Recently lost ground belt on Z248f mower. Belt replaced but now mower has a hard time moving. A little better in reverse but not much. No noticeable problem before belt was lost. Belt is tight and is not slipping on drive pulley. Are there any adjustments I am missing? Hope to hear from some of you experts on hydraulic motors. There is a video on you tube on repairing these unites but may be a bit much for my 84yo eye. pt# 510 37 56-01 and 510 37 56-02 , right and left. Made by Hydro Gear.
No. It is on correctly and I crossed referenced the part number plus measured it. I have called many shops in my area and no one rebuilds the unit. If my sight was better I would have a go at it, instructions being on line and all parts available. Hydro Gear is mute, because they are unreachable.
#4
StarTech
Have yu made sure the idler arm is not binding. On the two that I service they are bad to stick up.
After many phone calls yesterday, I have learned no one wants to work on these things. An hour or two searching I purchased a set for $1500 including tax and shipping with a 5 day delivery. The rest of mower is in good shape so I hope this purchase was a good move. Compared to a new one I know it is. I re-watched the repair video and it doesn't look too hard fixing, just time. I may attempt one just to say I did it.
#7
Hammermechanicman
Good luck. It appears the unit has 2 separate wheel hydro units. They unusually don't both fail at the same time.
#8
sgkent
I'd be checking all mounting bolts and alignments. Belts can wear out and simply fail, or they can fail as a result of something else breaking, sudden forces like hitting something, or being out of alignment over time. Just replacing a belt does not fix any underlying conditions that may have caused the prior one to fail.
I am baffled too because both have failed. Only explanation I can think of is one failed and I kept using the mower until the other one failed as well. Thinking back to the day, I remember the right side being sluggish. I was spreading lawn feed, driving in an oval pattern always turning toward the right. I swear there is no other explanation and for sure one side is completely gone, and the other is almost gone. The mower has been checked out by a local shop to confirm my suspicions'. No contributing factors were discovered. Apparently, I overworked the left side once the right side became faulty, trying to beat a rainstorm. I was working about 1 acre.
Finally the mower is running. After taking to a shop I was told both motors were bad. I searched and purchased the best deal for both and delivered to shop. After a week the shop called to say both drive motors were installed but still would not operate so they were taking it to a dealer repair shop. A week later my mower is ready. The dealer said my mower had a bad belt which was on wrong, and incorrect idler pulley. ???? I had replaced the belt when this all happened and the pulley has been on mower for years. I had checked the pulley (always) when changing belt and was okay. His number on invoice for both are the same number I used when purchasing the belt.
I am baffled to say the least. There are only two pulleys common to both motors, idler and clutch. Also there is only one way the belt can go around all pulleys. Mower does have a new belt and edler. The unit is working fine now but I'm scratching my head! If the belt was on and had tension, and turned when clutch was engaged, why wouldn't the drive motors operate correctly?
#11
bkeller500
It sounds like it was all about the belt routing. somehow it must have been installed incorrectly. There should be a belt diagram available on-line or from one of those dealers to look at.
It sounds like it was all about the belt routing. somehow it must have been installed incorrectly. There should be a belt diagram available on-line or from one of those dealers to look at.
I know, but this belt can only go on one way for the idler to function. In the back of my mind I think the repair shop didn't want to share what they did with my shop. My shop is scratching also. I have belt routing diagram and I'm sure my shop would have found something that simple. ??????????
#13
StarTech
I think the first didn't know what they were doing. I see this a lot around here even some the brick and mortar shops are a hopeless cause at times as they hire unqualified techs.
As said it is rare for both units to fail at the same time.
I think the first didn't know what they were doing. I see this a lot around here even some the brick and mortar shops are a hopeless cause at times as they hire unqualified techs.
As said it is rare for both units to fail at the same time.
You may be correct in that. I told the shop I wanted the old units. I want to jig up a test stand and check them out. I'll have to get the rpm from somewhere, then jury rig to a electric motor. I'm thinking they will check out ok assuming the routing was a problem to begin with. I've made mistakes before, but I have changed this belt several times in the past. I couldn't sleep last night from thinking about this. lol
The one thing you’ll never know is if the first shop you took it to changed the belt and routed it wrong. If they replaced the motors and routed the belt wrong, it wouldn’t work properly for them. They threw in the towel and you had to go to a second shop. I hate to say this, but there is a shop near me that has done things like this for many years. One time they told the customer her engine was bad and replaced the engine. I told her that when she picked it up, to make sure she got the bad engine back for parts. I tore the engine down and found nothing wrong. She went back to ask them about this, but they claimed she’d been give the wrong engine. When she showed them her owners. manual with all unit and engines numbers written on it, they ended up giving her all money back, plus both engines. It helped when she let them know her brother was an attorney in town.
#16
Hammermechanicman
Unfortunately a lot of small shops don't have techs with the skillset needed for some jobs they take on. One around here uses the Remington method of electrical troubleshooting with the parts shotgun.
#17
sgkent
unfortunately the parts shotgun method is common on everything these days. Attention span deficit disorder is so prevalent that many do not have the patience to watch something for the five minutes needed to figure out why something doesn't work.
#18
Hammermechanicman
I spent 40 years as a service rep. One of the big frustrations was trying to teach young guys to do logical troubleshooting. They thought anytime a status code popped up the book would say "change X part" never that simple. Some of them even googled the problem. WTF? you have a service manual. Most were too lazy to study the machine theory of operatuon so they knew how the machine worked. Asked a guy to do a voltage drop test on a 3 phase motor to check power through the run contactor and connections and got the deer in the headlights look. Nothing like hiring people to work on 100 amp 3 phase equipment with zero 240volt and 3 phase experience.
#19
StarTech
Or having them lie about their experience without references. When first moved and setup shop here I had several asking for me to put them to work. Most couldn't diagnose simple problems that were already in the shop. I actually had one to tell one of my customers he knew all about mowers and was cheaper than my shop. So the customer let at one of his mowers. A couple later the customer call me out to look at the mower. Boy what a mess the kid made of mower deck. Six bearings in place of two. and no spacer washer.
Now I admit I would need to do a little reading on three phase but single phase is a piece of cake to trobleshoot; though, I loved giving other techs at training schools headaches with missing neutrals.
I rigged up a test stand with a 1.5 HP pump motor. I checked both hydraulic motors and both checked acceptable. I guess I may have put a new belt on incorrectly but for the life of me I don't see how. Any way the belt is put on except correctly, there is no tension. When I put in on, then the shop had it off and reinstalled there was good tension and idler was working as it should. A belt usually lasts about 1 year so a year from now I will try this same procedure again, hopefully with better results. lol
