Export thread

I put a new belt on and it spat it off after 20min in long grass I put it back on but spat it virtually straight away I'm not sure if its missing belt guides etc
Anyone got any ideas as to whats going on with it

Not without some photos
Loose spindle housing, broken housing , jambed blade big lump of debris stuck in a pulley.
Want another 20 or so ?

I checked all that when it can off the first time
Is there any belt guides that prevent the belt from riding off?

Apart from the ones around the engine sprocket usually not for an electric PTO as it is tight all the time
Look up the IPL for your mower and check what is shown against what you have in front of you

bertsmobile1 said:

Apart from the ones around the engine sprocket usually not for an electric PTO as it is tight all the time
Look up the IPL for your mower and check what is shown against what you have in front of you

Click to expand...

ok I'll have a look thanks
Ive been looking for a manual but cant find one ...do you have any pics

No
But lets make sure we are talking about the same mower
That is a Bolens Suburban Tractor ST 160 model 3016 from 1982 to 1984 .

1.Chinese belts in the wrong size or pitch.
2.Bad bearings in the idler pulleys.
3.Spindles going out.
4.Grass or a dead cat where it shouldn't be.
5.More grass up "in" there.
6.Deck not sitting level. Wrong deck for the mower??

slomo

slomo said:

1.Chinese belts in the wrong size or pitch.
2.Bad bearings in the idler pulleys.
3.Spindals going out.
4.Grass or a dead cat where it shouldn't be.
5.More grass up "in" there.
6.Deck not sitting level. Wrong deck for the mower??

slomo

Click to expand...

The mower deck came with the machine (48inch)
belts purchased from Sam's Bowlen parts
Bearings& spindles in good order and no grass on top of the deck

Does there have to be a certain amount of tension on the belt? If so how is it measured?

Tension yes. It's what keeps the belt on. Should have an idler pulley with a stout spring under there.

Bertsmobile1 will tell you exactly how many Newton kilo gram inch pounds there should be LOL. Joking of course. Bert is a VERY smart guy.

slomo

bertsmobile1 said:

No
But lets make sure we are talking about the same mower
That is a Bolens Suburban Tractor ST 160 model 3016 from 1982 to 1984 .

Click to expand...

Hi mate Slomo told me you maybe able to tell me how much tension should be on the spring for the belt tensioner
42inch cut
Thanks, Jonathan

HE was having a dig at me
With the PTO engaged you should be able to turn the engine over by pulling on the belt
If the belt slips, it is not tight enough .

Jonathan67 said:

I put a new belt on and it spat it off after 20min in long grass I put it back on but spat it virtually straight away I'm not sure if its missing belt guides etc
Anyone got any ideas as to whats going on with it

Click to expand...

I've got one of those. Had similar problems. I created belt guides using long bolts, spacers, and large flat washers, from deck up to covers. That fixed the occasional belt jump. I'm sure you can figure out where to put one or two....

Of course, any pulley that doesn't spin freely will amplify the problem.

bertsmobile1 said:

HE was having a dig at me
With the PTO engaged you should be able to turn the engine over by pulling on the belt
If the belt slips, it is not tight enough .

Click to expand...

LOL .....Ok ill give that a go

OCFarmer said:

I've got one of those. Had similar problems. I created belt guides using long bolts, spacers, and large flat washers, from deck up to covers. That fixed the occasional belt jump. I'm sure you can figure out where to put one or two....

Of course, any pulley that doesn't spin freely will amplify the problem.

Click to expand...

mmm that sounds easy enough ill have a look at that

Jonathan67 said:

I put a new belt on and it spat it off after 20min in long grass I put it back on but spat it virtually straight away I'm not sure if its missing belt guides etc
Anyone got any ideas as to whats going on with it

Click to expand...

Is there supposed to be a tensioner?

Sdrawding said:

Is there supposed to be a tensioner?

Click to expand...

Yes. From the engine PTO pulley, follow the belt back to the deck. On one leg, there is a solidly mounted flat-faced pulley. On the other, there is another flat-faced pulley mounted on a swivel arm, with a heavy spring pulling it away from the PTO. The other pulleys -- one on each spindle and the other an idler -- are v-faced.

bertsmobile1 said:

HE was having a dig at me
With the PTO engaged you should be able to turn the engine over by pulling on the belt
If the belt slips, it is not tight enough .

Click to expand...

Honestly not a dig at all. I'm just impressed when you answer some topics and I realize what a stupid moron I am.

You see I come from Oklahoma. We are number 48 out of the 50 states in high school graduate testing scores. Lots of morons around here (me). Funny part is all our teachers want raises again. Also did a huge teacher walk out on the students to the State Capitol, in protest. I'm thinking let's raise those test scores THEN we talk raises. Anyway Bert I think you are someone I could learn a ton from.

slomo

I have always lived by the "Teach a man to fish philosophy ".
Now a lot of this is because I was taught to read and then I was taught to question what I read, and this was before I went to school .
Then an engineering / science education taught me to always look for the possible failure point and when some thing failed look for why .
Apart from repairing mowers in partnership with a friend we do electrical repairs to old British motorcycles.
Now you can not find a more simple wiring scheme , except perhaps on mowers yet I am always flabbergasted by the number of people who can nut fathom out very simple circuits .
Then there is the "Calculator Generation" followed by the "Computer Generation"
You can pick them because they post things like 9.28KΩ as if the 280Ω means anything because for them the actual number is more important that what it means or how it is created , right down to the last decimal place on the screen .

You can tell some one to gut off the purple wire & join the green to the blue , but that teaches them , and any one else reading the thread nothing unless they can understand why they are cutting off the purple wire and what joining the blue & green together does .

Over time I have had at least 20 men trying to make a living cutting grass come through the shop who were functionally illiterate and to a man I took the effort to make them understand what was happens & why what they were doing was wrong.
As such it probably cost me $ 500 or more in unbilled time but 14 of them are still customers and are now making a reasonable living despite not being able to understand my invoices unless I show them all the replaced parts & show them why they failed.
OTOH, the Husqvarna dealer sold several of them better than $ 20,000 worth of equiptment , most of which they never used and in one case happily sold him a new chain every time his saw was blunt & a new battery whenever his went flat, because he was running the engine at 1/2 speed to prevent it wearing out .

A moron is some one who is pig ignorant and refuses all attempts to educate them while perpetuating ignorant ideas , and in particular conspiracies.
You sir do not fit that bill .