opportunities I suggest that you contact Ferris direct and explain your problem to them.
In particular keep the broken belts, they are very important to the service people as the belt tells them why it broke.
Be humble & truthful, ask them if they think you have the wrong mower for your application.
Being volunteers there is no way every operator in going to do a lawn sweep before each mow and as that is a big mower I assume you have a lot of mowing to do.
Ask for their help.
Being a charity they may be able to do some thing nice for you like refunding your money as a "donation" or swapping the mower for one more suited to your needs in return for an acknowledgement that visitors can see.
If that fails try to return the mower or sell it.
Call in some local landscape maintenance contractors for advice as to what would need to maintain you property.
Take some photos of your unmown lawn, particularly the areas under the trees when the debris tends to build up.
Post your images and if you can a plan of your site.
There are a lot of contractors on this site many of which have to mow rough dirty groundds and do not have the time to rake before hand.
Living in the land of the gum tree I know just how much debris they drop and just how tough some of it can be.
#8
P
Parrish
P
Parrish
I am a stick mower. no issues with my ferris 700 61 however I did trim the striping kit down, it tends to flip sticks and stuff up onto the deck
#9
D
DougOperations
D
DougOperations
We are a church and have had the exact same thing with the IS700Z. The dealer has brought it back to the shop twice, the Ferris rep has come out and said there was nothing we were doing wrong. We have been through 6 belts in 120 hours of operation.
I can understand the belt popping off the pullies from debris getting onto the deck but the belts are snapping or tearing with no rub marks on them.
We are extremely frustrated. The dealer is out of suggestions and we are at the stage of talking to the Ferris rep about a full refund.
if anyone has found a solution I would love to hear it.
I can understand the belt popping off the pullies from debris getting onto the deck but the belts are snapping or tearing with no rub marks on them.
We are extremely frustrated. The dealer is out of suggestions and we are at the stage of talking to the Ferris rep about a full refund.
if anyone has found a solution I would love to hear it.
#11
B
bertsmobile1
Belts only snap cleanly if an extreme shock load is applied and the belt is too tight and can not slip on the pulleys.
Generally the big belts on mowers with electric clutches are plain belts which when they get hot , get sticky and thus do not slip very well.
If the belts that are breaking are plain, not wrapped then you can try fitting a wrapped belt.
You can also go to a kevlar fiber belt but in sizes over 100 inches wrapped kevlar reinforced belts become very expensive .
you can go to the Gates belt locator and type in the part number.
If Gates make a similar belt it will appear and then if you click on the belt number you will get the belt dimensions so you can then find replacement belts.
In the mean time back off the belt tension a bit and have a good look at the blades for evidence of striking hard things like gutters when moving from car parks to grassed areas.
Forun choked when I tried to post the url so google "Gates belt interchange" and you should be able to find the page
Or try putting the "w" in front of this .gates.com/all-search-tools/automotive-interchange-search-results
B
bertsmobile1
We are a church and have had the exact same thing with the IS700Z. The dealer has brought it back to the shop twice, the Ferris rep has come out and said there was nothing we were doing wrong. We have been through 6 belts in 120 hours of operation.
I can understand the belt popping off the pullies from debris getting onto the deck but the belts are snapping or tearing with no rub marks on them.
We are extremely frustrated. The dealer is out of suggestions and we are at the stage of talking to the Ferris rep about a full refund.
if anyone has found a solution I would love to hear it.
Belts only snap cleanly if an extreme shock load is applied and the belt is too tight and can not slip on the pulleys.
Generally the big belts on mowers with electric clutches are plain belts which when they get hot , get sticky and thus do not slip very well.
If the belts that are breaking are plain, not wrapped then you can try fitting a wrapped belt.
You can also go to a kevlar fiber belt but in sizes over 100 inches wrapped kevlar reinforced belts become very expensive .
you can go to the Gates belt locator and type in the part number.
If Gates make a similar belt it will appear and then if you click on the belt number you will get the belt dimensions so you can then find replacement belts.
In the mean time back off the belt tension a bit and have a good look at the blades for evidence of striking hard things like gutters when moving from car parks to grassed areas.
Forun choked when I tried to post the url so google "Gates belt interchange" and you should be able to find the page
Or try putting the "w" in front of this .gates.com/all-search-tools/automotive-interchange-search-results
#12
Lawnboy18
Lawnboy18
I don't know if this can help, but I was talking about this with a mower mechanic. His dad sells Ferris mowers. He was mentionning that it was in relation with a spring tension. Ferris has it all wrong the way it needs to be adjusted. Just wanted to throw this info onto here. It could help.
