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Hey guys, hoping you all could help me shed some light on a problem I'm having with a mower

Its a Poulan Pro XT riding mower, it fairly good condition. Starts and runs rine. However, I removed the cutting deck years ago and when I put it back on it hasn't been right since.

The belt burns up, the grass is unevenly cut and I've tried fixing it a million times it seems.

Is there a secret ingredient to get these decks to cut right ?

328ifun said:

Hey guys, hoping you all could help me shed some light on a problem I'm having with a mower

Its a Poulan Pro XT riding mower, it fairly good condition. Starts and runs rine. However, I removed the cutting deck years ago and when I put it back on it hasn't been right since.

The belt burns up, the grass is unevenly cut and I've tried fixing it a million times it seems.

Is there a secret ingredient to get these decks to cut right ?

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Start with your owners manual on the installation of the deck section. Check your spindles to make sure that they are not damaged and that they spin freely. Also you need to make sure that the tensioner for the belt is set up properly. The belts burn up from rubbing, either on a spindle that will not turn or against another object in the way of the belt's travel. As for the uneven cut it is likely a deck leveling issue which may be the case since reinstalling for some mowers may require it to be re-leveled.

And double check you have the blades on the right way round.
Very easy to put them on upside down particularly the mulching blades.

As previously mentioned check for the belt rubbing on something that can not rotate.
Very easy to run the belt on the wrong side of a belt keeper or on the wrong side of a spindle brake.
Suggest you remove the deck with the belt on it.
Use a brick to replace the engine spindle so we can see exactly how you have the belt routed with the belt reasonably tight.

We really need more information, there were a lot of different decks used on Poulan Pros, some with manual engagement & some with electric.

Also belts must be kevlar & wrapped.

Finally have a good look at all of the spindles. They can get very rusty over time and the rust will rip the belt covers.