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This Cheetah happens to be my 3rd or 4th scag mower. I can't even to imagine where I would start. It's been problem since day 1. I have now for 2 year and taking to shop tomorrow for 10th repair. Driver belt pops off or breaks...….all the time.

Any helpful comments or ideas would be appreciated. I want to drive off in a ditch and leave it, but can't still need to work when it does. LOL.

Won't buy this POS again, that's for sure.

-Barry

Would check all the idlers and pulleys and also check for nuts sticks and other things that get stuck in the pulleys. The zt5400 is a pretty good transaxle. I would also check the bolts that hold it to frame as they maybe loose making the belt pitch angle off causing the belt to come off. Weak spring. Also check the pulley on top of the trans might not be on correctly or bent hitting the belt.

Can't blame you for being upset. I would be too.

For the record, I have a 4 year old Cheetah and it has never had a belt issue.

If I had your issue, I would study the belt, pulleys, and idlers on your Cheetah. I would take some pictures. Then I would find another Cheetah and do the same thing. There probably is going to be a difference somewhere that is causing this issue.

If I was convinced there was no difference, then I would ask some of my friends to double check me. I am a believer in the Bible quote, " ... a wise man has many counsels." Heck you might even want to include photos with your post on this forum.

I might also see if Scag customer service would get involved and/or look at the Scag or photos.

Good luck.

I'd at least contact Scag customer service, explain your situation and see what they have to day. As tempting as it may be, don't unload on anybody if you really want their help. If you don't like what you're being told, politely ask to speak to the next higher level of management.

I suspect, but don't know, that it's not a design problem or there would be people piling on here with the same complaint. It may be an assembly problem as every assembly line has its good and bad days.

I can almost guarantee that it's a problem with one of the pulleys. A slightly warped pulley is hard to detect, but will certainly cause belt problems. I once had a Cub Cadet that cost me a fortune in belts before I discovered the warped pulley. In my case, it was an idler pulley.

Briggs , Husqvarna & Toro all put out belt failure guides as does Gates.
Google them , download them and sit down with a nice strong coffee & do some reading.
Then et your old broken belts and have a real close look.
When you fit the new one always fit them right way up according to the printing, that way when one breaks you will know which direction it was running , thus a cut mark on the top for instance will indicate a pulley that is too low.
Like pistons , the old belt will tell you exactly where to look.

Has it gone out of warranty? We have had pretty good results with Scag on warranty. We have 4 Scags.

cpurvis said:

I'd at least contact Scag customer service, explain your situation and see what they have to day. As tempting as it may be, don't unload on anybody if you really want their help. If you don't like what you're being told, politely ask to speak to the next higher level of management.

I suspect, but don't know, that it's not a design problem or there would be people piling on here with the same complaint. It may be an assembly problem as every assembly line has its good and bad days.

Click to expand...

Probably some of the best, concise, and most level-headed advice ever offered on this site.

Steve0853 said:

I can almost guarantee that it's a problem with one of the pulleys. A slightly warped pulley is hard to detect, but will certainly cause belt problems. I once had a Cub Cadet that cost me a fortune in belts before I discovered the warped pulley. In my case, it was an idler pulley.

Click to expand...

Ditto. Had a Craftsman garden tractor snapping belts about as fast as I could replace them. Was getting expensive fast, so I got serious about playing detective. Found one idler pulley had just a little play, and the support arm on the other idler pulley looked slightly bent out of line. Replaced the one pulley and straightened the arm supporting the other. Not sure which of the two fixes did the trick, but haven't broken a belt in the two seasons since.