belt replacement

HUDDY

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kubota zero turn 421
May 1, 2024
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0
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ARKANSAS
hello....i have a kubota Z422 ...54 inch....100 hours...bought last year....i have replaced 2 belts on mower this year...100 dollars a belt ...i have less than 30 minutes on new belt and can smell rubber burning....i have checked spindles and they are all turning smoothly changed bearings on 1 because of dust cover underneath was cracked .... that didnt help...any suggestions would be appreciated
 

North Idaho Wolfman

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Either something got bent and is misaligning the belt or more likely you have a bearing in a tension pulley that is going out.
 
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GeoHorn

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May 18, 2018
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Changing belts (2) on a Craftsman lawn ”tractor”….. This looked like a 20 minute job.

Four hours later….. still puzzled why new belts don’t fit…. too loose. Checked PNs… Correct PNs.

Checked Mx Manual diagram for belt-routing…. Yep, looks right… but belts still too loose.

One belt drives HST…other drives blades…. Whoops! Printed belt-routing diagram not accurate. Should have taken a pic before removing the old belts. Younger son-in-law figured it out. 🤒

One of the puzzling things about spindle bearings on my finish mower…. the spindles have a grease-fitting/zerk on top…. greasing them fills the spindle-shaft-case full of grease….but the bearings themselves are sealed bearings. No way that filling those spindles with grease does anything at all to lubricate those bearings.

A YouTube presenter demonstrates removing one of the plastic seal on the bearings so grease can get to the roller/balls. Hmmmnnn……
 
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GreensvilleJay

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Apr 2, 2019
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possible problem....

Carefully check the 'tension arm'. You've got 7 pulleys that need to be lined up.

Went through 3 or 4 belt on an AC130 last year and FINALLY clued in that the 'tension arm' was 'wobblely' on it's pivot shaft.Maybe the PO never greased it ? Spent an hour getting it firm and silky smooth, NO up/down play. Put new belt on, went and cut 1/5th ac of 12" tall grass NO problem.
Belts should run in center of 'flat' pulleys NOT to one edge. Also look to see if spacers/washers/shims ARE on the correct side of pulleys. Seen that before as well...oopsy.....easy to do.