OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Mower belts not handling this season's heavy grass

I have replaced 6 Kevlar grade A belts on a customers MTD ride on this season. The grass is so thick the blades stop turning.

The repair shop I buy the belts from said they've sold more belts already compared to the whole of last year & even the big Ferris zero turns can't handle the grass.

Looks like it's going to be a big season for non Greenfield/Cox owners this year...

LRT my mates Anniversary is having belt slip problems this year, we put a new belt on it, better but still having problems with the deck on the lower settings

That's interesting to hear. If an Anniversary is struggling it must be pretty tough!

Embarrassingly I overworked my old Anniversary last year on a 40�C day cutting 200 metres of 6ft tall roadside grass and the motor locked up. (Yes - tut tut a mechanic should know better...)

I've got the motor out but busy swapping over a gearbox in a 4x4 at the moment so haven't had the time to look at it yet to see what caused it to lock up.

Given any thoughts that it might be worn pulleys? I got one customer that also so wear on the deck system that he is now using a belt that is 1-1/2" shorter than the spec MTD belt for his mower. On top that even new belts are beginning to bottom out in the v-pulleys causing slippage.

Hi AVB,

The mower that is causing the most grief is the MTD Rover that you helped me with in this thread:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/87638/1.html

I've just put on a shorter Kevlar A75 belt to see if it will make any difference. I have checked all the pulleys & replaced a bent spindle but it still shreds the belt. It doesn't help that the owner is nearly deaf so he can't hear belts slipping!

Hi LRT with my mates Anniversary he got the new belt to match the one we took off which from memory was an A100 but the books say it should be an A102 but to even get the A100 to work we had to slot the adjuster hole to get enough tension on the belt, something doesn't sound right but I have seen mention on here of some Anniversarys using the A100 belt Sorry to hear you cooked yours, how is the grass growing down your way, sounds like it is a bit out of control at the moment

Hi Norm,

Yes that does sound odd. I'll have a look tomorrow to see what belt mine is running.

Yes it's a shame especially when I rebuilt it but I think part of the problem was due to the engine reconditioner boring it too far for the 20 thou rings & piston to work as they're used to doing racing engines. Although it turns over ok I'm going to pull of the sump to check if there's anything abnormal.

Yes the grass is very thick and already 5ft in spots. It's looking like there will be a big fire risk this year for us and especially for Ballarat as well.

LRT, my guess is that they didn't give the piston enough clearance, we had a problem with Enfield single cylinder bike engines that required 8 thou piston clearance and if you didn't get that right they would nip up. Hopefully you won't have any other damage, hopefully a hone and it could be ok. Have you tried restarting it since it nipped up?

No I haven't tried restarting it since it locked up but it probably would go but I left it as I'd like to clean up any metal transfer first.

I've posted a couple of pictures of the Greenfield mowing some roadside grass last year in the gallery. (I can't get any images to post in the off topics area) The area it locked up on was twice as thick and much taller than this:

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...ary-88-heavy-duty-mowning.html#Post88785

I sent a couple of photos you posted of your Anniversary chewing through the tall grass to my mate and he was impressed

Yes it certainly works hard but the 12HP Briggs & Stratton L-head pulls beautifully after the rebuild. In a way I think its smoother and has more torque than an equivalent OHV model. It was just the burning of the oil that prompted me to rebuild it.

I've just had a look at mine. The belt is an A100 with the pulleys in the hole closest to the front of the mower.

The belt part number printed on the dashboard is: GT 2200

The bearings collapsed in the two pulleys so I have fitted new genuine ones. The number written on them is 1008 & the outside diameter is roughly 4.5"

Maybe your mates one has had incorrect pulleys fitted or is the tension system not working properly?

This one runs the belt pretty tight.

Hi LRT, it is a bit of a silly belt adjustment on them with the 3 hole setup, doesn't allow for fine adjustment. I also think the front pulley is worn and the belt might be bottoming out. I can't remember how that pulley comes out and I do have another Anniversary here so I could check it out but it is surrounded by mowers and at the moment they are driving me nuts, everybody wants a cheap mower, something to do with the grass growing I believe. They all seem to wake up one morning and the grass is half way up their fence so panic sets in.

Hi Norm,

It seems they used the rear deck mounting system as a self adjuster. I have found that if it gets rusty it won't self adjust.

I have to pick up an AMC ride on mower to repair today and I'll post a picture of the front pulley on mine.

G'day Folks,

LRT, your story reminded me that as a kid I did the very same thing more than once to dad's near new (back then) Tractor 8. Giving it serious what for in the long grass and it just wound down. Was bricking it the first time it happened but I just let it cool down and away it went. I don't think I ever told him about it

25 years later I took the engine out.! Good 'Ol B&S.
Cheers,

Hi PRD,

That's interesting you've had a similar experience! Unfortunately mine didn't loosen easily when it cooled so I suspect some metal transfer has taken place. It's disappointing as I'd only rebuilt it the year before & now the grass is growing so the little Victa Utility is taking it's place.

The Cox Stockman is also in bits as when I loaned it to someone the throttle butterfly came off & they didn't think of turning the motor off until the valve keeper broke. (They also accidentally cut some heavy steel pipe that was hiding in the grass, which then bent the blades & cutter disc into an unusual shape!)

Unfortunately the cast iron guide has shattered so the piston is scrap but although Briggs say the guide is cast integrally with the head & not replaceable, they are only pressed in! So I've turned down some brass stock to replace it & see how it goes.

I've also seen a Cox with the same Intek 21A engine on eBay that 'revved really fast & won't restart' so I wonder if there was a faulty batch of engines at some stage. However they both have failed at around 1,000 hours.