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  #1  
Old 05-04-2016, 04:08 AM
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Saluki Saluki is offline
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Default 1517 Mower Deck questions

The machine: Cub Cadet 1517, 13A-231G100, appears to be in fairly good shape overall, deck a bit rusty but mechanically sound, new machine to me.

The symptoms: Weak drive to the blades / PTO keeps dropping out. Now has brand new battery, which did not help the PTO dropout problem much, if at all.

Deck belt seemed a little loose, but what appears to be a tensioning arm is bolted / locked down & (so far) I've been unable to loosen the bolt. Isn't this "arm" supposed to take up slack in the belt?

After attempting to use the mower, the deck belt broke after about 2 minutes. The deck belt that was on the mower is very narrow: It measures only 0.37" wide.

When I look up replacement parts, the part I eventually came up with on CC's slightly weird site / search is a 754-0645, stated to be a 1/2" wide belt. But the belt that was on the machine is 0.367"wide (measured with a good micrometer, well away from the break, avg. of 3 spots. And I don't really see how a 1/2" belt (I have a couple other Cub Cadet 1/2" deck belts on hand from Dad) can be made to slip onto the bottom pulley (that is quite tight to the upturned "lip" of the mower deck) without taking that double pulley off, which seems "nuts". A belt that width is also too "thick" it appears.

Am I "seeing" this wrong? What belt should I get? And what about what appears to be that locked up tensioning arm?
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File Type: jpg Cub.Cadet.1517.deck.pic1a.jpg (33.9 KB, 129 views)
File Type: jpg Cub.Cadet.1517.deck.pic1ab.jpg (39.8 KB, 127 views)
File Type: jpg Cub.Cadet.1517.deck.pic1ac.jpg (20.6 KB, 128 views)
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Old 05-04-2016, 08:48 AM
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Saluki, looking at Partstree, there should be 3 washers that keep the double pulley spaced off of the deck. Maybe they are missing?

I'm thinking the idler bracket bolt should not be tightened up. It should be a flange lock nut on the bottom to keep it from falling off so it doesn't need to be tight. I would loosen it up some so that the bracket can move.

Make sure all your pulleys turn free also. Here is a deck belt about 1/2 the cost of an OEM, might be worth a try.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MTD-or-CUB-C...YAAOSw0QFXC6WH

Here is the Partstree look up if you need it.
http://www.partstree.com/parts/cub-c...-cutting-deck/
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Old 05-04-2016, 10:25 AM
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Hi, Oak,

I guess I should mention that I'm definitely not a lawn tractor expert, so I'll likely call parts the wrong name at times, etc.

The last time I tried (a few days ago), that bolt on the idler bracket would not budge. (Obviously I don't want to risk breaking off the bolt head!) I hit it with some PB Blaster, from both sides, and will do so again today. If need be I can break out a propane torch and (to paraphrase a Heinlein line) "give 'er a dose of real fun."

I saw that belt on eBay -- was a bit hesitant to order (quality?), but given the recommendation, will get it coming.*

Pulleys seem to turn freely. Did clear away some old twine / rope wound around the shaft(?) to one mower blade, PITB job, but that was only causing a little friction: Even B4 getting the crud off, one could manually spin the blade with the belt off, and get it to go' round (freewheel) a couple turns B4 the friction stopped it. Both now can freewheel several turns with the belt not present. I lubed moving parts on the deck as best I could anyway - not sure what oil would be recommended, but do know most penetrating oils don't stick around all that well, others leave behind unhelpful residues that gum up. But that last doesn't appear to be a problem here.

That double pulley lower pulley clearance issue is one of lateral (horizontal) clearance -- can look again to see how much it'd have to come up to clear that upturned "flange" on that part of the deck, but I'm thinking it's over 1/4". Maybe will take a pic later today if I get a chance. And will try to see if those washers are present.

* In general I'm not hugely rough on equipment, so, that belt should be "ok", if the seller is selling reasonable quality parts. I'm not trying to mow over small trees and such, tho' the grass on the SW side of my property is getting pretty tall - I may ask my Dad if I can use his wheeled string trimmer (assuming IT works.) (We also have an old Lowe's LT that's lost drive to the wheels - appears to be something in the transmission - haven't had time to try to work on it further - figured I'd try to get the most likely candidate or two to get running easily, up and running 1st, at our place. We (last year) got the better mower** @ my Dad's going so HIS place does not turn into a jungle.

** Will have to recheck the Model # @ Dad's - have too many numbers in my head these days!!!
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Old 05-04-2016, 11:24 AM
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The OEM belt would be better but for testing purposes the Ebay cheapo should work. I've run then on different machines and they seem fine. TSC has some also if you have any of those stores around.
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Old 05-04-2016, 12:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oak View Post
The OEM belt would be better but for testing purposes the Ebay cheapo should work. I've run then on different machines and they seem fine. TSC has some also if you have any of those stores around.
Noted. We have a TSC about 15 miles away, too.

Here's a side-view pic of that double pulley - looks like it'd have to come up almost an inch to clear the metal on the left. Had a little shower surprise me, so everything got a little wet...

Best bet for repainting the deck = wire brush, then Rustoleum primer then Rustoleum gloss paint?
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Old 05-04-2016, 12:42 PM
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Any good sources for blades at a good price? Rural King does not cross-reference Cub Cadet, so far as I know. The blades on this machine are ok, but, #2 is a 1525 with blades in quite poor shape / beyond just resharpening. The deck is more severely rusted on the 1525 too, but it's engine / drive train seems to run ok / better.
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Old 05-04-2016, 05:41 PM
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I'm not sure what you are looking at. How well are the pulleys aligned up? It looks like they are from your pic.
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Old 05-04-2016, 10:15 PM
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Quote:
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I'm not sure what you are looking at. How well are the pulleys aligned up? It looks like they are from your pic.
The pulleys look like they are where they were intended to be / are lined up fine.

But... the clearance between the lower pulley and the metal lip on its left is smaller than the thickness of any 1/2" (top width) belt I have, or have ever seen. See detail pic.

So, does one have to loosen the pulley to slip the belt on? Or is that 954-0645A just exceptionally thin for a 1/2" belt? It doesn't look so, in any pics I can find. My Dad had a 3/8" belt on there: He can't explain where it could have come from. 3/8" looks really flimsy, although I realize Kevlar is tough stuff. But it is (was) thin enough to slip in there. All the references for the 954-0645A that I found say it's 1/2" (top width).

If I have to loosen the pulley, I'm sure one way or another I can, but it seems like a very strange design, if that has to be done...
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Old 05-05-2016, 08:06 AM
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You will need to loosen the pulley. Not a big deal, it has a nut on the underside that you can get at from the rear of the deck if memory serves me. I agree it's a crappy design.
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Old 05-05-2016, 10:42 AM
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Noted! I'll order the belt, today.

The PB Blaster folks are gonna love me - that nut is frozen on too.

I'll bet that's why the 3/8" (top width) belt was on there: The nut was frozen on & somebody decided to short cut & slap on a thinner belt.

Once I get all this straightened out, then we see if I have good power transfer to the blades. I'm crossing my fingers the PTO clutch is ok.


When everything goes back together, the nuts get some anti-seize.

Thanks much!
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