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Hello everyone. New to the forums. I came here to get help with my 42" MTD lawn tractor.

My deck seems to be crooked. I noticed it when I changed my deck belt. the "driver's side" is forward of the "passenger side" by a lot. This causes the belt to slip when mowing. I can take the belt off by hand in the raised/blade off position. I didn't hit anything, so I never really looked at it until I reassembled the hanger brackets. The deck seems "sloppy". I can move it forward and backward a little bit. I don't see any of the brackets or pulleys bent. How can I get this deck back straight? I saw the prices for new decks online. I'm not going there!!

I will post pics when I can.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: According to the manual, my deck is the "G" deck.

A model and serial number would be helpful, but from some of the information that you gave, I am guessing it is an older model with the one lever engagement and height control. The deck on the older models did sit at a good angle, to achieve the required blade overlap, so what you are seeing may be normal. The other thing about those older hangar type decks was the holes in the deck get worn, and it doesn't take much to get a lot of slop in the deck.

The main thing to look at is the condition of the belt. Is it glazed, or burnt on the surface. Also over time the engine pulley will open allowing the belt to bottom out, which will cause slippage. Also make sure you are using MTD oem belts. Generic off the shelf belts won't work properly.

On my 1988 38" MTD; the deck is closer to the rear tire on the Right Side.

Double Check with the manual, to make sure that the Deck Bracket's are connected properly.

On my Mower, it has Belt Guide's, on the Deck Pulley's as well as the Engine Drive Shaft Pulley, to prevent the Belt from coming off.

Make sure that you got the Correct Size Belt for your Mower.

I just changed out the Deck Belt on mine,, and it was a tight fit. I've alway's used an MTD Belt, so I don't know about the after market belt's.

Good Luck

MTD is one of the brands you have to use a MTD belt on them.

Number one reason a belt comes off is belt is old.

Thanks everyone. The belt is a brand new Gates# 6904. Couldn't find 6402BR. It's the green belt. I haven't had problems with this brand of belt and I've had the mower for 3 years. This problem is recent. I haven't tried the belt tension fix with lengthening the rod. Don't know if it would help. The guides are in place on the engine pulley. The blade pulleys don't have guides. Just covers, and they're off at the moment (just replaced the belt). I noticed that when I engage the blades, the deck does have resistance and moves back like it should, but the square plate with the big hole in it bottoms out against the transmission case. It won't move any farther back. If it would, the blades would have more tension on them. Could something be bent? I work nights, and have limited time in the afternoon to look at this.

I should also note that the blade engagement handle will not go into the last slot at the bottom. I would never cut in that position, but it might be an indication of the problem.

On another note, I would like to thank the informative posters on this site. Before I joined, I found a solution to a "won't start with new battery" problem I had. Adjusted my valves to .005 and it runs like new. Only now...it won't cut the grass!

I will post the model and serial numbers tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help.

With the plate hitting the tranny means one of two things. Either the pins are worn on the linkage, or the belt is toooooooooooooooooooo longggggggggggggg. Part of the reason everybody says you have to use MTD belts is they are not 5/8 width like the conversion tables say. They are 23/32 width.

Thanks, I will look into that. As promised, here are the numbers:

Model# 13AF693G118

Serial# 1C142B70342

I have used this belt for years, without issue. If I have a worn out hanger assembly, a shorter belt would solve the problem.

Next thing I would like to find is the service manual for this lawn mower. Any ideas on that?

On the correct belt issue, every belt online that claims OEM is 5/8" in width. Who has the 23/32"? How can I tell the difference?

That's the thing, the 5/8 width that MTD says is actually 23/32. Then you throw in the proprietry features and the belt will sit different in the pulleys.

Going on days off tomorrow. Should be able to look at the mower then. Long stretch of good weather after today, so I should be able to fix this problem. Will post back at a "normal" time in the next couple days.

Thanks, everyone.

Hello again, everyone. Happy to report that all is well in the mower dept. It would seem that an MTD belt did in fact solve my problem. Lucky for me my local Lowes stocks the belt I needed. I took the brand new Gates belt off and compared it to the MTD belt. What I found was the MTD belt is slightly shorter, and I mean slightly shorter! Once I engaged the blades, I heard the sweet sound of the blades turning with a purpose. I was able to finally cut my grass!

Thanks to everyone who suggested this fix. I would never have guessed this as the solution, having used the "wrong" belt for so long.

The only downside to this is, while in town, my wife was "this close" to letting me buy another lawn mower. Guess that won't happen now! LOL!!

Thanks again, I am back to mowing the lawn regularly.

mdupre07 said:

Hello again, everyone. Happy to report that all is well in the mower dept. It would seem that an MTD belt did in fact solve my problem. Lucky for me my local Lowes stocks the belt I needed. I took the brand new Gates belt off and compared it to the MTD belt. What I found was the MTD belt is slightly shorter, and I mean slightly shorter! Once I engaged the blades, I heard the sweet sound of the blades turning with a purpose. I was able to finally cut my grass!

Thanks to everyone who suggested this fix. I would never have guessed this as the solution, having used the "wrong" belt for so long.

The only downside to this is, while in town, my wife was "this close" to letting me buy another lawn mower. Guess that won't happen now! LOL!!

Thanks again, I am back to mowing the lawn regularly.

Click to expand...

Did she use the money you saved to buy new curtains. Way to go Mrs. Dupre.

SeniorCitizen said:

Did she use the money you saved to buy new curtains. Way to go Mrs. Dupre.

Click to expand...

No, but she does need new curtains, though...:laughing:

The only downside to this is, while in town, my wife was "this close" to letting me buy another lawn mower. Guess that won't happen now! LOL!!

Click to expand...

Well Good.

Now you know how I feel, when I've seen my neighbor's that have purchased New Mower's during the 26 Year's that I've had my MTD.

I keep Serviceing and Fixing the Old Mower,, and I'm beginning to think that I'll never get to purchase a Brand New Mower again, EVER... :smile:

However I did just finish painting mine again for the 2nd time since 1988. Maybe the Neighbor's will notice My New Mower... :smile:

Glad you got it going again, but beware, these MTD's can be made to live a long and productive Life.

mdupre07 said:

Hello again, everyone. Happy to report that all is well in the mower dept. It would seem that an MTD belt did in fact solve my problem. Lucky for me my local Lowes stocks the belt I needed. I took the brand new Gates belt off and compared it to the MTD belt. What I found was the MTD belt is slightly shorter, and I mean slightly shorter! Once I engaged the blades, I heard the sweet sound of the blades turning with a purpose. I was able to finally cut my grass!

Thanks to everyone who suggested this fix. I would never have guessed this as the solution, having used the "wrong" belt for so long.

The only downside to this is, while in town, my wife was "this close" to letting me buy another lawn mower. Guess that won't happen now! LOL!!

Thanks again, I am back to mowing the lawn regularly.

Click to expand...

And now you have figured out why we keep talking about OEM belts on MTD.

Yes. I do.