My mother bought a used Cub Cadet LT2042 last year and used it most of all summer with no issues.
This year was a late start to get the mower out and start mowing and, as such, the grass was pretty tall and heavy. After I got it running and took a test lap I left her to it to finish mowing. A day or two later she contacted me and told me that the grass was so high it was causing the deck to clog with grass and that she was beginning to smell burning rubber when engaging the blades.
I went over yesterday expecting to simply find the belt off and maybe something wedged in the blades. Indeed I found a large amount of grass underneath and the PTO belt was off. After I got it back on, I took a test run and all seemed well.
At this point the grass is so high that my wife and I were just going to cut it for her. In the first hour of attempted mowing, the thing threw the PTO belt 4 times. The PTO belt showed no issues aside from what appeared to be minor wear. I finally tried to take a few laps around and it was smooth sailing for most of the first lap and then the PTO belt had come off again, or so I had thought. At this point I got underneath it, deciding to just replace the PTO belt regardless of how intact it was and found that the spindle belt (the one the runs entirely on the deck) had broken completely.
I went into TSC and, though they didn't have the correct belt, I did manage to find that it was a 61" x 1/2" and found a Husky brand 'generic' belt that matched. I got back, put the whole thing back together and took it two full laps, cutting a full pass of heavy grass and it worked flawlessly. Handed it off to my wife and it worked well for the first two passes for her also and then, BAM! Broke the PTO belt.
I'm at a loss, now. I took the deck off, I found that there are a couple extra grease fittings I didn't pump grease into when I got the tractor out for the season, but, everything spins freely underneath, I can't imagine what's causing this issue.
Right now my plan is to source a PTO belt online and in the mean time get those other lube points pumped with grease (double pulley and pulley pivot point). Anyone know why this thing is suddenly breaking belts?
This year was a late start to get the mower out and start mowing and, as such, the grass was pretty tall and heavy. After I got it running and took a test lap I left her to it to finish mowing. A day or two later she contacted me and told me that the grass was so high it was causing the deck to clog with grass and that she was beginning to smell burning rubber when engaging the blades.
I went over yesterday expecting to simply find the belt off and maybe something wedged in the blades. Indeed I found a large amount of grass underneath and the PTO belt was off. After I got it back on, I took a test run and all seemed well.
At this point the grass is so high that my wife and I were just going to cut it for her. In the first hour of attempted mowing, the thing threw the PTO belt 4 times. The PTO belt showed no issues aside from what appeared to be minor wear. I finally tried to take a few laps around and it was smooth sailing for most of the first lap and then the PTO belt had come off again, or so I had thought. At this point I got underneath it, deciding to just replace the PTO belt regardless of how intact it was and found that the spindle belt (the one the runs entirely on the deck) had broken completely.
I went into TSC and, though they didn't have the correct belt, I did manage to find that it was a 61" x 1/2" and found a Husky brand 'generic' belt that matched. I got back, put the whole thing back together and took it two full laps, cutting a full pass of heavy grass and it worked flawlessly. Handed it off to my wife and it worked well for the first two passes for her also and then, BAM! Broke the PTO belt.
I'm at a loss, now. I took the deck off, I found that there are a couple extra grease fittings I didn't pump grease into when I got the tractor out for the season, but, everything spins freely underneath, I can't imagine what's causing this issue.
Right now my plan is to source a PTO belt online and in the mean time get those other lube points pumped with grease (double pulley and pulley pivot point). Anyone know why this thing is suddenly breaking belts?