1250 with 44a keeps smoking pto belts

[airbats801]

I have tried 3 different belts, and the lat being almost too short to run, but it had massive tension. I figured it would not slip.


Basically, whenever you get into any real mowing grass it starts slipping. I'm a bit frustrated as the bearings on the deck dont seem bad., but I cant get a pto belt to hold up.

Id hate to go bust out my 102, as I bought the 1250 with the 102 just for mowing as it runs great.


Can you guys give me a starting place? I wll repoklace every damn bearing and belt I have too if need be. My tensioner is currently a j bolt. I reckon this thing shoulkd be able to eat though 4 ortp 7 inches of crass at a sloooow speed. my gx70 deere dopesnt slip and will cut higher grass...... I defiuntely think there is something wrong.

[J-Mech]

Sounds like you pulleys are wore out. But you also didn't give any part numbers, type of belt or any of that info. For all we know, you aren't using the right belt. Did you try a genuine Cub Cadet belt?

[Cubcrazy]

A picture is worth a thousand words here. Does it have the correct mule drive even? Take a pic and post it up.

[Billy-O]

Did you check the mule drive pulleys? These little buggers can sieze up making you think you've got a problem with the deck.

[sawdustdad]

Since you've tried 3 belts, this may not be the situation, but the last time I had that problem, the belt was not IN the groove of the PTO, it was behind the pulley itself. I just hadn't noticed it. It's hard to see with the QLs.

[moingonaman]

Like the others said, do you have the correct mule? If you have the straight ones and you need the angles ones, you can have the belt jump off the mule's pulley(s) and ride between the pulley and the bracket. You might be surprised how much grass you can mow with the belt grinding itself to death.

[bocephus1991]

I'd be checking the pulleys too and the mule drive. Careful putting the new belt on the engine pto and running it down to the mule drive, it's easy to flip it and that can wear a belt out fast.

[airbats801]

I'm not home at the moment. The first one was ordered from a cub dealer locally. I always thought it was a bit loose.

I know my bearings are all good, and im pretty confident its the correct mule drive. THe bearings are not that bad and the pulleys really arent torn up.

The only thing im missing off my mule drive is probably the original tensioning bolt, I just replaced it with a j hook bolt. I've cranked it down a lot to see if it would stop slipping on all of the belts, but frankly it didnt do anything. I will try and have my brother.

Here is the only picture I have right now, but you cant really see the mule drive. I do believe its something like a 42a or 44a deck. I cant remember off the top of my head.




Hell maybe my pulleys are worn out. Can you still buy them new? I figure this thing should be a mowing machine, even my damn gx70 dere never slips, it just lugs out.

Frankly at this point id buy a whole new setup for the 1250 if I could, I loved mowing with it, but its just went down hill since the original belt that came with it died. Frankly it didnt last very long either. The replacement the dealer got me made it maybe 30 minutes before it started slipping bad.

I'm half tempted to toss the deck on my ol 102, but she needs new bearings bad, and I bought it for my offroading fun


I havent really checked my engine mounts yet, but would bad engine mounts cause this?

[mortten]

There are 2 rubber snubbers on the front of the engine mounting bars that keep th e engine from pulling down when the PTO is turned on. Are they missing or misadjusted?

[Bob95065]

Nice looking tractor and a fellow West Coast CCer to boot. Not many of us on the left coast.

I would check the pulleys as others suggested. You will be amazed at how a dragging bearing will take down a engine or cause the belt to slip. I would also remove the top cover on the deck and check the belt and idler. The idler bearing could be dragging which would have the same effect. Check your spindles for play while you're in there. This equipment isn't new anymore.

I have a 1000 and a 1450 at my place in California. I grew up mowing on the 1000 in Illinois. I am happy to have a couple of workhorses on my property.

Bob