Zero turn mower belt floping

ldj

Well-known Member
Snapper ZTR 48 in deck with 3 blades. I think this mower was built by Country Clipper for Snapper before Snapper started making their own ZTR. Today I put new belt from engine to deck and 3 new blades. Now the new belt flops and the deck is constantly moving back and forth. Any idea what might be wrong? I first thought because the new belt was rolled up it might be caused by the bent places in the belt. Then I thought no more than the bend are it would go away in 10 or 15 min but it didn't. Might put the old belt on tomorrow and see. Also thought about new blades out of balance but decided couldn't be out enough to cause the deck to shake, the deck is heavy
 
Check that there is not a rock or stick wedged in one of the pulleys. Only one guess why I would think of that. If no obstructions, look belt over closely for variations in width, there are some pretty junky belts coming out of China and companies are buying them and reselling as original equipment.
 
Are you sure you have the belt threaded around the
pullies properly. Some are complicated. Ed Will
 
Your belt has probably stretched and not enough tension on the idler pulley. Try tightening the idler. If that doesn't work put on a new belt. I just went through this with my Grasshopper mower. New 114" belt - $64.00. It works fine now. Check the bearings on the pulleys also. Smooth???
 

Thanks for ideas. I had wondered about tension not tight enough. Tension is controlled by spring. I bought belt by number that for this mower but didn't compare it with one I took off. Maybe it was put in wrong sleeve and it is actually too long causing not enough tension. I'll check in the morning. I still have old belt.
 
I put a new belt on our Husqvarna last summer and it didn't run smooth at first, I think it was just new and stiff, it
smoothed out in time. It has a spring tensioner so you can't tighten the belt without adding or changing springs.
 
I have learned that when the deck on my JD ZT445 begins to shake and vibrate excessively that I need to stop
and remove a sweetgum ball from the drive pulley. It happens a lot.
 
Dad sold Snappers for years. They had a bad habit of the spot
welds breaking on the crankshaft pulley. They really shake when
that happens.
 
My experience is if a belt has a defect, it will dance and damage spindles.
If a pulley is bent, belts can dance too. Recently a defective belt danced so
much the bolt holding the electric clutch on my JD275 snapped off.

I have installed additional idler pulleys to prevent dancing. I noticed some
mower decks have more idler pulleys than the cheapier ones.

Stop the dancing.
geo
 
I think your on the right track. Verify length of the new belt, check all the idler and spindle pulleys to see if one or more wobbles indicating worn bearings, look to see if a weld holding a pulley is broken.
 

All pulleys are good and nothing in them. I put old belt back on and it runs perfect. I checked belt by feeling all around and no defects in it. I called Gates and they said probably because it was stiff not unlike a new pair of jeans. He said if it didn't stop doing that in and hour or so to take it back to where I bought it. I went back to where I bought it and he said he would give me another right now. I said no, if that is the problem another would do same thing. He said to use it a little and he would give me another when I wanted.
 
As others have said about broken pulleys. Even a slightly bent one
will vibrate like crazy. The thing i have found after winter is the
pulleys get rust in them . My Husqvarna 54 inch deck vibrated on the
long slack side of the deck. I had to wire wheel the grove in EVERY
SINGLE pulley. Now it runs slick as can be.
 
the new belt is junk had one on a mower on the deck that did that CHINA junk belt the seizing with is poor
 
snappers comes out of ferris mower plant, so do simplicity and couple others. check the tightner make sure its not locked up and thet you have the CORRECT BELT. see it happen all time
 
Gates sells a line of belts made specifically for mower, it is called the Blade Runner series, all the numbers end in BR. I have been running one on my Farmall cub with Mott flail mower for several years, and it has outlasted anything else I tried. It is not a cheap belt however.
 
glad you found the problem instead of modifing the deck or something else.becarefull what you reed on here,
some people dont have a clue
 

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