Mule Drive Belt Slippage

[leeave96 490]

Anyone have trouble with their mule drive deck belt slipping when mowing heavier grass? I have it from time to time, but have just learned to live with it over the years. I've had my 314 stall one time mowing, but the 520H will smoke the belt if I hit overly tall grass and don't adjust the ground speed or deck height.

Just curious as to your experience and how you dealt with it - if at all.

Thanks!

Bill

[MalMac 1,332]

Just off the top of my head I can think of what would be the 3 most common problems. Belt not tight enough, worn belt, trying to go to fast for the hight of grass. I guess 4th would be possibly a worn pulley.

[Don1977 605]

Bad bearings on the mule drive could also cause a belt to smoke. The belt is not tight enough if it's smoking on the PTO pulley. Those pressed steel pulleys on the mower deck ware out. I had to replace all the deck pulleys to get my mower to cut heavy grass. My deck is 48-75MS01. I had up graded the spindles with mertic spindles. I still had all the Double D cast iron pulleys so we bored them out and sleeved them down to 5/8" and faced them off for the nut and lock washer to fit on the mertic spindles. Now if the deck quits cutting the PTO or the drive belt to the deck needs adjusting or I'm moving to fast.

You can see the center cast iron pulley on the metric spindle the other two are under the cover.

[leeave96 490]

On my decks, the pulleys and spindles are definitely free to turn - no binding there. I think as Wheelhorse went-up in hp, they should have considered a wider belt to give more surface area within the pulley. I think the 5xi series tractors did this. "Smoking" is probably not the right word to use, but when I hit a stand of tall grass that is thick, I slow down, adjust the deck height or I can hear the blades/noise of the deck slowing down.

Where I encounter this most is when mowing at a camp of my Dad's. Sometimes the grass will go 2 to 3 weeks without mowing. It's got to be mowed - belt slippage or not. My Dad has or has had a couple other tractors out there where the belt didn't slip. These would include Simplicity, Husquvarna, and John Deere. Interesting enough, we use to have a Sears SS14 garden tractor in the 70's and the tall grass would stall the engine every time vs. slipping the belt. The only tractor that slips a belt are my Wheelhorse tractors. I've tried new belts, use and used new/newer decks, etc. The one deck that never gives me any slippage is my 42 inch RD deck.

Thanks,

Bill