Scotts "by John Deere" S1742 throws blade belt

deckeda

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Circa '99-'01
I don't know which John Deere this clone is.

I was tasked with this repair; the blade belt was already off. After installing, I cut some grass OK but the belt never fully disengaged with the lever, which made cranking difficult.

Afterwards I noticed I'd installed the belt twisted in one place. Fixed that; belt still would not fully disengage with lever and it came off when I cut the engine.

Overall, the belt looks loose and yet won't fully disengage. What's going on? I can't find anything obvious with the idlers and the spindles don't wobble.
 

spaolino1590

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Hi there..I know it's been a while but did you ever resolve this issue? I have a Scott's 1642. Hadn't been used in a while. Was trying to get it back in shape to sell, replaced a frozen spindle, new belt. The belt was a little tough getting on. It ran great. Deck engaged ran smooth. Went to disengage and noticed that the belt was still grabbing a bit, enough to spin the blades. If I lowered the deck all the way down it would stop. If I raise it up it engaged more the higher the deck goes. Driving me nuts! THanks, Steve
 

deckeda

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Steve I just stumbled upon my old thread here today.

Short answer: no

Long answer:

I vaguely recall looking at the mower deck in disbelief at how warped it is and/or had already been modified by someone to shoehorn the belt onto it. Spindles, idlers all at different angles. No wonder the belt won't stay on.

So I punted. In my opinion these mowers aren't worth hassling with unless you have a super-smooth lawn that never "challenges" the deck. They're fragile. You'd think someone tried to mow concrete blocks with it, but no.

It still sits in my inlaws' garage, taking up space, not mowing anything. My father in law occasionally gets the belt back on and gets his heart broken again when it falls off.

When disengaged the belt is loose. When engaged its very tight. You can't get a correct length belt for such a machine. When you disengage the mower, the belt falls off unless you disengage it very very slowly but in practice you'll never be able to disengage it slowly enough, reliably.

The deck probably needs a big hammer taken to it to bend it back in shape. There are YouTube videos showing this actually being done. Get out your level, beat on it, get everything lined up, or at least the spindles and idlers pointed up at the same angle if you can. Not by beating on them, but on the deck itself near where they mount to it. And then sell it!
 
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