New 149

ab147 · #1 06-17-2013, 08:04 AM

I bought 2 149's last year. One had a snow blower, wheel weights and chains, which is the reason I bought it. The other had a 50in mower deck. This was a package deal so I had to take both. The first works fine except we haven't had much snow to really put it to good use. The one with the deck isn't as workable as the first. I put the deck on it last fall and used it until the belt burnt off and put it back in the barn until this spring. Now I mounted a tiller on to it and started using it in the garden. After one pass the smoke started pouring out of the front like it was on fire. I have the correct belt but it's tight as a bango string, same with the mower belt, it was tight. these belts as you know aren't cheap. 90 for the tiller belt and 25 for the mower pto. What am I doing wrong?

Peruvian · #2 06-17-2013, 08:37 AM

The belts should be tight but not so tight that they can't spin the pulley on the mule drive. The pulley arms are adjustable (one is spring loaded and the other has a nut you can loosen) so if you know the pulleys spin free, start there.

R Bedell · #3 06-17-2013, 08:43 AM

Quote:

do you know the pulleys spin free?

Ditto.....

ab147 · #4 06-17-2013, 10:47 AM

I was lucky to get the threads through the hole to put the nut on to do any adjusting

Yosemite Sam · #5 06-18-2013, 11:33 AM

Is it possible that the tensioning bolt on the mule drive has been broken off and the nut was just screwed back on the part that was left?

ab147 · #6 06-18-2013, 11:53 AM

It's as long as the other mule drives I have on the other cubs

vartz04 · #7 06-18-2013, 12:58 PM

Buy a 1" longer belt then. As long as you can get the tension right no one's gonna arrest you for buying a longer belt.

bolivier · #8 06-18-2013, 09:48 PM

If you're using the mule drive from the 50" deck it is not the correct one.

ab147 · #9 06-19-2013, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bolivier

If you're using the mule drive from the 50" deck it is not the correct one.

I've learned alot today. I've had a 147 for 22years using the mower deck and tiller all those years. I would use the mower and when I needed the tiller I took the mower off, and put the tiller on. Since the electric lift quit last year I've tried to use one of the 149's that I acquired 2yrs ago. Last year I had the mower deck that came with it on for about 5 minutes when the new pto belt shreaded, so I parked it and used my zero turn to cut grass. This spring I put the tiller on the same 149 after taking the deck off, and had the same thing (lots of smoke from the front)happen but I shut it off before the belt burnt up. Now today I've read in the library about the proper use of a tiller. You don't use the mower deck lift frame like I've been doing for all these years you just use the latch assembly. I can't figure this out, after all these years I've been doing this wrong, but it works. Must be something else.
thanks bolivier for forcing me to look into the library to see the proper way to use my tiller. Funny how things like this make a person find out how to do something.