Mower deck D110 - blades not engaging

oliver_cfc

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I have a JD D110. It starts up OK but when I lift the PTO lever to start the blades, nothing happens. As far as I can tell, the belt looks good but it's rather loose with the PTO lever down (this might be normal.) With the lever up, it's definitely not taut but, again, I'm not sure if that is the problem - I would assume that I'd hear something turning if it was a belt problem. I also don't see any disconnected springs.

I watched what happens under the hood when the lever is raised and it releases a little switch which is marked with OJN. There's another OJN switch by the foot brake that only allows the engine to start up if it's depressed. I swapped those two over (they looked the same) but no difference in behavior.

I think the battery is OK (12V with the engine off and 14V with the engine on) and I think the seat button is working (at least if I start the engine and stand up, the engine shuts off.) The 20amp fuse by the battery is good too.

What is next to test? Feel free to be as basic as possible because I'm not an expert.

Thanks
 

Mikel1

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Is the belt tightening up any when you engage it? Have you adjusted the cable behind the pulley on the deck? My son is cutting the grass on my d110 as I type.
 

oliver_cfc

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thanks for responding.

The belt does tighten a little when engaging but it's still loose-ish. Definitely not tight enough to turn a blade but I wasn't sure if there was another 'electric' piece that I was missing that would do the final tightening

I have not adjusted the cable behind the pulley on the deck - not sure what that really means so I'll do some research on it :) I'll start by going to HD and looking at the belts on the new D110s and how they change when the PTO lever is pushed up.

TBH, I'd not really been looking at the belt since it was the first mow of the year and there were no problems on the last mow (6 or 7 months ago) but there was a lot of debris around the belt and it could have frozen and expanded and pushed the belt off something I guess.
 

Mikel1

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I would definately clean the deck off and make sure idler pulley is free.
Adjusting belt tension- PTO lever has to be in OFF position. Behind left side(if you were sitting in seat) blade pulley cover there is a small bracket that holds the cable and the cable connects to a spring. There are two nuts(looks like small bolts to me) that holds the bracket to the deck. Loosen the nuts and move bracket away from center of deck to tighten belt tension. Move bracket until almost all slack is out of cable but cable is not too tight, then retighten nuts.
 

oliver_cfc

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thanks for the advice.. I'll have a go this weekend
 

oliver_cfc

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After two or three hours of frustration, I had success.

I adjusted that tension thing as advised but it made no difference and the belt wasn't tight when the PTO lever was up. Everything seemed to be good so I removed the mower to clean it thoroughly and take a closer look.

After removing and inspecting the belt I realised that the part that moves to give the belt tension was only moving about 1/4". I rattled it a bit and a stone fell out. After that, the part moved a good couple of inches. I put the thing back together, the belt was tight and all was working again.

I doubt this thread is of much use to anyone in troubleshooting in the future, but if anyone reading is a tentative about removing the mower and to see whats going on, don't be - it's very straightforward.
 

Mikel1

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Glad you got it:thumbsup:
It must have been wedged on the idler bracket.
 

jeff221

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I would definately clean the deck off and make sure idler pulley is free.
Adjusting belt tension- PTO lever has to be in OFF position. Behind left side(if you were sitting in seat) blade pulley cover there is a small bracket that holds the cable and the cable connects to a spring. There are two nuts(looks like small bolts to me) that holds the bracket to the deck. Loosen the nuts and move bracket away from center of deck to tighten belt tension. Move bracket until almost all slack is out of cable but cable is not too tight, then retighten nuts.

just happened to me today - 4 yr old D110 - cut acre of lawn today; just as I finished I heard a pop & blade would no longer engage. Lifted mower, cleaned out grass debris, no jams, both blades spin, no noise from bearings, belt intact but way loose. Looked like it jumped fence behind lt pulley cover. placed back behind, still no engagement. I'll go mess w the cable based on this PERFECTLY timeld tip.

wish me luck
 

bertsmobile1

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Happens all the time but usual culprit is a chunk of small branch
 

jeff221

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Happens all the time but usual culprit is a chunk of small branch
Bert, never had it before. I have had instances where after throwing the PTO, it takes a count of 4 before engaging. Where typically do you find the branch?
 
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