I have a 2013 Craftsman t1000 mower that I bought new. I replaced all the belts, deck, and the upper and lower ground drive belts. Now the mower will not move in 1st and 2nd gears. Moves slowly in 3rd and fairly fast in 6th. Even new the mower, occasionally, would not take off in 1st and 2nd but would run OK once you got it started moving in a higher gear. It was running fairly well before I replaced the belts. The deck belt needed to be replaced. I only replaced the upper and lower drive because they are 6 years old. Could the pulley springs be too weak? Transmission issue? How do I narrow the trouble down? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.:confused2:
Repairs Mower moves slowly
- Thread starter bonzjivar
- Start date
Sorry. Thanks.
The lower drive belt came from Sears Parts Direct ordered by part number. The upper belt is from a local O'reily auto parts and is the same size as the original.
bertsmobile1
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This usually happens because the upper belt is too loose ( or too long ) or the tension spring on the upper belt is too weak or has been fitted wrong.
The tension spring forces the sliding pulley to go down so the lower engine belt is running on a large diameter pulley and the transmission belt is running on a small pulley.
When you shift to a higher speed you pull against that tension pulley harder than the spring which forces the sliding pulley up & increases the speed.
The tension spring forces the sliding pulley to go down so the lower engine belt is running on a large diameter pulley and the transmission belt is running on a small pulley.
When you shift to a higher speed you pull against that tension pulley harder than the spring which forces the sliding pulley up & increases the speed.
But is the upper drive belt from O'reily's the exact same length, outside wide, inside width and cut angle. The two belts have to sync or you have problems. What you are having problems with is common with people trying to use non OEM belts since the MTD belts are specific length, width and cut angle. Most of the cross reference books show the MTD drive belts as 5/8 width by a specific inch length, whereas the MTD belt is closer to 21/32 width (5L) and a fractional length like 35.25 length.
bertsmobile1
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As Ilengine has already stated.
With variable drive pulley systems there is no substitute for OEM belts and they must be replaced as a pair.
FWIW I use the Stens OEM belts usually and as already mentioned they are a totally different shape to a standard V belt, Not a A or B & not 4L or 5L.
Even then there are the odd times when only genuine belts work and down here MTD charge over $ 400 ( Aust ) for the set.
So I keep one set in each size bought directly from the USA (Parts Direct or Jacks ), just in case the Stens belts don't run properly when I field test the mower.
And that runs to about 1 in 10 ,
With variable drive pulley systems there is no substitute for OEM belts and they must be replaced as a pair.
FWIW I use the Stens OEM belts usually and as already mentioned they are a totally different shape to a standard V belt, Not a A or B & not 4L or 5L.
Even then there are the odd times when only genuine belts work and down here MTD charge over $ 400 ( Aust ) for the set.
So I keep one set in each size bought directly from the USA (Parts Direct or Jacks ), just in case the Stens belts don't run properly when I field test the mower.
And that runs to about 1 in 10 ,
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Thank you for clearing it up. I no longer have the original belt. I'm just going to order another from Sears Parts to be sure, well fairly sure I get it right this time.