So a friend gave me his l111 because it wouldn't start and he went and bought a new one. So I replaced the solenoid and it is running good. But unfortunately after mowing the grass the belt ended up breaking. So after looking on Amazon the belts they have listed have all been the same complaints of them stretching. Just curious if anyone has used a after market belt or should it be only the john Deere belt.
L111
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bertsmobile1
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Cheap belts stretch, quality kevlar ones do not stretch.
Having said that cheap belts also wear very quickly so they get thin & go loose, even if they are kevlar belts.
Most mower shopd will hae a range of quality aftermarket belts that are as good as the originals.
Howevr if you shop wher people go the get the cheapest possble belts then do not be surprised if that is exactly what you get.
Having said that cheap belts also wear very quickly so they get thin & go loose, even if they are kevlar belts.
Most mower shopd will hae a range of quality aftermarket belts that are as good as the originals.
Howevr if you shop wher people go the get the cheapest possble belts then do not be surprised if that is exactly what you get.
wrldtvlr
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JD doesn't make belts themselves - they have one of the belt manufacturers do that for them. The question is whether JD can get the belt manufacturer to make a belt to their (presumably higher) spec, or are they just having their name printed on the belt?
Well I bought john Deere labeled belt at home depot simply because it's Florida and I usually now my grass twice a week. But I have gotten belts from amazon for my Murray and never had a issue. But was surprised to see that belts for the JD even pricey ones people had so many issues with. The belt that was on it was stretched and ended up breaking.but to spend 50 bucks for the belt and solenoid to get a free mower running was still worth it. Just future I'll look for something a lil different.
Hammermechanicman
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My 1976 internationl 184 LoBoy has the original Gates fan belt on it. My mid 70's Sears ST12 has the original drive belt on it. The saying they don't make them like they used to is true for belts. India seems to be the place most belts are coming from now. Can't always trust OEM either. I ordered 2 OEM MTD belts from a distributor. Both had the same sleeve with same part number on belts. One was white and one was green. It was obvious the white belt was better quality.
bertsmobile1
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And the Gates number is 6651BR which should be made in the USA
The Stens belts usually come from Mexico
NOW belts do not stretch
They wear thin so sit deeper in the pulleys thus become slack
If a belt goes slack almost instantly then the pulleys are stuffed and in particular the very small drive pulley.
In the old days pulleys were cast iron and these lasted almost indefinately
Modern pulleys are almost universally pressed steel and because of this wear thin & polish so even a JD belt starts to slip almost instantly.
Once belts stat to slip they wear even quicker & are internally damaged so will tend to break with the slightest provocation.
I lost a customer because I pointed out the stack pulley was worn beyond use.
The customer had alreay replaced all of the drive train including the $ 1400 tranny where as all he really needed was a $ 200 pulley.
From the reviews I don't think everyone had a bad pulley. I do have a Kevlar belt on my Murray so it has lasted awhile. This belt snapped when the blade got stuck running over a dog toy they left for me. Thankfully it didn't do any other damage but the belt seemed cheap and was having issues of it slipping off of it already. Also all the pulleys and spindles were just replaced less than a few months ago.