Mower deck Blade belt falls off when disengaging?

specialkev

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Threads
1
Messages
3
I have a 2013 model Dixon SpeedZTR 30 mower. Recently the blade belt has started to fall off when the blades are disengaged quickly. If I disengage slowly (10 seconds or so), then it does not slip off, but that's a huge hassle when needing to repeatedly stop to get rocks and branches out of the way.

The belt always comes off of the pulley directly under the motor. Never off of any of the deck pulleys. I'm getting more irritated each time I mow and I'm not sure what else to do. The belt is brand new (replaced because the old one was falling off so I assumed it was the belt and replaced it) but that didn't solve the problem.

I'm not sure if something is out of alignment on the deck or what. I can post pictures as soon as I know what would be helpful to see.

Many thanks in advance.
 

Fish

Lawn Pro
Joined
Aug 2, 2013
Threads
11
Messages
5,123
You need to print out a illustrated parts diagram and take it out to your mower, and see what is missing or bent, like belt keepers.
 

specialkev

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Threads
1
Messages
3
Awesome. Thanks for the first step advice. I'm mechanically inclined but completely new to riding mower maintenance so I'm not even sure what I'm looking at down there most of the time.

I'll try to find a parts diagram now.
 

rrockettman

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Threads
4
Messages
11
The same thing kept happening with mine, a CTH 173.
I solved it by bolting a piece of flat metal strip to the chassis, bending it so that it is not touching the belt when it's running, but preventing it dropping lower than the pulley when released.
Only dropped off once since then as it needed a bit of fine tuning with the hammer!
Russ.
 

specialkev

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Threads
1
Messages
3
I guess I forgot to report back here. I "fixed" my issue by leveling my deck a little bit. The angle was pretty extreme before and the front pulleys were quite a bit lower than the back. So I brought the front up a bit and it no longer slips off.
 

SeniorCitizen

Lawn Addict
Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Threads
123
Messages
2,075
I guess I forgot to report back here. I "fixed" my issue by leveling my deck a little bit. The angle was pretty extreme before and the front pulleys were quite a bit lower than the back. So I brought the front up a bit and it no longer slips off.

A rare occasion when we hear what the solution was from the original poster, so a big THANKS is in order.
 

wdavid

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Threads
0
Messages
1
I have a 2013 model Dixon SpeedZTR 30 mower. Recently the blade belt has started to fall off when the blades are disengaged quickly. If I disengage slowly (10 seconds or so), then it does not slip off, but that's a huge hassle when needing to repeatedly stop to get rocks and branches out of the way.

The belt always comes off of the pulley directly under the motor. Never off of any of the deck pulleys. I'm getting more irritated each time I mow and I'm not sure what else to do. The belt is brand new (replaced because the old one was falling off so I assumed it was the belt and replaced it) but that didn't solve the problem.

I'm not sure if something is out of alignment on the deck or what. I can post pictures as soon as I know what would be helpful to see.

Many thanks in advance.

General info ... When I removed belt from my MTD I did not take note exactly what position the belt guards were at on the idler pullies .. can cause bit more slack on belt if not perfectly placed, and it wobbles off the motor pully ..disengaging slowly you are right it helps . Also I bought an aftermarket belt 3/4 inches too big ... took it back and got one 1/4 inch smaller than MTD belt.... the smaller belt caused less wobbling. Belts need to be worn in a bit as they are twisted up in packaging .... hopefully use will make belt more comfortable in time. Also in removing the deck I did not notice there were two options of holes for the deck lifting rod .. which can throw your deck off level if you replace rod in wrong hole . For now I will just slowly disengage ( like you) wait for belt to fix itself and later keep fiddling with belt gards whenever I remove deck or have nothing better to do . Hockey tonight , go Nashville.

Just noticed your fix ... good for you ...
 
Top