Kubota Zero Turn Rear Belt Guard Thoughts?

[jaredlpainter]

I would like some thoughts from others with Kubota zero turns on a rear belt guard. First, some background. I bought my first zero turn ever, a Z726x about 6 months ago and just hit 50 hours on it. We purchased 42 acres a few months prior to that, most of which is wooded, but about 5 acres was cleared. The land was pretty rough, I had to do a lot of manual clearing of old wood piles that had rotted out last winter. It is pretty well cleared now but there are still small pieces of wood that pop up from time-to-time and of course we have branches from trees that fall occasionally. I generally won't run over any branches that are over 1/2 in. in diameter and maybe the occasional pine cone, unless there are a bunch in a pile. The issue I keep having is that small pieces of wood will get trapped between the belt and the grove of the transmission belt because it is a vbelt and the belt pops off the pulley. This has happened 3 times now and I actually had to replace the belt once already because it got badly damaged one of the times it popped off. Maybe this wouldn't be an issue if the belt wasn't so freaking hard to put back on since the tensioner pulley spring is such a pain to reconnect and because it is so difficult to access the pulleys on the transmissions themselves without taking the rear tires off.

All of that to say, given this machine was almost $13K, it seems like a no brainer that there should be a guard plate in the rear to cover these belts, because right now it is wide open which is why little sticks and wood pieces pop up in there. So I am wondering other peoples thoughts on this and if people have also had this problem and found solutions, maybe some aftermarket guards?

Thanks!

 

[Sidekick]

My Z726 is a little over a year old with about 75 hours and never had a belt problem. Cuts great wide open at about 12 mph. A zero turn is not a brush hog and I use my BX in questionable areas that may have obstacles. The belt and issues should be warranty covered because it sounds like there may be alignment issues or design issues for your intended use from the start and maybe not just fine brush that should be mulched by the deck causing it. Check with your dealer.

 

[jaredlpainter]

My Z726 is a little over a year old with about 75 hours and never had a belt problem. Cuts great wide open at about 12 mph. A zero turn is not a brush hog and I use my BX in questionable areas that may have obstacles. The belt and issues should be warranty covered because it sounds like there may be alignment issues or design issues for your intended use from the start and maybe not just fine brush that should be mulched by the deck causing it. Check with your dealer.

I'm not running it through high brush at all, like I said just maybe some pine cones and small sticks, but I keep getting pieces of sticks in the vbelt tracks of the pulleys. I have actually had to pry two pieces of wood (very small pieces) out of the vbelt pully tracks twice because when they get up in there and rotate around they get sandwiched (pressed) into the track and won't pop back out sometimes, which makes the transmission belt vibrate like crazy. Certainly I am not the only one that just runs over small diameter sticks with this thing (like I said, not over 1/2 in in diameter)? I saw one post someone said they would even run over stuff up to 2 in. in diameter, though I would question the reality of that.

 

[Sidekick]

That's why you should talk to your dealer. I saw a post on another forum and it was alignment issues from the factory causing thrown belt. It's a side exit deck and that's where everything is thrown.

 

[afphinfan]

I agree with the suggestion to have alignment checked. I “hay” 14 acres with a Ferris isx3300 and it is a monster. I run over everything including snakes and voles. I have never thrown a belt , tore up a spindle etc.

 

[mikester]

I agree with the suggestion to have alignment checked. I “hay” 14 acres with a Ferris isx3300 and it is a monster. I run over everything including snakes and voles. I have never thrown a belt , tore up a spindle etc.

LOL my machine is tough because the belt doesn't come off running over snakes and voles...

Message to the OP...consider that you may be doing it wrong. Stop mulching branches or start using one of these

 

[Rugmike102]

Get a laser alignment tool to solve this alignment issues. You can purchase at Biemko. It is called a LAT1 laser alignment tool. The laser visibly shows a calibrated line that effectively aims at the precise targets for a perfect alignment.

 

[jaredlpainter]

I had it checked they said it was aligned properly and were quite surprised that it keeps coming off. Also, I am not mulching anything most sticks (unless they are really small) I get out and pickup.

 

[Sidekick]

I had it checked they said it was aligned properly and were quite surprised that it keeps coming off. Also, I am not mulching anything most sticks (unless they are really small) I get out and pickup.

If the dealer is surprised seems like a warranty claim should be opened to figure the problem out on Kubotas dime. That should not be happening. I was out with mine today mowing an area with 10 inches of leaves that had small branches mixed in from the recent high winds. Not one problem, just had to go slow to keep the leaves from building up in the foot rest area. They are commercial mowers and not cheap homeowners models.