44A mower/1450 PTO belt tension help needed
 

Well I got the 1450 going I inherited a few weeks ago, changed the hytran+ filter, oil, air filter, plug, battery, blades, greased the zerk fittings, cleaned the carb, etc. I'm having trouble with the PTO belt tension and I'm not sure if it's the belt itself stretched or if there's something wrong with the tensioner mechanism.

I have the tensioner adjuster to max tighten adjust and I can still feel a bit of slop. When I turn on the PTO I can hear and see the belt slopping around, so I didn't mow my yard just yet. I can jiggle the left tensioner bar with my bare hands without much effort. I think the tensioner spring looks OK and has resistance if I push it back far enough.

I have the owner's manual of both the deck and tractor, along with the service manual of the tractor and it doesn't say anything about the servicing the tensioner itself.

I do plan to replace the belt, as I'm not sure how old it is and think that's the culprit to the slapping but was wondering if everything looks OK here visually.

44A Serial 032017U125674, Tractor is 1450 Ser 2050660U647104.

Thanks,
Eric

Looking at the picture it looks like you have it too tight. The first v notch should line up with the front of the mile drive. It looks like the notch is inside the drive.

Thanks for the reply. I think I got it right.. as you can see the adjuster bolt is to maximum, which leads me to believe the belt is stretched. I have a new belt on order, but as I'm sure many can relate I want to get to the bottom of this :biggrin2: It's also possible the belt on there now is too long.

I'd start with the new belt. It could be stretched or too long. You've got the adjustment bolt way too far.

But, until you KNOW you have the right size belt, it will be hard to pinpoint any issues.

Alright new belt came in- I compared it to the old one- it's the same size :( I think it's definitely the tensioner- when PTO is running I can visually see the tensioner moving violently back and forth. I don't see how the tensioner could "go bad" though, it's just a torsion spring and there is resistance if I push on it by hand- but maybe it got weak and is no longer torquing the pulley. I read the manual to the mower deck and there really isn't much about it, or if I need to wind the tension spring around one more time.

So then I pivoted the assembly forwards- and I may be closer to the issue. It looks like some components are bent. Maybe I hit something like a wall when I was mowing before- the pulleys look like they are cocked sideways. Are the pulleys supposed to look like this? It looks like some parts are bent but I'm not sure if that's how they should be. I'll stick them in my vice and bend them back if not.

Thanks,
Eric

Pulleys are angled on purpose because the pulley on the mower deck isn't centered. The angle directs the belt towards the deck pulley.

Yup, like mortten said, suppose to be bent. What's the length on your belt?

Yeah I was going to post an update on the angling to aim the belt at the off center pulley on the deck. Belt is 79 inches- which is part 117465-C1, which according to the guide should be OK. However 59971-C1 looks like its 78 inches... that 1 inch might be the ticket... but still something just seems off..

I use a 78" belt on my 1450 with a 44A deck. Tensions just right. Belt does seem to flap around alot and tensioner seems to bounce around a bit too. All works good though.:beerchug:

Twoton, that helps.
OK I might be onto something, I found this thread http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=10710 and there's mention of a 4.5" pulley and 5" pulley. The smaller pulley I'd guess would spin the the blades faster. I went out and measured the deck pulley and it's a little less than 4.5". So this is probably the problem all along- I have 1 inch too much belt. Now- to see if I can return my current belt and find a 78" one locally...