Raptor SD 54 inch drive belt keeps coming off

[mhavanti]

92dogs,

Something you do want to check fairly often for loosening up are the 4 fender screws on each side. People have complained about the fenders breaking at the mounting areas. I've not had any problems, however, I check mine every other mowing or when I happen to walk by it. Fender washers will also help. I made a How To video for those that need a bit of help. Not that you would.

Run by my channel, Maxs Garaj Mahal, take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xheendHEBq8

Give me a thumbs up, hit the notification bell, please subscribe and share so i can continue making these videos to help others.

Thank in advance,

Max

 

[92dogs]

92dogs,

Something you do want to check fairly often for loosening up are the 4 fender screws on each side. People have complained about the fenders breaking at the mounting areas. I've not had any problems, however, I check mine every other mowing or when I happen to walk by it. Fender washers will also help. I made a How To video for those that need a bit of help. Not that you would.

Run by my channel, Maxs Garaj Mahal, take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xheendHEBq8

Give me a thumbs up, hit the notification bell, please subscribe and share so i can continue making these videos to help others.

Thank in advance,

Max

Thanks for the advice. I have actually watched quite a few of your videos since getting my Hustler (you have a new subscriber). I have to say I am quite impressed with how well you keep your equipment. On one of your videos you mentioned the mower was a few years old and I thought "WOW, that thing looks brand new".

 

[mhavanti]

Thank you kind Sir. I have been in business since I was born into it. Mainly automotive and machinery. By the way, that was quite a long time ago as I was born at an early age.

I'm not a subscriber to not washing and cleaning your machinery. Common sense dictates you don't pressure wash the bearings, but then, common sense also dictates that cleaning your machinery will provide longevity. It is sitting in the Garaj Mahal awaiting a nice cleaning now other than for the cleaning haters I still have one more video to do before it gets that wash I need to lay on it.

Thanks for subscribing and let me know what it is you'd like to see in the future.

Max

 

[ukrkoz]

Both of my fender mounts broke in the rear. Plastic, I mean.

 

[mhavanti]

ukrkoz,

The thing that causes them to break is the bolts backing out and allowing the fenders to move around untethered. I would weld them back together, then add some more HDPE plastic over the area that broke. Make the upper plastic long enough to also cover the spot the bolts go thru. Then rivet the upper and lower together and use the fender washer fix under the bolt heads. You can also use longer bolts and place a plastic lock nut on the backside. That is quite difficult to do however.

Max

 

[Mower King]

Another thing to look at on the Hustler SD mowers......yes the transaxle bolts all come loose and even break off to let the transaxles tilt, causing the drive belt to come off. When the bolts come loose or break and this happens to your mower, check the cross brace also ( the black brace that supports both transaxles together at the bottom) as it breaks the mounting tabs off of it. When this happens, check the frame mounts that the transaxles bolt to, they break also but unbolt & can be replaced too. Hustler has an improved version of the cross brace now. We have installed several of them. Just a tip......use Loctite when replacing any nuts & bolts....on any mower!

 

[mhavanti]

Mower King is absolutely correct. Good grade fastners and make sure you secure them well.

Thanks Mower King,

Max

 

[TooHappy]

I had this exact problem with my 2 year old, 80 hour Raptor SD 54 inch about 3 months ago.

I took it to the dealer where I bought it for them to look at since it was just under 2 year warranty period.

The parts/service desk guy was going to charge me like $60 for replacing the belt or something and the rest would be covered under warranty but then when we went back to load up the mower on the trailer, the service guy that actually did the work said, "No charge for any of it. This is a known problem with the bolts coming out."

I don't know if it is a "known problem" to just them or to Hustler themselves but I figure if they were doing it for free then they were going to be charging Hustler for the work and that leads me to believe Hustler knows about it.

Anyhow, figured I would give my story in case others run into this same problem.

 

[Tnhustlerowner]

I've had my Raptor SD 54" for 3 years with no issues.
I've been off work for 4 months with a foot injury so our neighbor has been mowing our yard.
Yesterday the belt jumped off and he put it back on and tried to take off again then it broke the belt.
What would be first thing to look for? Bolts loose? Fan damaged?
Just going by what I've been reading as I am going to be unable to get down and check any of these things so I was going to pass the info I can find out to our neighbor who was using the mower.
Thanks for any help

 

[92dogs]

I've had my Raptor SD 54" for 3 years with no issues.
I've been off work for 4 months with a foot injury so our neighbor has been mowing our yard.
Yesterday the belt jumped off and he put it back on and tried to take off again then it broke the belt.
What would be first thing to look for? Bolts loose? Fan damaged?
Just going by what I've been reading as I am going to be unable to get down and check any of these things so I was going to pass the info I can find out to our neighbor who was using the mower.
Thanks for any help

If you look at the back of the mower there are 4 bolts that attaches the left and right transaxle to the frame. Two of them you can see from just standing behind the mower but the other two you will have to look under the mower (they are attached to the transmission crossbrace). What was happening to me was those bolts were coming loose and even breaking which was causing the tension belt to touch the fan blades (especially if your mower goes down a dip or a slope). I eventually replaced all 4 bolts with grade 8 bolts (much stronger) and using Loctite on the screws. This summer I started having the same issue so I finally took it to the dealer I bought it from. They installed a new transaxle cross brace that has been issued by Hustler. Apparently the one that came on it is not very strong causing vibration which was causing the screws to come off. Since getting the new one on (about a week ago) I have mowed twice (4+ acres) and everything is running fine.
So, I would check those 4 bolts first. You might even discover missing bolts. If they are loose or missing, you probably need to see about getting the new transmission cross brace. Otherwise, it will continue to happen.