Cub Cadet Z-Force 48 zero-turn riding mower deck blade

D

DCade

Forum Newbie
I have a 17BF3AGV010 with ~350 hours and the deck belt*** keeps breaking. This will be my… 5th? 6th? In less than four year and my second repair shop. I’m not mechanically inclined but trying to figure out next steps. How would you address this with the shop? Any other insight?
 
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How are blades breaking? If it is the air lifts it is normal and can be long or short times depending on what the blades are handling. The more abrasive the media is the faster they wear and break off.
 
StarTech said:
How are blades breaking? If it is the air lifts it is normal and can be long or short times depending on what the blades are handling. The more abrasive the media is the faster they wear and break off.
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I’m mowing at 3.25” and the most recent was in the middle of a mow. I barely clipped a root but hardly noticed it. I heard the change in sound and saw it behind me a few minutes after but it skipped during my last mow and I quickly caught it and put it back on the spindle and was able to finish for about 20 minutes. I don’t always wash it really well but happened to wash it the last time.
 
StarTech said:
How are blades breaking? If it is the air lifts it is normal and can be long or short times depending on what the blades are handling. The more abrasive the media is the faster they wear and break off.
Click to expand...
I realized it autocorrected to blade or I mis-typed. I meant belt
 
If this is like mine, it has a dedicated deck belt and also an engine PTO clutch drive belt going to the deck.

It is easy to misroute the PTO drive belt on the model where it will ride on the wrong side of the tensioner and idler pullies.

Look at the diagram label on the deck housing for proper routing.

I use OEM belt off of eBay and have had no trouble with the belts.

Which belt is having issues?
 
Kevlar don't like sharp impacts. But with using polyester belts are more prone to failures.

I did notice that this is a two belt system using a 1/2 secondary belt. This may need to upgraded to 5/8 belt like the JD M118048 that is about an inch longer. Many after after market are selling a 5/8 x 85 as a replacement for the 5/8 x 84.4 JD belt. I believe the spindle pulleys are of the 1/2, 5/8 type.
 
Auto Doc's said:
If this is like mine, it has a dedicated deck belt and also an engine PTO clutch drive belt going to the deck.

It is easy to misroute the PTO drive belt on the model where it will ride on the wrong side of the tensioner and idler pullies.

Look at the diagram label on the deck housing for proper routing.

I use OEM belt off of eBay and have had no trouble with the belts.

Which belt is having issues?
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It’s been to the shop and fixed this many times. I wish I had more skills to DIY. It’s the belt responsible for the blades, not the drive.
 
StarTech said:
Kevlar don't like sharp impacts. But with using polyester belts are more prone to failures.

I did notice that this is a two belt system using a 1/2 secondary belt. This may need to upgraded to 5/8 belt like the JD M118048 that is about an inch longer. Many after after market are selling a 5/8 x 85 as a replacement for the 5/8 x 84.4 JD belt. I believe the spindle pulleys are of the 1/2, 5/8 type.
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Thanks! So, perhaps I should ask the current shop to try this instead?
 
DCade said:
It’s been to the shop and fixed this many times. I wish I had more skills to DIY. It’s the belt responsible for the blades, not the drive.
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If it has happened, say 5 times in 4 years, that the deck belt has broken, whoever is replacing the belt is not doing any inspection of spindles, pulleys, belt tension, and overall alignment of belt. The initial belt should still be chugging along if everything were right. Take it to another shop for a permanent solution.
 
Tiger Small Engine said:
If it has happened, say 5 times in 4 years, that the deck belt has broken, whoever is replacing the belt is not doing any inspection of spindles, pulleys, belt tension, and overall alignment of belt. The initial belt should still be chugging along if everything were right. Take it to another shop for a permanent solution.
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I’ve done that. This is shop #2 and I was told the service manager was the most recent to address it in May. I’m at a loss
 
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