Woods mower belt

grandpa Love · Sep 7, 2019

Previous owner had written on cover of manual that we needed a motion industry 148 belt. So we crossed that at O'Riley's and got a gates 148. It was terrible tight going on. Tension pulley was all the way against the stops. Belt lasted about 30 minutes......thank goodness for warranty! So ......we researched and it should be a 150 inch belt. We ordered one but it is 11/16 wide. Old one was 5/8. We put it on anyway and after about 10 minutes it looks like this.......will it just wear edge off and be ok ? Or should we hunt a different belt?

All that black dust is the last belt coming apart

Adirondack case guy · Sep 7, 2019

The new belt is likely running higher on the pulley than your previous belt and the pulley is real rusty there and ruining the belt.-----------Loren

grandpa Love · Sep 7, 2019

Hmmmmmmmm. Should I take the belt off and wire wheel the pulleys? Then smooth with sand paper?

Steve@Advance · Sep 7, 2019

Looks like something is rubbing it, or the pulleys are rough, rusty, a burr on the pulley surface. The guides should never actually touch, there just in case.

Look everything over closely. Look for a bent shaft or pulley setting up vibrations, whipping the belt. Watch it under varying speeds and loads.

grandpa Love · Sep 7, 2019

This was the " parts" mower we got free when my dad bought his. Then we got another parts mower and got this one going.......it was sitting in the woods for many years. Will clean those pulleys up!

JD Seller · Sep 7, 2019

Take a flap wheel on a 4 1/2 inch grinder. Clean the rust off the pulley Vees. Rusty pulleys will eat a belt real quick.

john in la · Sep 7, 2019

Dang Kevin all I can do is shake my head.

So we can assume if you put up a fence and we back into it with our pickup that is covered under warranty.

Geo-TH,In · Sep 7, 2019

Wouldn't you want a kevlar belt on mower?

Place in town that sells gates belts has a sign saying their belts aren't for mowers

Tracy Brown · Sep 7, 2019

I have run into automotive belts and industrial belts being a different pitch belt. They don't fit the pulley correctly and will not last. Rather than go off what the PO said, I would suggest researching what came on it from Woods and go from there.

Bob · Sep 7, 2019

(quoted from post at 18:57:42 09/07/19) Wouldn't you want a kevlar belt on mower?

Place in town that sells gates belts has a sign saying their belts aren't for mowers

"Place in town that sells gates belts has a sign saying their belts aren't for mowers"

That sounds like very sound business decision.

grandpa Love · Sep 7, 2019

John, if I like you I would fix it for you! Lol.

john in la · Sep 7, 2019

Thank You Kevin.

Like said by others clean the pullies and order a OEM belt.
Generic and automotive belts do not work on mowers.

MtMan · Sep 7, 2019

If it is like my older Woods belly mower, the belt has at least 2 twists in it. and it is very important to get them in the correct place. I buy my belts from a Woods dealer and also take my mower and tractor to him to replace the belt. It is a little bit costly but I use and sometimes misuse my mower and the belt has lasted 3 years. Another thing I watch is the tension on the belt, as they need to be really tight. Tough old mowers.

Rustmonger · Sep 7, 2019

Grandpa, which Woods mower are you using?
I have kept two Woods 72" finish PTO
mowers running for around 34 years now.
Even though I know industrial power
transmission backwards and forwards,
this is the one application that I
absolutely refuse to use an aftermarket
belt. I have one deck that is on its
tenth year using the same OEM belt. At
about $150 (seems outrageous, doesn't it?)
that pencils out to $15 a year. A bargain
in my book. Get yourself the correct OEM
manual for your machine, and AFTER you
have fixed all the other issues, splurge
on a new belt. The spindle tapered roller
bearing adjustment is unique, but easy
once understood. Grease is your friend.
Best design out there for a guy like me.
Happy Mowing, jeff

Russ from MN · Sep 7, 2019

We bought an industrial belt for our Woods mower on our Farmall C about 8 years ago, and it has preformed well. I think it was a little over $40. Yesterday I ran a stick into the mower and it killed the engine instantly. I pulled the stick out and restarted the mower and the belt seems just fine.

JF in MI · Sep 8, 2019

Interesting. Our airport has a 15' Woods mower. The rear mower wing is larger than the two outriggers and uses a different belt. I never trusted that we had the correct parts manual for it but there didn't seem to be any other. Anyway the rear belt would always start to slip and one of our guys welded a bracket to put a much larger spring on the tensioner. Problem was that this spring would stretch out a new belt rapidly to the point of being shot. It wasn't rocket science to see that the belt they were putting on (according to the "book") was too long meaning the factory spring wasn't putting enough tension on the belt to start. Put on a belt 5" shorter and now everything works like it should using the factory spring.

Stroby · Sep 8, 2019

My advice is to contact "Vbeltsupply.com" Those folks will help you with measurements, or whatever you need. Super polite, super service and price.

grandpa Love · Sep 8, 2019

We have a RM59-3. Cuts really nice...my dad has one too. We have the original owners manual, it came with my dad's. It doesn't say inside what belt to use. But previous owner had written a number on the cover. Maybe a Motion industry 148 is longer than a gates 148? He cut 5-6 acres for many years with it.

Jim.ME · Sep 8, 2019

Looking at Motion Industries web site I don't see any "Motion Industries" brand belts. They sell Gates Belts, along with some other brands. So Motion Industries 148 is incomplete and kind of inconclusive. It likely could have been a Gates belt, in my thoughts. Also there should have been an A, B, or C, etc. ahead of the 148, as a number of widths and profiles can be a 148. I would go with buy a Woods belt and dimension it out for future reference, if you want. Definitely clean the pulleys up, check bearings, and guides.

Woods mower belt

grandpa Love

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Adirondack case guy

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grandpa Love

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Steve@Advance

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grandpa Love

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JD Seller

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john in la

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Geo-TH,In

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Tracy Brown

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Bob

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grandpa Love

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john in la

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MtMan

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Rustmonger

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Russ from MN

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JF in MI

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Stroby

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grandpa Love

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Jim.ME

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