Burning up forward drive belts! Help!

Hi All this is my first post on the forum, so bear with me if I make mistake in protocol,

I am very mechanically inclined as I am a car mechanic and small engine mechanic. I have a Ariens riding mower that's about 7 years old that was given to me as my friend didn't want to fix it and bought another mower. I have 3/4 acre that I mow with a push mower, so I was thrilled to get it. This is my first rider

Anyway, completely went through the deck and repainted, rebuilt it, did service to the engine, got new belt for the deck and began mowing with it. All was well for about 10 minutes and the transmission drive belt broke. I put it up on ramps and inspected the pulley system. One pulley was slightly off, so I realigned it. Springs are strong and intact. I installed a new Kevlar belt and away I went. Again, about 10 min later I smelled rubber and the belt came off and looked ripped to hell. Put it up on ramps and checked the hydrostatic trans pulley. It seemed a bit hard to turn in neutral going the forward direction, but much easier in the reverse direction. I noticed when the mower was moving that reverse was much faster than forward. It seemed to go a bit slower than walking speed in forward when the lever was all the way forward.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I am unfamiliar with Riding Mower transmissions, but want to learn.

Thanks for the help in advance. Have a great day! Aloha

It would be nice if we knew what mower you had but my bet is the brakes are locked up. Jack up the rear of the mower and spin the tires. If they go in different directions you need to free up the brakes.

Thanks, Ill get the mower model and check your suggestion.

I checked the brake lever and looked at the shaft. It appears to be moving freely. I will get a freind to help me lift the rear to turn the wheels.

musicmanjer said:

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I checked the brake lever and looked at the shaft. It appears to be moving freely. I will get a freind to help me lift the rear to turn the wheels.

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Made in Orangeburg, so it's made by AYP, now owned by Husqvarna. You should be able to get parts at your local Sears or Husqvarna dealer, not that this helps your current situation.

Model number 936042 (960460011-00)
Putting this here for easy copy and past of number for anyone who ends up helping.

Usually a ripped up belt will be because it was routed wrong. And the usual culprit will be putting it on the wrong side of a belt keeper ( we have all done it ).

Go to Hydro gear and download any manual for a 1 piece transaxel .
They all work the same, very simple but what you noticed is quite normal.

A burning belt is a sign that it was not tight enough or was stuck stationary against a spinning pulley
Briggs do a nice booklet about belt failures called "V Belt Troubleshooting and Failure Analysis Guide"
Google that and you should find it.
The broken belt is the proverbial silent witness.
As it is a used mower, also check that the belt fitted is the correct size belt.
Too short & it will burn when the brake is on and too long it wont drive properly.

Thank you all for your responses.

Ok, so I looked up the belt on the Ariens site, cross referenced them and the belts I bought are the same size that OEM calls for. Now, the idler pulleys are flat and V groove. The path they take the belt is pretty obvious as to not interfere with the frame. I made sure to put the flat side of the belt on the flat pulley, and the V side on the V pulley. Keep in mind 2 belts burned up and were installed exactly the same way, and one was the one that was the belt when I got the mower. Research says The belt is a "1/2 x 102" K for Kevlar. I have a Yard Machine 20hp riding mower in Ca. that has never burned up a belt in 2 years, so obviously something is amiss with the Ariens.

I will get the info for the transaxle and research it. I do recall the transaxle pulley being easier to turn in the reverse direction than forward direction. My dilemma now, is I am back in Ca. and the mower is in Hi.!! I was going to have my buddy do some checking for me as I never got a chance to raise the rear and turn the wheels to see if they turn the same or opposing directions (too much to do, not enough time). Now, I DO have a Craftsman LT3000 mower there that has a good transaxle but no deck. Are the transaxles interchangeable??

Again, thanks to everyone who chimed in to help. I will keep everyone posted on my findings.

Trannys are universal mountings wise so any one will bolt into pace.
However the control linkages are a different matter and most will require some modifications to fit & work.
This can take a long while to do depending upon your mechanical aptitude.

As for your Ariens tranny, when turning them foreward you are making the pump and motor turn.
Turning backwards you are dumping the oil into the reseviour.
Open the bypass valve and you should find it is the same in each direction.

When you get back to the Ariens, jack up the rear end and check the tranny mounts.
There should be a bolt either side of the axel on both sides plus 2 more at the front or sides to stabilize the tranny and stop it tilting foreward under load.

Ok will do. Thanks for the info on the tranny's. I just assume fix the Ariens rather than try and adapt the Craftsman one to it-

I'll keep you posted.