Scag ssz shredding drive belts

[eroy2525]

I have a 1997 Scag super Z 52" that is shredding drive belts. About 300 hours of homeowner use on it. I have owned it for 7 years. A couple of weeks ago the drive belt shredded.(probably the original belt) I ordered a new belt and installed. It lasted about 2 hours and it broke. I thought it was maybe just a poor quality belt, so I went to my scag dealer and bought a new scag belt. Installed it, and finished my yard. Today I started mowing and in about 30 minutes it broke too. I cant figure it out. I dont see any reason. The belt tension is spring loaded and adjusts automaticly. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ILENGINE]

Could be caused by a rough spot on a pulley, you are missing a belt guide when you installed the new belt, broken or missing belt guide. something jammed into one of the pulleys causing failure, worn pulley allowing belt to bottom out in the groove.

 

[eroy2525]

Could be caused by a rough spot on a pulley, you are missing a belt guide when you installed the new belt, broken or missing belt guide. something jammed into one of the pulleys causing failure, worn pulley allowing belt to bottom out in the groove.

Thanks for the reply. There are not any belt guides. Belt goes directly from the crankshaft pulley to the pump pulleys and then to an idler pulley. I just jacked it up. I am getting ready to give the pulleys a close exam for wear or damage. I wouldnt think the pulleys would be worn out with 363 hrs on the machine but I cant think of any thing else either.Thanks again.

 

[Mad Mackie]

The bearing in the idler/tensioner pulley may be bad or the tensioner arm may have a bad bushing/bearing and not allowing the pulley to lineup with normal V belt travel run. Make sure that each hydro unit pulley is OK and that each hydro unit is secure. Look for belt dust under the machine which may indicate the problem area.