Haban 60" deck belt question

[sorner]

Originally Posted by Oak

Here are a few pics of the 374 I redid a few years ago. Let me know if you need any measurements.
Attachment 109105 Attachment 109106 Attachment 109107 Attachment 109108

Oak, thanks for the pics. I was MIA for a while on vacation in NC.

(side story, I decided to get a 10 day fishing pass and went and bought some cheap deep sea fishing stuff to try out surf fishing, and I caught several of a few varieties of fish, including 3 SHARKS!)

Anyway, this is the exact same deck I have, and the same belt routing.

Also to the question of idler pulley size, I would think a larger or smaller pulley would definitely affect the tension because a larger pulley would add more surface area for the belt to go around which would increase tension over a smaller pulley and I would think it would affect the belt length.

[ol'George]

The larger pulley was discussed in post #31
The belt length will not change as it can't,
BUT the position of the IDLER ARM will change as if the belt WAS shorter.
But I guess that is what you said, I think

[sorner]

Originally Posted by ol'George

The larger pulley was discussed in post #31
The belt length will not change as it can't,
BUT the position of the IDLER ARM will change as if the belt WAS shorter.
But I guess that is what you said, I think

That’s exactly what I was saying. The position will change as much as there is room in the spring.

[sorner]

I really hate to belabor this thread, but I'm still having issues with this thing... The PTO belt has shredded again. The deck belt is fine since I got that sorted out.

To recap, when I installed this deck for the first time and mowed with it, the deck belt shredded which started this thread. Since then, I've shredded THREE PTO belts.

After the first two shredded, I inspected everything, the pulleys are fine, smooth and round. Before mowing there are no knicks/cuts in the belt. It just up and flies apart without warning. These were Cub Cadet OEM belts, not cheapo ones. Granted, I have 6 acres of grass, and 4 of it is open field which when I mow is a little higher, but not to the point of bogging down the engine, but after about 2 hours of mowing the belt is gone. Are these decks hard on PTO belts? I'm using the same tractor, PTO clutch, mule drive that I used with my 50C and never had an issue. So it's something unique to the Haban. I don't see anything rubbing or anything, so I'm perplexed...

[R Bedell]

As stated before.

[sorner]

Does this make the thread less worthless? I finally got around to getting some pics. This is how I left it after mowing yesterday. The belt is turned over on the PTO clutch pulley, I’m not sure if that happened before or after the belt broke.

D8BE8B12-3EF2-44F2-836D-C2FA129B352B.jpg

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D4AA41EF-B22A-45E1-BACF-F72B7BABA6BE.jpg

318DC4F4-04AB-4F37-A881-35E5E8B02D4E.jpg

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9EBA4B5B-95D4-49FB-B6AF-80D2EC941AC2.jpg

[R Bedell]

The original post was about issues with the Spindle Belt. Your pictures are about the PTO belt. Are you have two issues ??

mule drive that I used with my 50C and never had an issue.

I don't recall you mentioning which 60" deck you have. Is it the 190-325 or the 190-374. Either way, those decks use their own Mule Drives, NOT the one from the 50C deck.

[ol'George]

Check your PTO pulley for wear, the sides need to be a "V" not worn into a "U" shape.
Also the same for the idlers.
A pulley worn into an "U" shape will build excessive heat and eat belts!!

The close distance of the pto pulley to the mule pulleys, turning the belt 1/4 turn, excessively wears belts, it's just the design of all them mule drives.
And the belts wear pulleys over time--years.
Story:
My 782 began to eat mule drive belts, after assessing the situation I started cheaply by just replacing the mule pulleys.
I almost doubled mule belt life.
Also I went through my supply of pto pulleys and found the least of worn pulleys and installed it for the next mowing season.
Problem solved.
You hung a 60' deck under a high torque opposed twin engine and
the weak points are showing up that previously did not using a 50' deck.
Just my guess based on my experience
Also:
As a rule of thumb, properly applied and maintained belts should not exceed 140 F. assuming an ambient temperature of less than 110 F. Belt life can be greatly reduced by higher operating temperatures. In fact, for every 18 F. increase in belt temperature, belt life is cut in half. Keeping this in mind, the life of a drive belt operating at 176 F would be reduced by 75%.

I'm betting you can smell the belt cooking just before you hear that familiar "pop" as it disintegrates.

.

[sorner]

Originally Posted by R Bedell

The original post was about issues with the Spindle Belt. Your pictures are about the PTO belt. Are you have two issues ??

Yes, the original post was the spindle belt issues, but also I was having PTO belt issues as well.

Originally Posted by R Bedell

I don't recall you mentioning which 60" deck you have. Is it the 190-325 or the 190-374. Either way, those decks use their own Mule Drives, NOT the one from the 50C deck.

It's a 374. Are you referring to the hanger? Or the pulley part? I don't think the pulley part of the mule drive is different. It looks exactly the same as the one that came with the tractor that had the deck on it. I just used the one I had been using with my 50C because it was in better shape and bolted the hanger to it in the same holes it was mounted in.

[sorner]

Originally Posted by ol'George

Check your PTO pulley for wear, the sides need to be a "V" not worn into a "U" shape.
Also the same for the idlers.
A pulley worn into an "U" shape will build excessive heat and eat belts!!

The close distance of the pto pulley to the mule pulleys, turning the belt 1/4 turn, excessively wears belts, it's just the design of all them mule drives.
And the belts wear pulleys over time--years.
Story:
My 782 began to eat mule drive belts, after assessing the situation I started cheaply by just replacing the mule pulleys.
I almost doubled mule belt life.
Also I went through my supply of pto pulleys and found the least of worn pulleys and installed it for the next mowing season.
Problem solved.
You hung a 60' deck under a high torque opposed twin engine and
the weak points are showing up that previously did not using a 50' deck.
Just my guess based on my experience
Also:
As a rule of thumb, properly applied and maintained belts should not exceed 140 F. assuming an ambient temperature of less than 110 F. Belt life can be greatly reduced by higher operating temperatures. In fact, for every 18 F. increase in belt temperature, belt life is cut in half. Keeping this in mind, the life of a drive belt operating at 176 F would be reduced by 75%.

I'm betting you can smell the belt cooking just before you hear that familiar "pop" as it disintegrates.

.

I think you're onto something, I was thinking this could be the issue too. The pulleys look fine to me. I was thinking (and hoping it's not) that it's just the extreme power of the M20 tugging on the belt that much harder with this bigger deck (extra load) and heating up the belt. If that's the case I will not be keeping the Haban, it's not worth the hassle for an extra 10" of cut. I did not have belt issues with the 50C.