Cub Cadet Z-Force 48 main drive belt trouble

[Sonny580]

Bought this thing at an auction and found no drive belt from motor to deck,--deck belt there and good! O.k.,---whats up with this?--new idler pulleys also on it! HMMMM! so I go buy the 79.5 belt that dealer said it S'POSED to use and finally got it on,--way too tight but hey never argue with the dealer! 28 hours later the belt explodes and we done! Tried a longer belt and it started to rub after a couple hours so got an 80 incher. All is good for about an hour when belt starts getting hot si I quit for the day and let it cool off,--next day same ole crap 1 hour and hot belt!
Everything is in line as much as possible! Factory had a VERY poor idea of routing the main belt from motor to deck! All spindles turn super easy, belt is tight,( too tight in my book but no more adjustment).
What is the problem here on this mower??? anybody else have or been around this model??
grass is getting out of hand and I cant mow til get this thing fixed!

 

[tomplum]

I would be a less busy man if it weren't for CUB deck belt problems. Let's start with the actual model number off the product tag, what belt # it called for and was put on. By the length you must be talking about the primary belt. You certainly want to take the tension off the secondary and inspect each component individually.

 

[Roadworthy]

If the belt is over heating it is possible something is out of alignment causing extra drag or pull on one side of the belt.

 

[seville009]

A few older threads that might help

Cub Cadet Z-Force 60 (PTO Belt Issues)

Hi All - I have a 2008 Cub Cadet Z-Force 60 with approx 110Hrs - Everything on it has ran fine up until this season. During the spring service they replaced an Idler Pulley on my mower and ever since then all kinds of issues. 1st - My PTO Clutch literally fell out of the mower. It was...

www.tractorbynet.com

Z Force 48 Low Hour PTO Belt Breaks

I have a 2009 Cub Cadet Z Force 48 that likes to break PTO belts. The first occurance was at 17 hrs. I bought a new belt and had it mailed up to me (100 miles away from dealer). I took it to the dealer after I finished cutting my yard and they proceded to look at it and told me nothing was...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[Sonny580]

got the tag #'s off the mower
Factory# 53AA5A7M710
Serial# 0D284Z00005
Item# 01009448
UPC Code 043033528745
I also looked at the parts pic. in the link above and #46 idler pulley shows a 1.0 od? both of mine are same and both are flat and run on the OUTSIDE of the belt. ---all line up except for the step down. I cant lower the front anymore ---out of rod and I would like to lower it a lot more but cant without longer rods OR a belt longer than 80". From the sounds of it that wont help either! Sounds like these are junk mowers from the factory! Were they made by MTD? if so that x'plains the poor quality and the redickulus design of the whole mower!!!!

 

[Sonny580]

a couple pix. 1 shows the step that they made the belt run from motor to deck. you can see how radical it is.
Its hard to get good pix under there.

 

[RandyT]

Since it was purchased from an auction I am wondering if it has the wrong pto clutch on it. Looks like the clutch is sitting too high.

 

[Sonny580]

That is another possible thing. Wrong clutch could throw things out big time! Will try to look into it and how its mounted. It sits way up in there and hard to get at. May have to remove it to actually see or find #'s, then see if they match up or not!