Toro 30" mower destroying the mower drive belt

Baymee

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Well, my neighbour up the street called me with the same problem. Same model mower. Here are his pics. The belt is very loose and not rubbing on the pulleys at rest
 

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Forest#2

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Post up a video of the belt and all related parts. Love to see you turn some idlers and other bearings too.

Something simple is getting missed.
Something simple is getting missed.
Two mowers, same problem.
Neighbors has a OEM belt and it's going bad also.

Do a close inspection of the inside v-groove of both pulleys also.
That belt is going too deep into a pulley. I've seen pulleys get a hairline crack in the v groove where the belt runs and not readily apparently just glancing at the pulley. Had to look at both the outside and the inside with the pulley under a good light but usually could see that the v-groove had worn thin inside the pulley.
 

Baymee

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That's worth checking

Both mowers are the same vintage.
 

slomo

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Yup pulleys are wear items guys.

Remember when it was new? Mower ran perfectly? What has changed.........

Well a lot of 2 items mainly. Dirt and wear from using.

Bearings are probably bone dry or rusted completely out. Lots of people use pressure washers, not a good idea.

If you have access to two similar vintage machines, remove some parts and look with reading glasses on. Close inspection will find all kinds of chaos.
 

Baymee

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I finally got the two pulleys, the engine and blade brake pulleys, and installed them.

This was for the second identical mower, with the same problem, not the original mower, for which this post originated.

Ran the mower for 40 minutes, with the blades unengaged, and not a peep. The blades never turned. Engaged and disengaged the blades several times during the 40 minutes and everything worked perfectly.

It required removing the motor, wasn't a fun job, but the $100 spent for parts was worth repairing a mower which currently costs $1500.

Thanks for the great observations! It was indeed a case of worn pulleys.
 

Forest#2

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Good to hear you got it going.

I keep some anti-seize and a length of 1 inch wide sandpaper handy when I'm installing pulleys and steel rims onto lawn tractors shafts and similar stuff.

Not a fun job when encountering a rusted rim on a axle or a seized pulley on a engine crankshaft.
 
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