I wanted to share with the members my recent experience with my 318. I bought the tractor in Sept. 2018 included in the deal was a 46" mower deck and a power flow bagging system. I have wanted a 318 for a long time and thought the power flow would really help with leaf clean up. I was right.
I was mowing soon after I got it and the mower deck belt (M41668) slipped of the sheave and the mower stopped working. I put the belt back on and noticed that it seemed loose to me. I continued to mow and finished the lawn with no more issues. The next time I mowed with it, the deck belt snapped and wrapped itself around the right spindle in the picture. It was so tight that I had to remove the spindle to get the belt off. I ordered a cheap belt via the internet and it lasted about 10 minutes before it snapped again. I noticed that the damage to the belt was on the outside, which made me think the problem might be with the idler sheave which is the part of the tensioning system for the deck. The sheave appeared to be fine as it spun easily. This time I bought a kevlar belt which works just fine but I noticed that it too was showing some wear on the outside of the belt. In looking at the parts manual, I noticed that the tensioner spring was not in the correct position, there is a triangle shaped clip (for the tensioner spring) that fits on one of the spindle sheave bolts. My deck had the the clip on the wrong spindle bolt which was the main reason for the lack of tension on the belt. When I took it all apart, I noticed a wire clip that had been added to the deck that was in the right place for the spring and decided to use that clip.
I ordered a new idler sheave (AM37249) and the web site suggested to add the bushing for the sheave (M81677) which I did. My experience told me this was a good idea. These bushings used to be metal but now are plastic and are inexpensive enough that it is a good idea to just replace them instead of reusing them. I put the deck back together, used the wire clip to create the belt tension and now the mower works fine.
The attached picture shows my deck with the idler sheave shown in a red circle. The other red circle shows the spindle sheave and the position of he tensioner spring clip and the blue circle shows the spring. You can see the kevlar belt also. It is blue.
I hope this helps. Thanks
I was mowing soon after I got it and the mower deck belt (M41668) slipped of the sheave and the mower stopped working. I put the belt back on and noticed that it seemed loose to me. I continued to mow and finished the lawn with no more issues. The next time I mowed with it, the deck belt snapped and wrapped itself around the right spindle in the picture. It was so tight that I had to remove the spindle to get the belt off. I ordered a cheap belt via the internet and it lasted about 10 minutes before it snapped again. I noticed that the damage to the belt was on the outside, which made me think the problem might be with the idler sheave which is the part of the tensioning system for the deck. The sheave appeared to be fine as it spun easily. This time I bought a kevlar belt which works just fine but I noticed that it too was showing some wear on the outside of the belt. In looking at the parts manual, I noticed that the tensioner spring was not in the correct position, there is a triangle shaped clip (for the tensioner spring) that fits on one of the spindle sheave bolts. My deck had the the clip on the wrong spindle bolt which was the main reason for the lack of tension on the belt. When I took it all apart, I noticed a wire clip that had been added to the deck that was in the right place for the spring and decided to use that clip.
I ordered a new idler sheave (AM37249) and the web site suggested to add the bushing for the sheave (M81677) which I did. My experience told me this was a good idea. These bushings used to be metal but now are plastic and are inexpensive enough that it is a good idea to just replace them instead of reusing them. I put the deck back together, used the wire clip to create the belt tension and now the mower works fine.
The attached picture shows my deck with the idler sheave shown in a red circle. The other red circle shows the spindle sheave and the position of he tensioner spring clip and the blue circle shows the spring. You can see the kevlar belt also. It is blue.
I hope this helps. Thanks
