New Holland 617 Stops Cutting Sporadically

Kravnborg · Jun 1, 2014

Hope I'm in the right place.

I bought my 617 new in 2004. Cut about 50 acres every year twice each year. Everything worked like a charm until last year when the bearing went out on the last blade gear box. Locked everything up and made the 4 rib belt smoke. I shut it down pretty quickly when I heard the screeching sound - maybe within 10 to 15 seconds - but not before the belt poured out some heavy white smoke.

I replaced the bearing and finished out the fall mowing. This year, I cut the first 25 acres without a hitch over Memorial Day weekend. Tackled the next 25 acres today - pretty thin hay here in East TN (actually very thin) - but an odd thing kept happening. After the first 200 hundred yards, I noticed the blades weren't cutting well - hay was folder over and slightly cut. I stopped and checked the 7 gear boxes. All had the expected amount of play and seemed to turn fine. I did noticed that the belt smelled. I started the mower again and cut roughly 400 yards and it happened again. I checked the gear box oil - the lower seems to leak a little - but it was fine. I started mowing again and everything seemed fine except for the same thing happening 2 more times before I finished the 25 acres.

While I was cleaning up the fence lines - slowly mowing counter clockwise - this started happening over and over. This grass was thicker than out in the open field. I removed the belt cover and the belt was extremely hot. I know this is not recommended but I raised the mower cover and mowed so I could look back at the blades and belt. Each time the hay cutting messed up, the blades continued to turn but much slower and the belt would smoke a little. When I would stop moving forward, the blades would spin back to full speed and I could then move forward cutting hay again.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? The belt tension seems fine although it seems to have more play than expected when running. I would think that if this was a bearing or gear problem, that my stopping forward movement when this happened would have no affect on the blades spinning back to full speed.

Could it be the belt that has gone bad? Could it have been damaged when it got so hot last year - when the gear bearing went bad - and started smoking? Did it get "glazed" or hardened to the point that it is slipping under pressure? This has me puzzled.

I plan to get a new belt Monday but would certainly appreciate any insight or input.

Thanks

Tx Jim · Jun 1, 2014

Are you positive belt tension is tight enough?? If so then I'll guess that belt "V's" are worn enough that belt has lost some of it's grip. You could try using some belt dressing

banjodunn · Jun 1, 2014

G'day a new belt should fix your issues

Jon

Kravnborg · Jun 1, 2014

Here's an update to my 617 issue.

After reading Tx Jim's reply today, I checked the belt groves to see how they felt. They did not seem glazed and they seemed to have good grip. I was reluctant to try a belt dressing because I figured the sticky dressing would cause the cut hay and dust to make things less sticky on the belt in a short period of time - although I was willing to try if necessary.

I also considered Tx Jim's comment about verifying the belt tension and while it seemed tight, I figured I would try tightening it a little more. What I found is that it would not tighten. The tension spring was completely compressed so the tension nut would not turn or tighten any more. So I removed the nut and added about 1/2 inch worth of washers to create a spacer. When I tightened the tension nut this time, I was able to tighten the belt a little more. I wasn't sure just how tight to pull the belt so I just tightened it by feel.

The good news - I cranked everything up and was able to mow one remaining 5 acre field with no issues.

My "uneducated educated" guess is that the belt must have stretched just enough, either over time and when I smoked it when the gear bearing locked up, that it started slipping under stress. And it could not be tightened properly because the tension spring was already completely compressed.

I expect to need a belt soon but for now, my 617 issue seems to be resolved. Thanks Tx Jim!