Snow blower Burning the belts on Honday ...

[GaryF]

I am posting this on behalf of my husband who is at his wits end trying to figure out just why he keeps burning up the belts. Right now he is using the snowblower attachment and can sometimes get out to do the snowblowing and make a few passes and sometimes he can go longer but he seems to keep burning up the belts. He claims he has the right belts for this model # 2013 which are B128 belts. This time he took it all off again and the belt was all twisted. He went back and determined that the belt was way too tight. It is just so frustrating as he is certain that everything is as it should be. Does anyone know if it is a problem if he just orders these belts from Grainger rather than a Honda dealer? The manual says the belt is the B128 so I have to agree that this should not be the problem.
Any thoughts on this and/or where he can turn to perhaps get to the bottom of things here?

JoyceF

 

[GaryF]

Re: Burning the belts on Honda Model 2013...

I am sorry...that previous post should have been more clear that the lawn tractor is a Honda Harmony 2013 with a snowblower attachment.
Joyce

 

[reynoldston]

Order a OEM belt. Mower belts are made different then commercial belts that you buy from Grainger.

 

[bertsmobile1]

When he fits the wrapped kevlar fibre mower belt he needs to check the two pulleys that form the clutch, they must be in good condition , turn freely and have no flat spots.
When it gets threaded there are also two wire hoops (Belt keepers) that the belt needs to go through.
It is really easy to get the belt on the wrong side of a belt keeper when the clutch is in ( belt slack ) but when in drive mode the belt will be stretched & twisted.

Finally it must be the correct size.
Honda belts are expensive and there is a tendency to fit aftermarket belts but the exact length aftermarket belts are also a bit pricey so a lot of shops will flog you the nearest standard size belt which will not do the job.
From memory it is 102 3/8".

Clutching belts are generally fully wrapped so they can slide easily over the pulleys when drive is not engaged .
Normal belts are naked as they are designed never to slip.
naked rubber gets stickier as it gets hotter so a naked belt that seems to work fine when initially fitted will start to give you grief after you have been using it for around 15 minutes.

 

[GaryF]

Re: Burning the belts on Honda ...

Thanks so much Reynolds. I have googled this a bit and printed out several things to show my husband so hopefully he will be convinced of the error of his ways...lol. It all makes sense to me. It seems that these OEM belts may look the same but are made perhaps of a different type of rubber that can withstand the heat better? Not sure but that is my take on the whole thing so thanks for alerting me to this.
Joyce

 

[GaryF]

Re: Burning the belts on Honda

I did not notice this last post until after I posted the reply so thanks so much to Bert as well. I print out all that you said and will show it to hubby as well. I am so thankful to have this resource of very informed and helpful people. You guys are the best...thank you thank you thank you.
Joyce