48" Mower Deck 2 Blades Stopped Rotating

[plottamus]

Hey All,

I'm back again with another issue...

Was mowing on this lovely evening in Western NC. I lifted the mower deck up out of float to avoid imbalance while on a slope. When I put it back down and into float I noticed it was much quieter. I lifted it again to look at the blades and only the center blade was rotating.
I've taken it in and out of PTO multiple times. Powered down the machine multiple times. Added grease to all three nipples. Still, only the center blade is spinning.

My grass is getting long so any ideas would be welcomed

Thanks!
plottamus... PT425

 

[m5040]

Someone that has one should chime in, but you might have a cover to remove to replace belts that drive the outer blades off the center pulley. Or maybe your belt jumped off. If the belt isn't broken, check for alignment of the pulleys and if any wobble.

 

[ernemats]

I would also check belt to see if it slipped off pulleys or broke. Just remove covers on mower deck

 

[plottamus]

Will do. Hopefully just a slip. Will be tonight's after work project. Thanks for the tips.

 

[plottamus]

The belt slipped. Had a nice lil mouse nest next to one of the blade pulleys. The mouse did not survive. The fourth tension pulley seems slightly loose and wobbly. Will tighten this evening.

 

[2manyrocks]

I don't remember all the details, but MossRoad posted that he has to periodically retighten some bolts on his PT425 brush deck.

 

[ernemats]

Glad you got problem resolved. I always remove covers on mine in spring before I start mowing as I have also found mouse nests under the covers.

 

[plottamus]

May have to remove them after every use with the darn mice around here. We need to get a cat...

Thanks everyone.

 

[ruffdog]

All my decks are missing their belt covers for this reason. That way I can blow the debris out after every mowing.

 

[WinterDeere]

The belt slipped. Had a nice lil mouse nest next to one of the blade pulleys. The mouse did not survive.

The last thing to go thru that mouse's mind? His spleen!

Like @ruffdog, I keep my belt shrouds OFF the mower, both for this reason and so they don't collect grass and cause other issues. Easier to keep clean, and watch what's happening... just mind your toes! Only down side for me is that I do tend to sometimes drop my phone or have it jiggle out of my pocket while mowing, and this increases the likelihood a pulley may eat it.

 

[plottamus]

I got everything put back together this evening and went out for a mow. I also spoke with Terry at PowerTrac this morning about how tight the belt should be. He said to clear the debris on the deck, don't mess with any adjustments, and see if the belt slips again. I'm a little rough sometimes going in and out of float... about halfway through mowing I dropped the deck back down on a gravel driveway and the belt slipped again.

I'm going to see if I can tighten the tension pulley a bit to fix it. Any thoughts on how tight the belt should be? Terry said that I have to be careful not to tighten too much as it can wear out the pulley bearings.

One thing I noticed while cleaning Mickey and his nest off the deck was that he and his head seemed to have been in there for awhile. They may have or have not been the root cause.

I like the shroud removal idea. However, one of my dogs enjoys going after the mower deck sometimes when she gets out. I have to shut it down and put her back in the house. She's relentless.

 

[MuncyBob]

I too removed the covers years ago. A stick found its way in there and I could see problems in the future. So easy to blow it clean w/o the covers on. I replaced one of the pulleys many moons ago and just used a snug but not too tight guide when putting tension on it. When running I don't want to see the belt wobble. Has worked fine for me. I too have a tractor hating pup, but he's mainly a tire chaser.

On a side note, about 6 years ago I noticed the belt looking a bit shabby so I ordered a new one thinking the original belt was going to snap any day now. Still have the replacement belt hanging in the garage

 

[WinterDeere]

Not related to this brand, but I guess applicable to any brand running an electric PTO clutch to a mule drive belt on a mower: I had to replace the PTO clutch on my Deere 757 ZTrak, and after seeing the price the OEM units were fetching, I went with an aftermarket unit advertised to be more heavy duty than the OEM. I can verify that, yes... the aftermarket one has very-substantially-faster lock-up, its frankly jarring. It has also lead to more thrown and broken belts in the 2 years I've been running it, than in the 12 or 13 years I spent running OEM clutches. I've recently switched to Kevlar belts, to see if I can resolve that issue, without spending 5 bills on a new OEM clutch.

Everything is a "system", and stronger isn't always better, at least in the case of clutches!

... and yes, before everyone asks, I'm engaging at the lowest possible RPM, without stalling the engine. If I even try to engage this new clutch at high RPM, it throws the belts off their sheaves, as it completely bottoms out the travel on sprung tension arm on the deck belt.