Z Force belt smoking-

[kdogg]

Hello all
I have a Cub Z Force 50 that has around 40 hours on it. Earlier this morning I was finishing up my mowing task and suddenly I smelled rubber burning looked down and there was smoke rolling off the deck. It definitely smelled like I was smoking a belt. When it cooled, I blew it off with my blower and got down to inspect-the belt appeared to be on all the pullies? I raised the front end and tried to spin the blades and the moved but not with total ease. I also heard a kind of dragging sound-like a brake dragging.

Any thoughts on where to start? I desperately need help!

 

[OldMachinist]

The PTO clutch does have a brake so the sound you heard is normal. You need to release the pto belt tension and then spin the blades. You might want to check to see if there are clippings under the outer belt guards rubbing the belt. Also check that the idler pulleys spin freely.

 

[kdogg]

Thanks. I just blew out all the debris then hooked the hose up and deck washed it. I turned the PTO on and it seems to be fine???? The grass was a little "damp" from the dew this morning so maybe you are right and I just had a build up. I do keep it fairly clean and always blow the deck off before I wash it so hopefully just that.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[OldMachinist]

I had a lot of trouble with grass clippings and small sticks accumulating under the outer deck belt guards when we first got ours. It would pack up under there and rub the belt in just one cutting. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who cuts with children around or lets children use the mower but I removed the guards and left them off. I had to make a bracket to hold the pto belt tension rod but I've never had any problems with accumulation since and it's so much easier to clean the top of the deck.

 

[kdogg]

I did the same thing with my 2000 series Cub I had before this one so that may be what I also do.

 

[savageactor7]

I had a lot of trouble with grass clippings and small sticks accumulating under the outer deck belt guards when we first got ours. It would pack up under there and rub the belt in just one cutting. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who cuts with children around or lets children use the mower but I removed the guards and left them off. I had to make a bracket to hold the pto belt tension rod but I've never had any problems with accumulation since and it's so much easier to clean the top of the deck.

OldMachinist I would like to see a picture of that bracket ...thanks. Sounds like an excellent idea...no problems or caveats running it that way?

Right now I feel I pull as much maintenance on that deck as I would with an airplane.

Actually a bracket is just a bracket guess I don't need a picture. How many hours have you run it that way?

 

[OldMachinist]

I took the guards off when mower had about 75 hours on it. I now have 368 hours and have had no problems running it this way.

The original guards didn't even have a holes in them to grease the spindles so you had to take them off everytime.

I also had problems with the guide wheel on the left side snagging on things and bending the bolt so I took some of the same metal strap and made a guard for it.

 

[savageactor7]

Oh that's sweet, thank you for answering all my questions...I'm gonna do exactly what you did.

We require a very close cut so I took all my gauge wheels off, trimmed off some of excess wheel hangers...and cobbled this float device...I love the way it cuts now.

 

[savageactor7]

Well here's my pulley cover modification.

Got a black Stanley 'D' handle from Lowes bent it some to increase elevation and attached it to the deck in the original pulley cover holes.

Before attaching I painted it with some Rust-Oleum...next time I'm at the dealers I'll pick up some CC yellow to blend it in better.

It sure is way easier to clean now...grass will promote rust so this makes it removing it simpler.

Thanks again OldMachinist for sharing this simple solution.

 

[diesel_nut]

Nice fence handle

I feel the same about the covers. They just promote grass build up and rust. The first thing we do with our dirt bikes is remove the counter shaft sprocket cover because all it does is trap mud in that area. Same idea. Although my deck covers have holes in them for greasing.
Will see what is under my covers and decide then. But I blow it out after mowing with a leaf blower and when I do wash it I spray that area until no grass comes out(then run the mower to dry the area out).

 

[savageactor7]

Yup it was a nuisance to always take them off for a good cleaning/greasing. Today I just threw 2 buckets of pond water over the deck...all clean just as God intended.

Hey diesel_nut did you ever see any mods on the oil dip stick to safely bypass that stupid 'O' ring? My bum wrist makes very hard to R/R and the salesman cautioned that if the 'O' ring wasn't engaged the oil would shoot out of the engine.

That'll be one of my 3 final mods that also include Rhino spray under the rubber foot pads like Toolin did and improve the front/rear lights for night time plowing.

 

[diesel_nut]

Haven't seen that done. I know what you mean.That dipstick is one pain in the ......wrist.
Maybe try taking the o-ring off and start her up and see what happens. Nothing is gonna get past the dipstick cover for sure to let contaminants in but it will be interesting to see if there is oil blow by with it running. Maybe some teflon tape on the tube would seal it if there is blow by.

 

[JTKub]

Great mods to all. Gotta say OM's are the purdiest. Love that wheel guard. I don't get too much collection on my 44". None that can't be blown out w/ my leaf blower. Savage, you must have one HECK of a smooth lawn to allow for setting that low a deck setting!

Joel

 

[savageactor7]

Yes it is pretty smooth...but the deck is always floating. We have a half dozen flags out there for practicing the short game. It's almost a fairway cut...you can see a golf ball sitting up at 200+ yards. But truthfully it's nothing special we grew corn there in the 80's then the wife had a horse there a number for years.

Believe it or not I have a 72" Woods rm600 that will do a fairway cut but this being a wet year the GT does the heavy lifting without leaving ruts.

 

[OldMachinist]

Great mods to all. Gotta say OM's are the purdiest. Love that wheel guard. I don't get too much collection on my 44". None that can't be blown out w/ my leaf blower. Savage, you must have one HECK of a smooth lawn to allow for setting that low a deck setting!

Joel

You have to understand that I am not the one that mows with Z-Force most of the time I use a Allis Chalmers CA with a Woods belly mower. The little woman uses the Cub to do the cutting around the house and other areas the I can't get to. She won't use the string trimmer so she tries to cut as close as possible to things and that guide wheel was always ether bent or completely missing and believe it or not she has managed to bent the guide wheel center bolt even after I welded on the guard.

Well tomorrow I have to put a new blade belt on because she decided to try to cut an area that hadn't been cut yet this year and didn't raise the deck up. It clogged it up solid and smoked the belt till it broke. I shouldn't complain I could be cutting the whole 10+ acres we cut each week all by myself.

 

[MarkV]

Anyone else have trouble with the z force 50 trowing the blade belt? I thought I had it figured that the tensioner pulley was the problem. It has a center bearing and mine had a lot of play so I replaced it. It did quiet the deck noise down but I still threw a belt the other day. May have to try removing the guards like some of you have done. They do hold a lot of clippings.

MarkV

 

[OldMachinist]

I can't recall it ever throwing the belt. The idler pulley bearing locked up and burned it before. The bearings they put in the idlers these days are only shielded not sealed and moisture gets it them and they fail. I've developed a method of replacing the bearings in the pulleys and install sealed ones.
I'd check the pivot shaft for the idler tensioner maybe yours sticking allowing the belt to jump off. Pump some grease it and work it back and forth.

 

[JTKub]

...The little woman uses the Cub to do the cutting around the house and other areas the I can't get to. She won't use the string trimmer so she tries to cut as close as possible to things..

I'd have to install a full perimeter bumper car bumper if my wife decided she wanted to mow. If it's any consolation, that's one 'feature' of a ZTR; You will get yourself in harms way a lot quicker than you could with a conventional tractor type mower.

Joel

 

[OldMachinist]

I'd have to install a full perimeter bumper car bumper if my wife decided she wanted to mow. If it's any consolation, that's one 'feature' of a ZTR; You will get yourself in harms way a lot quicker than you could with a conventional tractor type mower.

Joel

I understand the need for a bumper. I installed a tow hitch on the back of the Z-Force to tow 15 gallon spray tank to spray the driveway and ditches and then I started noticing horizontal gashes in trees, posts and even one in the vinyl siding on the small old farm house we use for a guest house. I had to mount one of the old guide wheels in the hitch to prevent anymore damage.

 

[diesel_nut]

Nice clover patch, uh I mean lawn

That's a slick roller there!!