Caroni Flail Belt Failure

[IslandTractor]

Photos of belt set up with spring and solid tensioners. Area mowed with spring set up. Example of thermometer reading.

 

[sunspot]

IT.
Thanks for trying the solid link. It seems the spring has the lower temps. That pulley does run hot
If you don't mind, would you take a temp reading on the gearbox? Mine was very hot to the touch last time I used it.
I did not even look at yard work yesterday. No rain in over a week and the outside temp peaked at 102F

 

[IslandTractor]

IT.
Thanks for trying the solid link. It seems the spring has the lower temps. That pulley does run hot
If you don't mind, would you take a temp reading on the gearbox? Mine was very hot to the touch last time I used it.
I did not even look at yard work yesterday. No rain in over a week and the outside temp peaked at 102F

I did take a gearbox reading after the first almost one hour mowing run. 145F. That is too hot to touch for even a full second. And yes, there was oil that came out of the breather cap as usual.

I've never taken a reading on any other gearbox so don't know what 145 compares too but I don't think that sounds very high to me and is less or the same as an automobile engine temp would be.

The heat source is clearly the belts as the center of the pulley had consistently lower temps than the area closer to contact with the belts.

 

[Eagleview]

Do you think that the solid link has made the belts grip more because the bogging of the engine in hard going sounds as if that is the case ? As the tractor never used to bog down , do you feel that the belts used to slip more with the spring ? I do'nt know what to make of the temps , maybe that's around their operating temp . I still believe that when hard pushed the spring setup would allow the belts to quickly burn up once they started to slip . Keeping in mind this is not my idea , most flails do'nt have spring loaded idlers .

 

[IslandTractor]

Do you think that the solid link has made the belts grip more because the bogging of the engine in hard going sounds as if that is the case ? As the tractor never used to bog down , do you feel that the belts used to slip more with the spring ? .

I don't think the belt tension was different enough to account for the bogging. If the belts had been slipping more with the spring tensioner I'd imagine those temperatures would have been higher due to more friction heat. That was not the case. I think, in retrospect, that the second field, though the same size as the first, was pretty clearly higher, bumpier and more dense and that is when I noted the bogging and had to increase throttle to keep the engine at 2000-2100 while mowing.

This was just one test but I tried to control as many variables as I could and the bottom line was that with the static belt tension set to 3/8 inch Iron Horse Thumb Deflection Units there was no lowering of belt or pulley temps when using the solid versus spring tensioner. I think the higher temps recorded with the solid tensioner were due simply to the heavier mowing and that there was no significant belt slippage with either tensioner based on lack of squeal and lack of burning rubber smell.

I'll have to think about whether to switch back to the spring but may run one more trial in reverse order before doing that on another day.

Have you ever recorded the temperature of your flail pulleys after heavy mowing? I know your cover stays cooler but it would be interesting to know even if by tactile measurement your pulleys are only warm.

 

[davitk]

IT, I was mowing 6' tall grass on Sunday with my Hanmey, had to mow in Low at crawl speed (26 PTO hp tractor) and when the engine would bog if I didn't let up the belts would slip. Even after 2 hours of that, I could comfortably hold the palm of my hand on the belt cover.

 

[IslandTractor]

IT, I was mowing 6' tall grass on Sunday with my Hanmey, had to mow in Low at crawl speed (26 PTO hp tractor) and when the engine would bog if I didn't let up the belts would slip. Even after 2 hours of that, I could comfortably hold the palm of my hand on the belt cover.

I think that is the sort of thing Iron Horse has been saying too with his flail. At this point I just don't know if the Caroni just runs hotter than others or not. I guess I could tighten up the belts more but that would risk stress on bearings. Too bad I don't speak Italian or I'd call the product manager for advice. I don't think the guys at AgriSupply are technical enough to be of much help on something like this.

 

[davitk]

Just my 2 cents, but if it's broken, don't fix it. And if the belts fail, well, replace them

FWIW, I married an Italian, and she, as does the Coroni, runs hotter

 

[IslandTractor]

Just my 2 cents, but if it's broken, don't fix it. And if the belts fail, well, replace them

FWIW, I married an Italian, and she, as does the Coroni, runs hotter

Maybe I'll just name the mower after my favorite Italian actress. "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." ~ Sophia Loren.

 

[John861]

I did take a gearbox reading after the first almost one hour mowing run. 145F. That is too hot to touch for even a full second. And yes, there was oil that came out of the breather cap as usual.

I've never taken a reading on any other gearbox so don't know what 145 compares too but I don't think that sounds very high to me and is less or the same as an automobile engine temp would be.

The heat source is clearly the belts as the center of the pulley had consistently lower temps than the area closer to contact with the belts.

I checked the temps on my old Ford flail over the weekend. Ambient temps in the mid 80's. I mowed between 2-3 acres, mostly yard with some taller weeds every now and then. When I finished, the belt and pulleys were around 115, gearbox was around 105. I'll check again sometime after mowing more heavy stuff. The belt on mine is a double groove style - looks like two separate belts with the backsides connected, so it would operate like a perfectly matched pair. That may help with the pulley temps compared to the three separate belts on yours.

-John