John Deere LA175 54 inch-keeps chucking belts

[Hoss from LI]

Gentlemen-
Help a fellow grass cutter out. My LA175 keeps chucking belts, here's what we've replaced so far to no avail.

1. new blades
2. new bearing towers
3. new sheaves(deck pulleys)
4. new belt
5. new tension spring

Now, it spits off the belt as soon as I engage the e-clutch. At my wits end, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KennyV]

Welcome to the forum....

There should be belt guides around the pulleys... I forget what they look like, The girls down the road have one and it had that problem, they were mowing an area that had a lot of baler twine at one spot that jammed the deck up... They got the twine out but didn't notice the belt guides.. so it kept tossing the belt... :smile:KennyV

 

[Black Bart]

Welcome to the forum....

There should be belt guides around the pulleys... I forget what they look like, The girls down the road have one and it had that problem, they were mowing an area that had a lot of baler twine at one spot that jammed the deck up... They got the twine out but didn't notice the belt guides.. so it kept tossing the belt... :smile:KennyV

I agree with Kenny make sure all the belt guides are where they belong.

Go to a JD dealer and look at another deck you could even take photos then compare to yours. I bet you have something missing or badly bent.

I have the same deck on my Z TRAK and is is awesome best mower I ever owned.

 

[Hoss from LI]

I agree with Kenny make sure all the belt guides are where they belong.

Go to a JD dealer and look at another deck you could even take photos then compare to yours. I bet you have something missing or badly bent.

I have the same deck on my Z TRAK and is is awesome best mower I ever owned.

Yeah, YEP, the guides are just pieces of angle that seem to be very tight to the pulley, one was a bit tweaked, but I did adjust that. The pulley that strips the belt off the deck and sends it to the motor, 15-30 degree angle looks a bit funky, but, I was thinking more along the line of the pulley off the motor being less than sticky, kinda shiny, clutch seems okay. My neighbor is a HO Penn mechanic and he had me change EVERY sheave, said it gets too smooth and won't grab. (pulleys) I'm running out of parts to replace on the deck and the grass is getting unmanageable.

I'll check the new models for alignment issues.
How much play is too much play in the idler pulleys? (stationary fixed pulley,bearing type)

Thanks to all for the help.

 

[KennyV]

... change EVERY sheave, said it gets too smooth and won't grab. (pulleys) ...



How much play is too much play in the idler pulleys? (stationary fixed pulley,bearing type)

/QUOTE]

You can't get pulleys too smooth, in normal operation they will polish out...
a fixed Idler should be rather solid, just the slight movement of the bearing tolerance...

Belts generally come off because they have a break inside that pulls the belt crooked...or a pulley is tipped out of alignment... or improper tension from an idler pulley.... check the belt close, it should lay flat, on a smooth surface, without any twist. :smile:KennyV

 

[Black Bart]

This should not be hard to fix for the belt to come off something has to be badly out of line.
The person that had you change all the sheaves just wasted your money.

Like Kenny said the pulleys should be smooth that is normal.

Rather than waste more money I would suggest you take it to someone who knows something about lawn mowers and get it fixed.

 

[reynoldston]

Are you useing the right belt, mower belts are differant then car belts.

 

[Hoss from LI]

Are you useing the right belt, mower belts are differant then car belts.

Yes,
My John Deere dealer has sold me the proper JD belt, no aftermarket stuff here.
another note, the idler pulleys are shiny on the bottom half of the pulley surface, half the surface. they seem a bit wobbley, maybe I'm being too critical.
Poor pulley alignment makes sense,
this machine has given me two-three seasons of great use,
the 175 touts 26 HP, Vee twin motor cranks out more horses than my 47 Ford 9N.
we cut a lot of grass here on the farm, this lawn tractor being down has caused hardship.
had to brush hog the grass with the Ford 545 and it looks like a hay field now.

The long driveway into our property, around the house and barn add up to a few acres of grass to fine tune.

Thanks for the advice fellas,
Hoss

 

[Hoss from LI]

Yes,
My John Deere dealer has sold me the proper JD belt, no aftermarket stuff here.
another note, the idler pulleys are shiny on the bottom half of the pulley surface, half the surface. they seem a bit wobbley, maybe I'm being too critical.
Poor pulley alignment makes sense,
this machine has given me two-three seasons of great use,
the 175 touts 26 HP, Vee twin motor cranks out more horses than my 47 Ford 9N.
we cut a lot of grass here on the farm, this lawn tractor being down has caused hardship.
had to brush hog the grass with the Ford 545 and it looks like a hay field now.

The long driveway into our property, around the house and barn add up to a few acres of grass to fine tune.

Thanks for the advice fellas,
Hoss

Alright, we've fixed our machine....finally.

It seems the tension pulley and the pivoting backing plate were a bit tweaked causing an alignment issue.
SOLVED- by purchasing a NEW backing plate and a pulley. Under examination of new vs. old, you can see
the difference in the plane on which the pulley rides on. Replacing the two parts was easiest and quickest to
get us back in the field mowing grass.

'Haven't shut the machine off since, got lots of grass to catch up on and the farm is now getting back to normal,

Thanks again for the help fellas,

Hoss

 

[Black Bart]

Like I said back in post # 6 if it shucks belts something is out of alignment.

Glad you found it and got it going again.

Now what was it that bent that bracket to cause it to throw the belts. :confused2: