ltx 1050 deck belt issues

Alright, so my grandmother owns a LTX 1050 with the 50" deck, and as I was mowing her lawn - the deck belt snapped. I had never replaced a deck belt, but I figure - Hey I'm smart, I can figure this out. Thus begins the hellish process. Anyway, I picked up the belt 50" belt that the deck requires, as per the manual. I removed the deck with minimal strain, watched a couple youtube videos, got the belt on correctly, but then I hit a wall. I couldn't get the deck reattached with it on the front PTO pulley, and then vice versa - I couldn't get the belt on the PTO pulley with the deck attached in the rear. So after messing with it for hours thinking I was missing something, I had my boyfriend come over. We lifted the front of the mower, and removed the pins for the deck lever so we could properly realign the deck. Success! We got the deck reattached with the belt also attached. I head out to test it, and the belt pops off as soon as I engaged the blades. Well crap. We figure, hey...maybe the belt wasn't attached all the way, so we go through the motions (much more thorough mind you) and the whole way through we made sure the belt was around each pulley. Take it back out, belt pops back off again! So after a string of obscenities, I park the mower, feeling absolutely defeated. She called the local lawnmower repair shop, and they said it will be at least 2 weeks, and upwards of $400 (and that's with little explanation of the problem). They are trying to hang my grandmother out to dry! I can't have this! Someone out there must know something about this problem, and it can't be that difficult of a fix. PLEASE, someone guide me! :confused2:

Take the deck back off.
Turn each pulley to make sure it turn easy.
And check for any wobble. Up and down play or side to side.

Next make sure all pulleys are lined up with each other.

When putting the belt on remember the flat side of the belt goes on flat pulleys and the V side of the belt goes on pulled with a groove ( a V )

Report back with what you find.

The belt should be tight when on all the pulleys.

I'm having the exact same issue with my LTX 1050 it only has 97 hours on it, I just put another belt on it purchased from the dealer and it threw the belt instantly upon engaging the PTO. Could this be a clutch issue, everything on the deck seems to be in good shape. Did you come up with a solution on your Grandmothers mower?

Thanks,

Gyrman

Are the blades free to spin? I'm thinking maybe something got caught in one or more and that's what caused the initial failure. If that isn't corrected, the belt is either going to jump off or slip or kill the engine.

cpurvis said:

Are the blades free to spin? I'm thinking maybe something got caught in one or more and that's what caused the initial failure. If that isn't corrected, the belt is either going to jump off or slip or kill the engine.

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I took the deck off again and re-examinded the spindles and idlers, although the blades all turned I noticed the center spindle binding when I spun it fast, I also found a spot on one of the idlers that was damaged by a rock, that probably didn't cause the belt to come off but it would have eaten a new belt up quickly. I figured if the center spindle had gone bad the others probably weren't far behind so I ordered new spindles with sheaves and new idlers. I purchased a parts manual last year so I get the right part numbers. I will report back once I get the parts and get them installed on the deck. If this doesn't solve the problem, anyone know of a more durable brand of mower? This one only had 97 hours on it before failing.

I hope that fixes it for you.

I've owned Cub Cadets since 1970. Current one is a 1994 2140 that has 960 hours on it. Lack of parts will be the end of it. I probably won't buy another.

My own opinion is that the introduction of vertical shaft engines was the beginning of the downhill slide for tractors.

Cub Cadets used to be in the same ballpark as John Deere lawn tractors but I don't think that's true anymore, at least at the top end. John Deere makes some good (and expensive) tractors. Neighbor has one of the 4-wheel steer models with Kawasaki horizonal shaft engine and he has worked that thing harder than a rented mule for at least the last ten years. I've never known it to be down.

cpurvis said:

I hope that fixes it for you.

I've owned Cub Cadets since 1970. Current one is a 1994 2140 that has 960 hours on it. Lack of parts will be the end of it. I probably won't buy another.

My own opinion is that the introduction of vertical shaft engines was the beginning of the downhill slide for tractors.

Cub Cadets used to be in the same ballpark as John Deere lawn tractors but I don't think that's true anymore, at least at the top end. John Deere makes some good (and expensive) tractors. Neighbor has one of the 4-wheel steer models with Kawasaki horizonal shaft engine and he has worked that thing harder than a rented mule for at least the last ten years. I've never known it to be down.

Click to expand...

People are lazy, greedy , selfish & stupid so who ever makes the flashiest looking piece of junk will sell them by the bucket lad and make millions.
Whoever makes sound strong good quality mowers that are appropriatly priced for the materials & labour that go into making a good product will go directly down the road to bankruptcy.

And yes you are correct, the vertical shaft motor is the greatest pile of junk, just barely good enough to do the job it is asked to do.
But it is cheap and cheap is what Joe Public want so cheap is what they get

gyrman said:

I took the deck off again and re-examinded the spindles and idlers, although the blades all turned I noticed the center spindle binding when I spun it fast, I also found a spot on one of the idlers that was damaged by a rock, that probably didn't cause the belt to come off but it would have eaten a new belt up quickly. I figured if the center spindle had gone bad the others probably weren't far behind so I ordered new spindles with sheaves and new idlers. I purchased a parts manual last year so I get the right part numbers. I will report back once I get the parts and get them installed on the deck. If this doesn't solve the problem, anyone know of a more durable brand of mower? This one only had 97 hours on it before failing.

Click to expand...

I got new spindles yesterday and installed them along with new idlers, I put a grade 8 bolt in to replace the bolt holding the tensioner spring. However I snapped three of the self tapping 5/16 x 3/4 bolts that hold the spindles on when I was removing them so now I'm waiting for new ones to arrive, Lowes and Home D. didn't have any. I should get the self tapping bolts tomorrow. Hope this fixes the problem. The grass is getting pretty long, all 5 acres.