GT2544 PTO/Mule Drive/Belt Question
 

Hi everyone. New to the group, so thanks for letting me be here! I'm working on a GT2544 that has recently started to tear-up the PTO to deck belt. Nothing appears to be damaged, and the pulleys all are consistent in wear-pattern/etc. Nothing bent or repaired. I put a weighted string over the PTO pulley, and draped it down to the mule-drive pulleys to check for alignment. I found that they lined up fine front to back (string just brushed the inside of the "V" in the mule-drive pulleys", but the left side (left while sitting on the tractor) is mounted offset to the outside. They mount with the one long bolt, and the width of the pulleys is set by 2 spacers, so there isn't any adjustment. The right side pulley is directly below the PTO pulley, which will cause the belt to run nicely vertical. The left side (again, while sitting on the tractor), being offset to the outside, will cause the belt to exit the PTO pulley, then angle down & to the outside as it does the 90 degree twist and enters the mule-drive pulley. Has this been engineered this way for a reason? I can make up a new spacer and shim the left pulley in more towards the center, which will create a straight path for the belt on both sides, but not sure that I should if there is a reason for the offset. Thanks in advance for any help!

The V belt should on both sides come straight down into those 2 pulleys it looks like the spacers between pulleys may be incorrect
Your piece of string should drop vertically into the centre of both pulleys
I cannot see any other obvious problem in those photos
I have a GT2550 and compared your photos to my machine
https://i.postimg.cc/5NGDY97G/IMG-7342-resize.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/DybBNr6j/IMG-7343-resize.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/tCyNBK1T/IMG-7344-resize.jpg
Oz

Thanks for the reply and taking the time to get and post your comparative pictures. The mule-drive set up and pulleys on my GT2544 are OEM, never messed with. Looks like the same set-up as yours. I've read about others having PTO belt problems on these models, along with responders saying that they're getting hundreds of hrs out of belts. This mower worked great for years, but then it started to eat PTO belts. The owner wanted a "fresh set of eyes" to tackle it, thus, it's mine to repair for the first time. I was checking to see if the motor had shifted in the frame with the plum-bob strings, but was surprised by the mule-drive pulley offset difference. Motor is square and tight, and the mule-drive isn't bend or damaged. Will make double sure that the elt is routed as in your images. Would you recommend that I "re-space" the left pulley to make it align with the PTO pulley? This would require moving it in about 3/4"..

I would recommend that the 2 pulleys be lined up directly beneath the PTO pulley as per my picture , once that is done I would check again that the belt runs true back to the deck as per my picture
Whilst you have all the bits on the floor , if you have a grease needle I would squirt some good quality grease into those 2 pulleys
Oz