GT2550 deck issue

[Sam Mac]

Look at the angle the idler pulley is running at compared to the pulley behind it.

[Berwil]

Originally Posted by ArkCadet

Thanks Bill. The belt is against the rear deck bracket because the tensioner arm (yellow lever on opposite side of deck, not exactly sure of correct name ) is in the relaxed position. When its not, the belt is not even close to the deck bracket (see video attached in my last reply and the last picture in my last reply and you can see it does not touch once the tensioner arm is back in the locked position).

Also, I took the pulley assembly off last night and checked it all out and its all good and tight and greased. But I will check it again and pay more attention to what you mentioned. The only movement I could find was parallel with the top of the deck, the way it is supposed to move. It has no up and down movement or wiggle at all, just side to side as it pivots with the tension of the spring. Thanks for your reply!

Sorry, didn't watch the video, I didn't realize the tension was loose. I would check the belt length as suggested. If you have a dealer close, maybe you could take your tensioner arm in and compare it with a new one? Something could be tweaked like Sam said.

Originally Posted by Sam Mac

Look at the angle the idler pulley is running at compared to the pulley behind it.

That's what I saw and got me thinking tensioner issues.

Bill

[ArkCadet]

ok looked it all over again last night and I think I'm just going to order a whole new assembly for that area. New idler arm, new shoulder bolt, new pulley and go at it from there. I think the idler arm has been loose or something for so long, where the little piece (not sure what its called) that goes around the shoulder bolt butts up agains the arm, its all rounded off and wollowed out so it cant get a good seal between the two and it just has too much slack because of it. Looks like I'll spend around $80 on parts, but it will be worth it in the end I think.

Here are the parts I'm going to get.

703-0118
738-3172 and go ahead and get the grease fitting (737-3000) for that to fix that problem
748-3100 Actually may not get this part. The one that I currently have is perfectly fine.
756-04129

Ok since I'm new to the board, who would you guys recommend for parts? I know there are some sponsors on here so I would like to give them the business. Who generally has the fasted standard shipping times and such? Being spring, I can't be without my mower for very long or neighbors will start to talk about my yard.

Thanks everyone for all your help! Since I just got this mower from the PO when we bought our house, I'm sure I'll be asking more questions in the future.

[ArkCadet]

Ok I got all my parts in yesterday. So, one question... How would you guys suggest I get the tension off the pulley enough to get the belt around it? I have used a ratchet strap to crank it enough, but I don't want to damage/bend anything on these new parts. So just curious how you guys do it. Thanks!

[BVanEps]

I wouldn't worry too much about bending the new idler bracket unless you really get carried away. That being said, I'd probably slip a pipe wrench over the pivot end of the arm with the jaws running along the side of the flat steel.

[ArkCadet]

There is a square hole on the arm just up fromt he pulley so I hooked a ratchet strap in it and it did the trick. Mowed for multiple hours on Saturday and Sunday and no problems yet! I checked the pulley a few times and all looks good so far. arm is sitting much closer to the 90 degree point of the spring tip on the new assembly. Hopefully that was the issue.

[Ozcubowner]

Read through and heaps of good tips but it will never be spot on because the original idler arm assembly is a bit dodgy.
You need Service kit 759-04324A and that should fix all your problems , this kit is a bit more heavy duty
I have had problems chopping out idler pulley bearings but got new ones Service kit 753-08171 and the new idler arm kit and it now runs like a Swiss watch
Just make sure the deck belt is level and running in all the pulleys not trying to climb the pulley face
Drop your deck off put those on and give everything a grease and as Jackie Gleeson once said "äway we go"
Oz

[ArkCadet]

Well just wanted to follow-up on this post I made last summer (sorry for not doing it sooner!). I replaced all the parts I listed above and have not had a single issue since then. No springs breaking or anything. So I believe that solved my issue! Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I had broken 3 springs by 5/5 last year. And 0 breaks since that time.