Vertex 60" destroys deck belt and tension bracket out of align.

[James1549]

I maintain 3 Vertex 60" mowers all with the same problem. The deck belt starts to shred and break and eventually comes off the pulley and jams under one of the pulleys. You can see that the tensioner bracket is out of alignment when this begins to happen. Exmark has replaced the tensioner bracket, pulley, and belt several times with the same end results a few months later. The factory's first suggestion was to always engage the blades at full throttle. Didn't care much for that fix but the problem did not go away. Second fix was to replace all the brackets and with a new bolt. Less than two months away and we are back to same issue, shredded belts and out of alignment tensioner pulley. Some thought that the higher horsepower engines are creating too much torque causing the tensioner bracket to tweak. I have attached pics using a straight edge. Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is already an issue with down time, but what happens after the warranty period?

Thanks, James

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

I maintain 3 Vertex 60" mowers all with the same problem. The deck belt starts to shred and break and eventually comes off the pulley and jams under one of the pulleys. You can see that the tensioner bracket is out of alignment when this begins to happen. Exmark has replaced the tensioner bracket, pulley, and belt several times with the same end results a few months later. The factory's first suggestion was to always engage the blades at full throttle. Didn't care much for that fix but the problem did not go away. Second fix was to replace all the brackets and with a new bolt. Less than two months away and we are back to same issue, shredded belts and out of alignment tensioner pulley. Some thought that the higher horsepower engines are creating too much torque causing the tensioner bracket to tweak. I have attached pics using a straight edge. Any thoughts would be appreciated. This is already an issue with down time, but what happens after the warranty period?

Thanks, James

Take a grinder and remove enough metal on the bushing on the pulley to get the pulley and spindle to line up. If not on the same height, being that close together, that is a problem. I have had to modify pulley height on decks several times over the years on different brands of mowers over the years. Also, double check your belt tension and make sure it is good.

 

[ILENGINE]

Lets start with the actual model number of the stand on mower so we are not left guessing when it comes to obtaining parts diagrams to see actually what you have. pei

It would be interesting to determine if the bushing in the idler arm is wearing causing the canting, or the idler arm itself is twisting. From what pictures I have obtained by guessing it looks like there is a very heavy spring pulling on a not so robust piece of flat steel at an angle that would promote twisting of the arm.

 

[Rivets]

Has anyone checked to see if the deck is sprung from hitting something. Might have happened when someone hit something and people started throwing parts at it. Doesn’t sound like people are checking for all possible causes, just assuming they know the problem without checking.