#13
M
mountaincut
M
mountaincut
Hopefully you are not still having problems with your Ferris, but if you are listen to this.
I bought an Evolution several years ago and went through two new deck belts after two cuts with each belt (2 1/2 acres). I took the mower to a Ferris dealer for service and their initial diagnosis was something similar to what I read mentioned above. They installed another belt only to have the same problem occur yet again. I loaded up the mower took it back and after replacing bearings and spindles the problem was solved and that was two years ago.
So far I love the mower and keep my fingers crossed that the problem does not occur again, now that it is our of warranty. I would suggest making sure that your belt tension has been properly adjusted to their spec and that you know how to measure the tensioning spring to ensure that everything is correct.
Ferris recommends that the spindles are greased and the bearings oiled (sealed bearings how are you to oil them?) and I am forever checking the tension. Surprisingly my tension setting was 6 1/2" before Ferris was acquired by Briggs, now it is 7" and things are still working alright (fingers still crossed) just finished the first cut of 2016.
I bought an Evolution several years ago and went through two new deck belts after two cuts with each belt (2 1/2 acres). I took the mower to a Ferris dealer for service and their initial diagnosis was something similar to what I read mentioned above. They installed another belt only to have the same problem occur yet again. I loaded up the mower took it back and after replacing bearings and spindles the problem was solved and that was two years ago.
So far I love the mower and keep my fingers crossed that the problem does not occur again, now that it is our of warranty. I would suggest making sure that your belt tension has been properly adjusted to their spec and that you know how to measure the tensioning spring to ensure that everything is correct.
Ferris recommends that the spindles are greased and the bearings oiled (sealed bearings how are you to oil them?) and I am forever checking the tension. Surprisingly my tension setting was 6 1/2" before Ferris was acquired by Briggs, now it is 7" and things are still working alright (fingers still crossed) just finished the first cut of 2016.
#14
S
Switchback
I just bought my 700Z and my dealer told me that I might want to remove the "striper" that comes on the bottom rear of the deck if you have things like sweet gum balls or pine cones because it ha a tendency to flip them up on the deck.
S
Switchback
At 9.9 hours on my IS700Z the mower belt jumped off yesterday. I just finished putting in back on and I found a small piece of pine cone stuck in the groove of the back pulley. Does Ferris have any kind of add on kit or anything to help keep this kind of stuff away from the pulleys? Thanks for any advice.
I just bought my 700Z and my dealer told me that I might want to remove the "striper" that comes on the bottom rear of the deck if you have things like sweet gum balls or pine cones because it ha a tendency to flip them up on the deck.
#15
D
DougOperations
D
DougOperations
Well we had the mower sent back to the manufacturer, they ran it over "rough terrain" for 10 hours and never had an issue. They calibrated everything and sent it back. 2 hours of mowing on our property and the belt broke again. I am sure it is pine cones or sweet gum balls but this is crazy. We are buying the strongest, most expensive belts they make and it still doesn't help. I think the ferris design is flawed for this kind of mowing. I had a gravely in the same area and never had an issue.
#16
W
Wisconsin
I had this happen to the mower I bought this spring. Without seeing any of your mowers I'll tell you to remove your striper kit. It "flicks" debris up into the belts and causes them to break. My dealer knew right away what happened and they gave me the belt for free. I would go back to your dealer and mention the striper kit and get your money back.
W
Wisconsin
Our nonprofit wildlife sanctuary bought a new Ferris IS700z last summer to replace several hand-me-downs that we'd been struggling to keep running the previous summer. It was the biggest expense single expense we've taken on in years and we were really excited to get it. Our excitement quickly turned to frustration when our drive belt broke with less than 3 hours on the machine. Within a week the deck belt had also broken. This machine is less than a year old and we have now replaced the drive belt 2x and the deck belt 4x. WTH is going on? The dealer took it back to the shop last month to check all the pulleys for burrs and found nothing. Another dealer suggested we check to make sure the engine is not loose - it's on hard as a rock. The dealer who sold it to us believes that sweetgum balls and pine cones are getting caught under the belts causing them to break - but this much? Can anyone else recommend any fixes. We are about $600 in on maintenance for this thing in the first year for belts alone. Not very happy with Ferris right now.
Thank you!
I had this happen to the mower I bought this spring. Without seeing any of your mowers I'll tell you to remove your striper kit. It "flicks" debris up into the belts and causes them to break. My dealer knew right away what happened and they gave me the belt for free. I would go back to your dealer and mention the striper kit and get your money back.