Deck belt question
 

So I need to order a belt that will run the deck on my 123/125 I interchange tractors with this deck, it's a 48" deck. Looking at the belt chart for the 123 it show an 81" belt whereas the 125 calls for a 75-1/2" belt. My question is why would this same deck use a completely different belt for each tractor? The mule drives are identical the tractors are the same length and the ptos seem to be the same. Any ideas??

While the 123 sub-frame and mule drive will most likely bolt onto and hang under your 125, the proper mule drive for your 125 is a "quick attach" style, the 1X2/3 series tractors weren't equipped with the quick attach system.

If you are in fact using the 123 sub-frame and mule drive on the 125 my best guess would be that you would use the 123 size belt. Please understand that I have never done the exact swap that you have and and can give you no definite answer, just an educated guess.

Hopefully, someone who has done exactly what you have, will come along with something more concrete.

Good luck

Thanks Sam, I didn't realize that they were different, I thought that when the 123 was reworked by the po they left the quick release off. So now I am wondering if the mule drive is indeed the correct one for the 123. The mule drive, deck and belt came off the 125..

I think the main reason is the size of the center pulley on the deck. It appears that the non-quick-attach 48" deck has a larger pulley than the quick-attach deck 48" deck, thus the need for a larger belt. In any event, why not just measure the old belt to be sure?

ironman could be exactly right.

I didn't realize that the pulleys were different.

If you can, post some pictures of what you have. I know that some of the guys here are really sharp about this subject.

The old belt is nonexistent, but I get what he's saying regarding pully size. So I'll use the belt for the 125.. thanks

I have the same early style 48" deck. (I went through it, and also put quick-attach rear hangers on it for my 129. I really should replace the mower spindle belt though.)
Did you order this part number? IH 481099 R2

From what I can tell, this is the correct belt for the early 48" deck with the larger center pulley spindle drive.

Cheers.

I omitted that the deck I am using is the later style with the smaller pully. I think I'm going to go with the 80" belt, reason being is I bought 3 different belts locally and the 80" is the only one I could get tightened up...

That's weird... It seems like the PTO pulley size would have to be different too or the deck with the larger pulley would be way slower.

I don't know what the speed difference would be but the blade sizes on the older Non-QA deck with the larger pulley are 20" center and 14.5" outer.

The later QA deck with the smaller pulley, blades are 17.75" center and 16" outer.

I imagine you could interchange the blades as a set from one deck to the other but the quality of the mowing finish or the performance may suffer.

Don't know, never tried but I hope this helped.