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Hi Everyone,
I am new a ZTR owner. I bought (from an auction site) a 2013 Gravely ZT60 HD with 180 hours on it. The picture and video looked decent enough, so I pulled the trigger and placed a bid. I purchased the mower at an OK price, but now I am realizing why this unit was sold. When I received the mower, it started fine and the mower deck engaged fine. However, after 5 minutes of mowing, the belt that runs from the electric PTO clutch the mower deck came off. When I went to put the belt back on, I found the electric clutch came off and was dangling by the wire to engage it. I found out that the previous owner had broken off the 3/8" bold that holds the clutch onto the engine right off in the vertical crank (friction was only holding onto the clutch when I received it).
After a couple of hours of work and a few extractor sets, I was able to the broken bolt. I ordered a new bolt with the recommended washer and re-installed the electric clutch. I re-installed the belt, and it ran fine for maybe 30-40 minutes, but the belt came off again. I tightened the spring that attaches to the tension pulley at least 1" - 1.5", but, unfortunately, it has had no affect at the belt coming off.
I gave up and took the tractor to the local Gravely dealer. The dealer listened to it run and said there really shouldn't be that much vibration. I felt and heard the vibration, but since I am new to this mower, I thought it was normal. The dealer called me up the following day and said it needs new belts (all three of them), a new battery and since it was there, I told them to change the oil and filter. I was excited because the answer to my problems was a simple fix. After a week, I picked up the mower, noticed the same vibrations when I was loading it. Took it home, tried mowing, belt falls off after 7 minutes.
I find out the dealer just acquired Gravely this year, but honestly, these guys have no idea what they are doing. I called them up to tell them replacing the belts didn't fix the problem. They responded that they didn't know what was wrong and didn't offer any other suggestions. Also, living in Denver, CO, we do not have a great dealer network (next preferred dealer is 55 miles away). I won't go back to the dealer I took it to.
Any suggestions as what my next step should be? My other option is to cut my losses, dump the mower, and research a mower that will fit my needs (4-5 acres, 2-3 times/month).
Thanks again for reading my novel and thanks in advance for any help!

Search the site.
There is a problem with some of these decks.

When I hear that problem on any decks the first thing I check is all pulleys to see if they are running true and the bearings are good. This means removing the belts spinning the all pulleys. Listen carefully for any whining sounds which mean bad beard. Make sure they don’t wobble, that’s bad. Did you have the blades sharpened and balanced?

I will. Sounds like other people have has the same problem.

Thanks Rivets. I'm going to take it to a friend's house who suggested the same thing. If he can't figure it out, then we have a problem. I'll keep you updated.

I may have fixed my problem. It seems the bolt I ordered to hold the clutch may have been to long or (I hate to admit) I didn't tighten the bolt enough. The other possibility is there is still some fractured bolt left in the vertical shaft. Anyway, I put a second washer with the original washer, tightened the bolt while securing the engine from turning - voila, no more heavy vibrations. I loosened the tensioner bolt back to the original specs and placed the replaced the belt. I mowed for about 20 minutes, belt stayed on and mower felt strong with little vibrations.
As of right now, no more buyers remorse. Once I'm done with my son's birthday party (not his birthday - his friends), I'll go mow 3 acres.
Hopefully ill come back and have good things to say about my Gravely!