ZT52HD DECK VIBRATION FIX

sbrilla11

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Guys, after going to 2 dealers last fall and finding no solution for the deck vibrations (harmonics) I finally got my 52 HD out and decided to fix it on my own. After looking over it was obvious it was related to the tensioner. If you look at the way the arm was designed the pivot point gives the idler pulley twice as much mechanical advantage over the spring. I ended up machining a new arm with pivot point that is twice distance giving the spring the mechanical advantage. The vibrations are about the same however the horrible noise is now gone! The spring vibrates half as much as it used to. If you guys are interested I can post a picture of what I did.
 

Cphillips82

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Guys, after going to 2 dealers last fall and finding no solution for the deck vibrations (harmonics) I finally got my 52 HD out and decided to fix it on my own. After looking over it was obvious it was related to the tensioner. If you look at the way the arm was designed the pivot point gives the idler pulley twice as much mechanical advantage over the spring. I ended up machining a new arm with pivot point that is twice distance giving the spring the mechanical advantage. The vibrations are about the same however the horrible noise is now gone! The spring vibrates half as much as it used to. If you guys are interested I can post a picture of what I did.

Please post im having this issue too!
 

Cphillips82

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Please post details!

Thanks

Too bad he wont respond to us. Was curious does it seem like with yours there is too much belt slack? It seems like potentially the main issue may be that the excessive slack in the belt causes the entire deck to vibrate too much. Theres several moments where the belt isnt whipping so much when the rattle/vibration stops and then it starts flopping around more and it rattles the whole mower. Is there a way to tighten the belt? Might be an easy fix if we can.
 

Cphillips82

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I was just out tinkering with it. I attached a small rope to the left side deck spring and pulled on it to create more tension on the belt while the blades were engaged. I found that this greatly reduced the noise. So now I'll speak with the dealer in the morning to get his thoughts on this. Bad spring or belt maybe?
 

Cphillips82

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The plot thickens...I just spoke with a different dealer than the one I bought mine from. Because this dealer sells so many Gravely's they speak frequently with higher ups at Gravely and there IS FOR SURE AN ISSUE WITH THE 52" ZT HD. The 60" and 48" don't make the rattle but it is a common complaint that Gravely is aware of (though they probably won't admit it now until there's a fix). The person I spoke with was very helpful and took a lot of time to talk with me despite it being of no benefit to them. She will give me a call as she finds out more and if there becomes a recall.
 

Cphillips82

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I've posted a video of my rattle noise on youtube. Search Gravely zt hd 52 rattle noise and you'll see it. I also sent it to Arien's support 2 weeks ago and just got a call today from someone at Ariens. He wasn't sure what the issue is exactly but recognized that it's not normal and was going to contact my dealer on my behalf to get it in for service and figure out the problem. He was just guessing but thought perhaps it was a problem with that belt or perhaps one of the pulleys has an issue. I feel relieved now at least having someone from the company trying to help me get it fixed. If/when the dealer figures out the problem I will post again.
 

tbzep

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Thanks for posting the video. I was beginning to wonder if my HD52 had the same issue and I was just oblivious to it. I'm happy to say mine isn't doing that so it doesn't happen with all of them.
 

Cphillips82

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Thanks for posting the video. I was beginning to wonder if my HD52 had the same issue and I was just oblivious to it. I'm happy to say mine isn't doing that so it doesn't happen with all of them.

If you get a chance would you mind looking at your left side deck belt with the blades engaged and seeing if it has as much slack as mine does in my video? Would be much appreciated.
 
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