50" Deck Eating Belts
 

Okay - I have a 782 with a 50C deck. I have put on three deck drive belts in the past two months. Since belts aren't cheap, I need to find the remedy. I sold a snowblower to a man from around here and he said his SGT was doing the same thing. He purchased a NOS mule drive and it took care of the problem. I am afraid that the mule drive pullies or brackets are bent and causing the belt to rub excessively on one side or the other.

I talked to my local dealer and asked them what they had to say - seemed pretty knowledgable. However, they were telling me that my mule drive pullies should face straight backwards. It seems that's right on a 38" deck, but my deck belt has to saddle the lift arm. I think that if the mule drive pullies were faced straight back it would be a bigger problem.

Has anybody faced this before? If so, do you have a decent starting point for me?

Are you using OEM belts, and is everything lined up properly?

Are you pulleys beat up, if so that's your problem.

Examine each pulley to see if it is in good shape. No "nicks" or worn pulley grooves. Next, is the pulley bearing in good shape, no wobble, and turn freely. Belt and pulley alignment is imperative. Make sure by "line of sight" or a straight edge, that the route the belt travels is correct. Lastly, I have discovered, even though they cost more at time of purchase, in the long run OEM belts are cheaper, in that they last longer.

Just to add to what Matt & Roland said,
Factory belts are made to withstand the twists that are imparted on them by the mule drive arrangement.
There are many places that a aftermarket part works just as good as factory. this IS NOT one of those places.
I couldn't get 2 hours out of a super dooper Kevlar belt.

Since your deck can use a factory length belt, if you didn't buy one, do yourself a favor and purchase one.
Also, you mule pulleys should be angled in the direction of your offset deck, not straight.
Hope this helps

Brian D
 

My first new Cub Cadet 782 went through PTO Drive belts about every other day. The front drive pully was bad. The pully was made incorrect.
My dealer replaced the pully and ended of all my problems.

If your pulley(s) are bad use an OEM replacement. My dad went threw 2 plastic pulleys before purchasing a metal OEM. The inner lip would break completly off on the plastic ones.

Very much so, I initially thought my 50c pulleys were all bent out of shape but I left them alone until I got a chance to use it some.

It cannot be said enough to thoroughly inspect your pulleys, especially for nicks. They get rusty and the edges can flake off and become razor sharp. I will add that I've been using a TSC blue belt for over 2 years and it's holding up very well.

Last, could you be over-tightening the belt?

Okay - I guess I will address some questions.

Pullies look to be in good working order -spin freely, smooth, etc. Pullies do not wobble - all the bearings are fine. Pullies are OEM - not plastic. Good to know that I'm not crazy - the pullies should be cocked sideways slightly.

Belts - First time i used an OEM Belt, but after it got chewed up, i purchased an aftermarket one. I know that this is not recommended, but it was after hours, and the aftermarket seemed to last the same amount of time as the OEM. Lastly, I didn't want to spend $45 on a belt that was going to get chewed up; I wanted to locate the problem first.

Overtensioning - I am not sure how this could be possible - the spring on the mule drive determines the amount of tension. All I can say is that I keep the pullies adjusted so that they are "properly tensioned" according to the sticker on the front of the mule drive. If I don't adjust the amount of tension on the ratchet, the other pulley will eventually come in contact with the mule drive.

Front Drive Pulley - Could you provide some more information on that? Do you know exactly how the piece was defective? I think that it's come down to the pullies and I need to examine every one.

Perhaps I forgot a piece of information. The belt would never break, it would just thin down until no more adjustment could be taken out in the mule drive. Right now, I think that I am not looking at my pullies close enough - I think I need to take a wire wheel to them and make sure there's no gunk in them.

As always, thanks! I appreciate all of your help. It is rather discouraging to have problems like this. When I was a kid, we had a 1650 (the one that got away) and we never had any problems with the drive belt - I think we replaced it once in 10 years. Just gotta figure this one out.

Thanks,

Nate

Forgot to mention - the mule drive pullies are angled slightly toward the drive pulley. This appears to be correct to my untrained eye.