Fastrak 18/44 Kohler 18hp - couple issues

[cnb8869]

Hey All -- So I have a residential Hustler fastrak 18/44 ( 2005 model). 18hp Kohler. Prolly 400 hours. Owned since new. Never replaced any belts.

Two issues I'm working on :
1. Seems like the hydro belt idler pulley bounces a lot. Pretty noisy. The pulley bearing feels fine when I release tension and spin. Would it be common if the spring tension lost? Or maybe a bad belt? Maybe I could post a video. When running, if I try and pull the spring(adding tension), no improvement. There is another hole I could move the spring back to, adding tension, Haven't tried it.

2. Less specific I know, but it feels so underpowered. 5" grass with any moisture will kill it. I raised the rpms with the speed control, moved governor clip to be more sensitive...helped a little. To be honest, its always been like this. 18hp kohler single cyl (courage). Anything I'm missing?
thanks all

 

[Rivets]

You are going to hate me after reading my answer, but you’ll have to go to the back of a longline others who do so also. Hydro problem, worn belt and/or worn idler pulleys. Time to replace both, due to the fact that you are wearing them out due to the type of cutting your doing. If you are cutting 5”+ of wet grass you need a rough cut or commercial mower. Having not replaced the belts is a major contributor to your problem. Other things which will contribute to the cutting problem, worn blades, worn spindle bearings and pulleys, underside of the deck filled with clippings, poor engine maintainance, etc. If you have had this unit for 15 years and not replaced the belts, you probably let many other parts of the unit go to hell. Time to spend some big bucks before you have to bury the unit.

 

[cnb8869]

No worries . So I checked valve clearances - Intake was about 0.001 off (loose). Exhaust tho was about 0.003 too TIGHT (was.004). Corrected. She fires right up, first kick (never done in 8 years), and does awesome in the grass. Pleasantly surprised. Can the valve clearance make that much difference?

 

[shiftsuper175607]

No worries . So I checked valve clearances - Intake was about 0.001 off (loose). Exhaust tho was about 0.003 too TIGHT (was.004). Corrected. She fires right up, first kick (never done in 8 years), and does awesome in the grass. Pleasantly surprised. Can the valve clearance make that much difference?

You just said it did.

 

[cnb8869]

Boy, what a great group of guys. Thanks for the positive replies. You'd fit right in on Twitter, you should try it sometime.

 

[bertsmobile1]

We could write 5000 words if you really want us to, but there would be little more useful information.
We all know just how much difference valve lash makes and how little attention owners pay to it so what you noticed was exactly what should have happened.
Somewhere in your handbook is a maintenance schedule and valves are typically listed around 200 hours which means you should have done them twice by the time you get to 400 hours.
Belt life means very little but as already mentioned you should have adjusted tension in the belts and most likely replaced them several hundred hours ago.
Belts should be inspected as part of the end of season maintenance Most mower makers have a handbook of belt faults as do Briggs, Gates and all of the aftermarket belt makers.
As you have already been told, running excessively worn belts can & will damage the pulleys.

I don't really know what you expected .
If you were looking for some sort of admiration for abusing your mower by running belts way past their service like , you are not going to get it.
If you need a lot of
Howdy Doody's.
have a nice Day's
Good Bless you & your family's
Poor darling's
We feel for you's
You are on the wrong forum
Pop over to My Mower Forum fourm lots of plattitudes and little help..

The first response told you your belts are stuffed
20,000 more words will not change the fact that your belts are stuffed and will need replacement.
All springs loose tension over time but it is rarely a problem on a mower.
However running belts for too long so they are too thin and then wear grooves in the pulleys will make the belt very loose.
If you are lucky some times we slip in a
:welcome:
And if the administrators ever change the emojies list and put the welcome on the front page we would probably do it a bit more often but it is a PIA to navigate from one side of the screen to another and even harder if you are doing it with a phone.