Belt Question
 

Ok, so I've been getting my *new* 102 ready to mow. The other day I decided to give it go and the belt came off the mower deck (The belt from the front PTO) No biggie, I climb down and realize that the blades probably havent been sharpened since Nixon was in office. While the belt is off I drop the deck and do the whole blade thing. Fast forward a few days of rain and I'm out to reinstall everything. Goes on easily enough (previous owners had used nails as opposed to key pins, fixed that while I was down there) belt is back on, tension is set...engage the mower deck and hmmm threw belt. Start over, same thing. Realize the speed nut holding the tension on the mule drive (I think thats what its called) is old and just vibrates loose. Easy fix, new nut and....belt pops off. I have tried everything from low tension to high tension and the belt keeps coming of at the mower deck. The belt is new-ish but won't be that way much longer if I keep throwing it.

The pulley on the deck is good (no lip damage, turns freely) the from pullys are good (turn freely as well)

So I thought I'd replace the belt to be safe BUT how do you get the belt off the front of the tractor (the front PTO clutch is in the way)?

Do I need to remove the whole thing?

Thanks!

Check your pulley alignment..it is possible someone bent the mule pulleys to fit something else and the belts aren't aiming at the deck anymore...


You have to pull the pto lever away from the PTO clutch to change belts....On mine I usually loosen up the turnbuckle until it has enough room.

you might be on to something there. I found that if I ran the deck at one notch higher then the belt wouldnt jump. I tightened the hanger bolts up a bit and then lowered it down a notch and voila! Worked! This victory was short lived though, the belt kept flipping itself over on the mower pulley and then jumping again. I finnaly installed the darn thing backwards and it works! Not sure why, or how long the belt will last that way but I got to mow.

I could be mistaken but shouldn't the belt V go into the mower pulley? Could not get mine to stay that way though, and does work really well the other way.

Ohh well learning as I go I suppose.

All that floppin around might have ruined the belt, you might want to try a nice new Green Gates or Cub cadet belt once the lawn has been mowed and ya got time to fiddle... Somewhere here is a mule drive adjustment diagram that shows that the pulleys need to be adjusted to approximately the same relative position....and the belt coming off the bottom of the mule pulleys should be aiming directly at your center pulley on the mower deck..... BTW check your deck spindles and make sure everything is running smoothly there, and the tensioner is free to tension the belt adequately.

And yes, the Vee goes into the pulley, your belt is upside down for some reason...

Must have posted this in the wrong place (got moved)...thats what I get for working from my black berry in the yard!

Ok, I will look for that pulley diagram tonight. I'm also going to be getting a new belt because a failure is surely imminent. I noticed that the mule pulley could be moved to a different mounting hole (down about 1/2" and front about an inch) but I'm not sure if the pulleys would clear cross beam. Something just isn't "right" with the current setup...it works, but not as intended.


The mower deck pulleys all move freely, took grease, and have no wobble. The only thing that chatters is the tension pulley on the deck. It turns but does not move at all (I'm comparing to my modern tractors whose tension pulley flexes a lot) Not sure how these old ones worked. The deck belt isn't slipping and is working well (could probably be a scosh tighter maybe).

Brings up a good question, how tight is too tight on the belt tension?

On the plus side, it cuts my lawn nicely.

been looking but i havent had any luck finding the afore mentioned diagram. In my searching I did come up with a few questions about the mule drive.

1) Mine is a 102, so I assume I *should* have the mule that has only one tension bolt on it? As a side, should there be a spring on it anywhere because currently there is not.

2) The mule pulleys seem to angle in (the brackets that is) slightly. Seems what Im reading this is correct for the mower setup?

3) My belt doesnt come flat out to the deck pulley, the mule drive sets the belt slightly higher than the mower deck pulley (slight angle, but nothing severe). Is this my area of concern?

4) Where do you find the information on the mower decks? Mine is the older style (heavy cast and triangular with 3 blades, 1 master and 2 smaller) and measures 42" tip to tip.

:bigthink:

i just had the same problem on my 128. i thought the belt looked new so i tried adjusting everything finally i broke down and bought a new belt hasn't kicked the belt in five mowings.

I went ahead and ordered new belts today and a new wear button while I was at it. Hoping this cures my problems.

New belt is here, going to put it on first thing in he morning and give it a go. Wish me luck!

So the place I got my belts from isn't going to be getting anymore of my business. I need the part Number for the belt that comes off the front PTO and down to the mower deck. Seems simple, but instead they tell me "I don't think cub made a 102 or a front PTO"