Couple of deck qustions

[dodge trucker]

1. working on a 50A deck belonging to a friend. got it stripped and coated with POR 15 waiting for it to dry. Pulleys are shot, especially the center double one. I have here a 44A that someone put all new ones onto, seems a waste considering the shape that the shell is in. ( have an older style one that came on my 129, same way) Anyways I am wanting to swap the good parts off of that rotten 44A and put onto the 50A. The question here is that the part of center one from the 44 that the drive belt from the clutch rides on is smaller than that part of the on from the 50. Besides speeding up the blade speed, is there any reason I couldn't use that center one from the 44 on the 50?

2. same 50A deck.... I found a PN for the OEM belt and found put that it is supposed to be 1/2X 85-1/2" long. Other than going 15 miles in a direction that I never go, and having to take time off of work early so that I can catch them "open"/ besides being "exactly OEM" (this tractor is not a trailer queen/show piece so I don't care about style points) would it hurt to run a 85" belt instead? I got a Gates "green" L&G rated one and the only choices I have are either 85 or 86". and I can get 2 for the cost of 1 OEM belt.

3. I have another (this one's mine) nice 50" shell, that is totally bare that I'd like to build up and put onto either my 1200 or more likely my 129. If the shell is solid how important is that stiffener plate that is sandwiched between the spindles and the deck? Cuz I don't have one for it. Judging by my buddy's deck (the on that Q's 1&2 above pertain to) it is a water/ moisture trap.
Ultimately Id like to find a 50" deck that is otherwise "shot" to harvest that and a belt cover from but don't have it yet.

[john hall]

Big brown truck delivers most of the parts for anything I work on. I'm pretty certain you can buy direct from Cadet/MTD, go to Cadet's website. For belts I have been having great luck from V-belt supply (google them).

[dodge trucker]

thanks John.... but that doesn't tell me if what I have will work or not. I have used the big brown truck to a point of my wife screaming about the charge card bill...... between the Gts and my trucks and then the tools that I have found better deals on Amazon and Ebay vs the tool trucks that come by work, yeah I know about big brown delivery trucks.

so; will an 85" belt work in place of the "called for" 85-1/2? and will a center pulley from the 44" work w/o problems on a 50" deck?

[J-Mech]

We can't accurately answer any of your questions without knowing what model of tractor your mounting the deck to. I know your not going to believe this, but it does matter.

No: you likely cannot run a 85" belt if the book calls for an 85.5. Can you put a 5" bolt where the parts book calls for a 6" bolt????

Yes: the center pulley will bolt on. Yes it will "work", but without knowing what tractor your putting it on, it may or may not.

No, you cannot run the deck without the metal plate under the spindles.

[MikeMasheris]

Go with a 86 B belt the 85 is hard to get on and will be too tight there is enough adjustment left for the 86 and money left for a six pack

[dodge trucker]

Idk why the belt that runs from spindle to spindle matters as to what tractor a 50A deck is a 50A deck right?
The guy who I am fixing this up for has a 1200 and a 1250, one 44" deck and a 50 (the one I am fixing right now) and these decks have been swapped between them before. I was debating on whether to get the 85 or the 86 when I was at motion industries where I get most of my belts from. I wouldn't think that an 86 would work I figured it would slip because it would run at the edge of the idler tensioner's range.

[dodge trucker]

ok; no "solid" answers so far, and I want my garage space back so that I can work on MY Cubs, so what the heck I reassembled the guy's deck using shiney new pulleys from a rotten scrap heap of a deck and new tension spring, along with plenty of POR 15 especially on the bottom of the deck and on both sides of the reinforcement plate on the top side;
the 85" belt went on fine, plenty of travel on the idler.
hope this helps somebody else out...
Gates "green" belt $18 and change, OEM Cub belt more than double that, there are cheaper belts too but I wouldn't suggest them if you want more than a couple of uses from them.....

[MikeMasheris]

I tried a 85'' on my 1812 with a 50 and it worked but the idlers were too far back.The 86 went on easier and still had take up and is still running on the deck.I think they made it so you have to buy parts from them

[dodge trucker]

Yeah I know what you mean about buy parts from them.
That said I am not familiar with an 1812 is that the same deck? I was thinking that was a different design deck. Maybe not.