2015 SD 48" rattle,deck, belt? issues

midwestmower

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May 16, 2017
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I apologize in advance for the length and appreciate any help that can be offered. Mower has 75 hours and is new to me. First mow of the year about a month ago i let my wife test our new to us mower out. I had only test drove the mower and did not notice any issues before the incident. She had never been on a zero turn so she took some practice laps around the yard and seemed to have it down. She starts mowing in front of the house where we have some decorative bricks stacked 2 high maybe 3-4 inches each. Can you guess what happened? Boom over the bricks sparks flying. I run and hammer the PTO button as she sits in shock on the mower laying on a stack of bricks. After calming down I remove the mower and everything seems to be ok besides losing some air out of one front tire. I pop the tire off the rim and it appears to just have come off of the bead. Mowers shut down. On to the second mow. Starting in the back yard which is basically flat a little bumpy but i wouldn't consider it bad, i notice the front pivot block on the right hand side has came loose and the front deck lift bar is bouncing up and down. I adjust the pivot blocks and lock the lift bar in place against the frame. I install new blades. Now i notice a chatter coming from the front of the mower while the blades are engaged. I take the deck down and notice wear on the inside of both pulley guards. 1 side has actually split and the other is starting to wear. I spin the pulleys by hand and notice a slight wobble and visually see the belt slightly moving around when the blades are engaged. Taking advice from friends and the internet I replace all three spindles hoping this will fix the issue. . . no change. Not sure if the belt stretched or what else could be going on. The pulleys seamed to have slight wear on the inside but they do not move around on the spindles. Appreciate any help that can be offered, i am trying to stay out of the dealer he is 2-2.5 weeks out.
 

bertsmobile1

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Nov 29, 2014
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:welcome:

This is not Snap-Chat, Farce -Book nor TWIT-er.
We can neither see nor hear your mower so the more you tell the better it is for us trying to work out what is going on.
So thank you for your detailed description and for the events leading to it. IT helps no end.

Now just to make things crystal
Did you replace
1) the spindles - just the shaft the blades & pulleys are bolted to
2) the spindle assembly - the whole lot that is bolted to the deck.

When the mower was sitting there, engine running & blades engaged the belt had to be slipping somewhere.
Good chance it was on the drive pulley.
So what happens is the pulley "burns" the belt and gouges out a small scallop.
Every time this scallop passes over a pulley it will cause the belt to jump and make a chattering.
So pull the belt off , mark it with something so you know you have checked the entire length then run your fingers top and bottom along the full length.
If you mark the belt with a white paint pen then you can do it on mower by dragging it around.

A small scallop will run for a long while but as you have noticed will damage the plastic belt guards so I would be inclinded to replace the belt, but keep it as the emergency spare for that Saturday afternoon prior to the motherin laws "inspection" when the belt breaks 1/2 way through the mow.
 

midwestmower

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 16, 2017
Threads
1
Messages
3
:welcome:

This is not Snap-Chat, Farce -Book nor TWIT-er.
We can neither see nor hear your mower so the more you tell the better it is for us trying to work out what is going on.
So thank you for your detailed description and for the events leading to it. IT helps no end.

Now just to make things crystal
Did you replace
1) the spindles - just the shaft the blades & pulleys are bolted to
2) the spindle assembly - the whole lot that is bolted to the deck.

When the mower was sitting there, engine running & blades engaged the belt had to be slipping somewhere.
Good chance it was on the drive pulley.
So what happens is the pulley "burns" the belt and gouges out a small scallop.
Every time this scallop passes over a pulley it will cause the belt to jump and make a chattering.
So pull the belt off , mark it with something so you know you have checked the entire length then run your fingers top and bottom along the full length.
If you mark the belt with a white paint pen then you can do it on mower by dragging it around.

A small scallop will run for a long while but as you have noticed will damage the plastic belt guards so I would be inclinded to replace the belt, but keep it as the emergency spare for that Saturday afternoon prior to the motherin laws "inspection" when the belt breaks 1/2 way through the mow.

I replaced the entire spindle assembly, minus the nuts bolts and washers that hold it to the deck. I will check the belt tonight after work. Another issue I have noticed is that when trying to level the deck following the owners manual, the the front left hanger and back right hanger ( caddy corner) at some point will not lower when i adjust the nut. It is almost like the weight of the deck does not hang from these 2 hangers. This causes the deck to also produce a rattle noise because there is no weight on those 2 hangers. I can put 2 fingers under those corners of the deck and lift it up. For now I have just tightened the nut to raise the deck until it catches. Local dealer told me this was common and i could just take a pry bar to it and push it down. Pry bar is not working for me. I feel like i am missing something easy on this one.

I appreciate all the help.

By the way, My wife was out push mowing the front with my 30 year old lawn boy
 
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