Just a word of Advice to Craftsman Riding lawnmower owners

[sgkent]

I call BS. How could you not know who the vendor is if it says Dayton, Gates, Continental, or True-Blue (Stens) on it? If you order a Gates belt and they ship a generic belt then send it back. I get OEM stuff all the time from Amazon, Ebay etc., as long as it is a factory sealed never opened part. If it is generic or is open box I am not interested in it. I just went thru this on a pressure washer. The replacement carb the local shop sold me did not work right, but a NOS one from Ebay made it sing. I'll keep the one that didn't work right as a spare because I opened and installed it. Shop has always been good on other parts.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Vendor not manufacturer
OTOH can you tell a fake Gates belt from a real one ?
A warehouse I used to manage despatched stuff sold via Ammozone
The vendor was just a bank account number
He sent the stuff to us & we despatched it , under many different company names for different prices .
I know who Jacks are, I know who Barrets are
I know who eReplacement parts are
But who is "DELONG1" or "Henkeyi" or "Tinsaen" or "OSD-Parts" or "Honoson" or "HuiZeKaiUS" or "CMOODS" or..........
These are the first 6 nameless faceless vendors who came up when I searched for "lawn Mower Belts"
Do any of them actually know what they are selling ?
Amazon is just the platform, like your local church or school is the platform when they have a car boot / trash & treasure sale
Amazon in most cases is not the vendor
The vendor is found at the right side listed as "sold by"
So you buy a container full of fake Gates belts . get the container sent to Ammozone & then either write the add yourself or get Ammozone to do the listing for you ( additional fees apply)
Ammozone are not required to check the products are real because they are just the platform and in some cases also provide the logistics.
No checks anywhere apart from the bank account where the fees are drawn from exists & Ammozone can make withdrawls to cover the listing & despatch fees .
You could not set up a business to sell fake / stolen goods any better than this .
When your container is all sold, you close the Ammozone account , shift the money to an off shore account that is not trackable or recoverable by US authorities and of course can not be found when it is time to pay the taxes .
Freddy the fence would be salivating over such a system to flog off his stolen goods
And Evilpay is exactly the same .
The gutless government will not regulate either of them because they are both very wealthy companies and of course Bezos is a national hero in the USA .
The only difference between the two of them is Ammozone also had a warehousing / logistics side which makes it harder to scam people by selling products that do not exist .

And you can not contact any of the "vendors" directly
You can not do a Google street view search to see what is at the address because there is none because most of the vendors are just some one in a dunny with a computer, ordering rubbish & getting it sent to Ammozone .
The Mafia could not have done it better

 

[StarTech]

Mentioning Stens Tru Blue belts so they have been to spec. Just remember these are even inch sized belts. And yes Stens can send you belts that not to spec too. I had return a couple that were supposed to be 1/2 x 103 which did not work. I measured them and they were 1/2 x 104. Quite unusual as most belts are short when not to spec.

Just don't fall the hype about the Tru Blue plastic fuel lines. They claimed they don't shrink or get hard in ethanol. Well I tested them submerged in 10% Ethanol two cycle mix for one month. They did both. I just threw out the line and went back Tygon F-4040 line along Echo rubber lines.

In a shop setup we usually don't have time to take chance on ordering belts and having them not fit right and having to re-order the OEM belts. For me the OEM cost are just about the same if not lower than many of the aftermarkets when you consider all the time and money wasted trying to a size that will work right. Anytime I order a new from any place other than my OEM distributors I measure them before I even try installing them just to save time installing a wrong sized belt.

With all the belt problems I had Sunbelt [A&I] has made me very leery of any after market belt. I can however usually trust the belts sold by D and D through Amazon to be what they claim.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I love a good belt debate LOL. EVERY belt a customer has ever supplied has been the wrong belt. People think they are saving money by providing parts themselves. And of course it will be the cheapest part off the internet. My favorite is the guy who buys a JD maint kit of air filter, oil filter, fuel filter 2 spark plugs and 2 quarts of oil and paid $80 for it to save money on my markup. Problem was he got the wrong kit opened it and threw the box away. The belt thing has been beat pretty much to death. Buyer beware and do your homework.

 

[StarTech]

I love a good belt debate LOL. EVERY belt a customer has ever supplied has been the wrong belt. People think they are saving money by providing parts themselves. And of course it will be the cheapest part off the internet. My favorite is the guy who buys a JD maint kit of air filter, oil filter, fuel filter 2 spark plugs and 2 quarts of oil and paid $80 for it to save money on my markup. Problem was he got the wrong kit opened it and threw the box away. The belt thing has been beat pretty much to death. Buyer beware and do your homework.

Now you know why I insist on equipment numbers. So many think every engine or mower is the same setup and they are not.

Just taking a break from a disappointing repair where I thought I just need a cylinder head for a FR730 when instead someone had ran it without oil and destroyed the engine block along the piston and rod. A whole morning wasted.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Now you know why I insist on equipment numbers. So many think every engine or mower is the same setup and they are not.

Just taking a break from a disappointing repair where I thought I just need a cylinder head for a FR730 when instead someone had ran it without oil and destroyed the engine block along the piston and rod. A whole morning wasted.

Well, that's a bummer. Hope your day gets better.
And if you are working on JD equipment you must have the serial number along with the model. An example is the Z425 mower. It has 3 completely different hydros and engine combos depending on the year. They have mower decks with the same model that are slightly different and you need the serial no to tell which one you have as the parts lists pictures look identical. I enjoy going into the JD dealer and telling Kim at the parts counter "I need a part for my mower. The mower is green and the part is black and about this big" she usually indicates i am her number one customer. And tells me to give her my phone as i always take a picture of the equipment tag.

 

[ILENGINE]

Now you know why I insist on equipment numbers. So many think every engine or mower is the same setup and they are not.

Just taking a break from a disappointing repair where I thought I just need a cylinder head for a FR730 when instead someone had ran it without oil and destroyed the engine block along the piston and rod. A whole morning wasted.

And even then that is no guarantee. Just went through that with a customers Cub Cadet. 2012 model that by the model number and the sticker under the hood used a certain belt. The issue is the deck has been replaced with one from a 2014 of the same model number but used a completely different deck.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I have been waiting in line at the parts counter at the JD dealer and can't believe how stupid grown men can be. Things i have heard.
I don't know the model number. I bought it here. Don't you know it? I need a chain for my saw. It's a stihl. I need blades for my mower. It's a 42 or a 48 not sure which. I need a new belt. (holds up a completely shredded belt). I need a new spark plug. I would last about 1 day working the parts counter before i had to off someone.

 

[StarTech]

And you can't even on the fact the serial number are right either. I ran into several years ago that the break was off by at 1000. It made a difference of 1 inch on the drive belt.

 

[sgkent]

I think the problem may be some are lying about what they are measuring the belt with.