Keep breaking belts

[Devin]

My 2044 deck keeps breaking belts. It's a 1987 grasshopper 1212 with a 2044 deck. Checked all pullies and they spin free and no noise

 

[gsim]

Could be as simple as tension too tight on belts. Or it may be that original owher got tired of tension springs breaking and installed some other means of maintaining belt tension. ( I did that on my 72" deck, no issues from it to date) Does your deck use tension spring, or is it mechanically tensioned by other means?

 

[StarTech]

I have seen bearings to have a rough spot that would hang and snap belts. I have replaced several idlers on various mowers because of this. Usually snap at startups.