44A Speed-up pulley swap!

[Crittergitter]

I appreciate your explanation CAD. I was thinking that was it as i have noticed my newer husky has super high blade speed compared to my 1200. But i will say my 1200 cuts nicer than that new fangled husky all day long.

[Maxwelhse]

Originally Posted by fleetlines

Thanks for the wright-up.
I would think extra care is required for flying rocks and debris.
I wonder if that and ?gator blades? would work with a regular bagger. I like the nutrients from the clippings to go back into the soil but I'd like to get a bagger for when I need to cut some very high grass.
Good job.

I'm not too worried about chucking stuff out of it. It's pretty low to the ground. I did run some math today while day dreaming about how sweet my 50A will be when I get it up and running. Assuming blade lengths (I didn't have a handy source to look them up), a 5" pulley on a 44A should see tip speed of around 60mph... 50A and a 4" pulley should be near 90mph!! I CAN'T WAIT (call those numbers +/- 5mph since I was guesstimating on actual blade length).

In regard to bagging with mulching blades, my lawnboy does that trick just fine. However, if you want it to do a really good job you'd probably wanna swap blades between the two jobs. A couple of 2x6s screwed together into ramps and an impact gun can make that happen in about 5 minutes.

Or... even better, just get a second cub.

[CADplans]

Originally Posted by Maxwelhse

I'm not too worried about chucking stuff out of it. It's pretty low to the ground.

This speedup pulley does not make the Cub Cadet dangerous, it just brings the speed up to what the competition runs!!

My Cub Cadet dealer finally admitted he was always jealous of the cut the competition could produce, , he admitted it when I sped up a 44" deck.

[Maxwelhse]

Originally Posted by CADplans

This speedup pulley does not make the Cub Cadet dangerous, it just brings the speed up to what the competition runs!!

My Cub Cadet dealer finally admitted he was always jealous of the cut the competition could produce, , he admitted it when I sped up a 44" deck.

I agree entirely... The speed up pulley appears to be 1:1 to the engine RPM and most modern tractors I've seen appear to run the deck "overdriven" vs. engine RPM.

In my opinion, the 44A is still too slow... The quick math I did on the 50A makes me happy though!

[Maxwelhse]

Update: My stock IH (whatever part number?) belt proved to be too long after a couple of mowings... I replaced it with a Oregon 1/2 x 76" Kevlar belt (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) that just barely... and I mean barely... fits...

I'm thinking the right way to go is the same kevlar belt, but in 78"

http://www.amazon.com/Oregon-75-478-...+1%2F2+78+belt

The 76" belt allows NO spring tensioner travel at the mule drive and requires the idler adjustment to be backed off 100%... Even at that, it's a challenge to get it on the deck pulley...

That said, she doesn't slip... I have literally mowed down thick weeds taller than the hood, at typical mowing height, at about 2-3mph without stalling the tractor.. The cut quality was poor (left most of it about 6" tall), but a second pass cleaned it right up.

Mowing "normal", but lazy man height grass, she just eats.... The pulley is well worth it. Now I have one of my 50As on site (already has the smaller pulley!!!) and am just saving my pennies for the meg mow blades. It should be a nasty animal with that setup.

[Maxwelhse]

I've had a few PMs over the past year or so asking me what belt I'm running. Today, I believe I finally have the right answer, at least for my tractor (yours could be different if worn differently or whatever). This is for a 149, btw.

1/2 x 77" - This fits mine exactly the way I want it. My manual tensioner is nearly all the way loose (so the J bolt isn't sticking out in front of the mower...I've bent J bolts before from running them into trees and such) and my spring tensioner is EXACTLY in the middle of its recommended range. That is with a new belt so if it stretches a little I have plenty of adjustment to take up slack.

I am specifically using an Oregon 75-477 Aramid Fiber Cord Belt and it's awesome. I ran a 76" belt of the same type last year and it wore awesome, but it was just TOO short for comfort.

[OffTime]

There are laws that govern maximum blade tip speed that manufacturers can run their blades. Most commercial mowers on the market now are running between 18,000 and 18,500 feet per minute (or FPM as they refer to it). Consumer grade mowers run less than that. I am not sure what the laws state exactly. Do the math. If you get blade tip speed up between 18,000 and 19,000 FPM, it will cut pretty nice. Those older cubs were well below that.

[Maxwelhse]

Quick math says a 50A with the speed-up pulley would be about 8,000 FPM, which is WELL below what you're talking about. In a different thread I posed the question of making an even SPEEDIER speed up pulley then questions about bearing life came up and I got lazy.. It's working well enough.

[OffTime]

An 18" long blade turning 1:1 engine speed, which is 3600 RPM has a blade tip speed of 16,964 FPM. 8,000 FPM won't hardly cut grass. I don't know how you figured. Here is the formula: Blade length (in inches) x 3.14 x RPM / 12 (12 inches in a foot).

[kostendorf]

Originally Posted by Maxwelhse

I've had a few PMs over the past year or so asking me what belt I'm running. Today, I believe I finally have the right answer, at least for my tractor (yours could be different if worn differently or whatever). This is for a 149, btw.

1/2 x 77" - This fits mine exactly the way I want it. My manual tensioner is nearly all the way loose (so the J bolt isn't sticking out in front of the mower...I've bent J bolts before from running them into trees and such) and my spring tensioner is EXACTLY in the middle of its recommended range. That is with a new belt so if it stretches a little I have plenty of adjustment to take up slack.

I am specifically using an Oregon 75-477 Aramid Fiber Cord Belt and it's awesome. I ran a 76" belt of the same type last year and it wore awesome, but it was just TOO short for comfort.

Same here, I have a 44c on a 1650 with the speed up pulley and use a 1/2x77'' and it fits perfectly. I don't catch my pants leg on the adjuster any more.