Cub Cadet Throwing/Breaking Deck Belts

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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?
 
Is the belt running true and properly adjusted? I've seen belts slightly out of alignment causing all sorts of problems. Is it the right belt? Slightly larger can cause issues like you're experiencing.
 
How exposed is the belt to the work? Could the grass be physically hitting the belt?

My friend owns this exact Cub cadet AND just had belt woes. He smelled rubber burning -pretty new belt- when doing an account's lawn. The lawn is thick enough but I don't know how tall it was. It could've been the first cut of the season.

He too briefly mentioned not being able to locate a belt right away. I'll ask him for details and post back if anything was learned beyond demarpaint's post.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Is the belt running true and properly adjusted? I've seen belts slightly out of alignment causing all sorts of problems. Is it the right belt? Slightly larger can cause issues like you're experiencing.


I noticed some sort of wobbly operation before I replaced the spindle belt. After a new spindle belt, both seemed to run more true and in line.


Originally Posted By: Kira
How exposed is the belt to the work? Could the grass be physically hitting the belt?

My friend owns this exact Cub cadet AND just had belt woes. He smelled rubber burning -pretty new belt- when doing an account's lawn. The lawn is thick enough but I don't know how tall it was. It could've been the first cut of the season.

He too briefly mentioned not being able to locate a belt right away. I'll ask him for details and post back if anything was learned beyond demarpaint's post.


It doesn't have any covers over the deck spindles/pulleys but I think it originally did. No issues running it this way last year, however. Grass is very high, foreign material may be a possibility but I don't feel like it's enough interference to break belts...
 
Few suggestions. How sharp are the blades? Dull blades = more power required by the belt. High wet grass = more power. If grass is thick and high, take a half width pass. Throw the clippings toward the previously cut area. Do not re-cut the clippings as this takes more power. Belts can overheat and self destruct.
 
If the bearings in the spindles are shot you will never get even a new belt to stay on. Check the pulleys on the spindles for lateral and up/down movement. If you find any the spindles need replacing.
 
Originally Posted By: bugeye
Few suggestions. How sharp are the blades? Dull blades = more power required by the belt. High wet grass = more power. If grass is thick and high, take a half width pass. Throw the clippings toward the previously cut area. Do not re-cut the clippings as this takes more power. Belts can overheat and self destruct.


The blades are quite dull, I was going to consider taking them off to replace/sharpen but reaching between the engine and muffler several times to get the PTO belt and getting burned in the process really stunted my motivation. Half-width passes and discharging outward were already in practice.

Originally Posted By: jhs914
If the bearings in the spindles are shot you will never get even a new belt to stay on. Check the pulleys on the spindles for lateral and up/down movement. If you find any the spindles need replacing.


I don't believe I felt much, if any up/down movement on any pulleys except for the double pulley where the PTO belt meets the spindle belt. All pulleys and blade/spindle assemblies spin free (and keep spinning for quite a while on their own with the belts off).
 
With an electric clutch you need exactly the right belt length. Also if you use a skinny belt instead of the proper more expensive wide one, it will be too loose and not last long.
 
Originally Posted By: mk378
With an electric clutch you need exactly the right belt length. Also if you use a skinny belt instead of the proper more expensive wide one, it will be too loose and not last long.


As far as I know, the PTO-to-Deck belt was the proper OEM part. Searching around online it looks like the size of the belt is 5/8" x 111.2"
 
Keep the pulley guards off. These ruin belts because after one or two mowing grass gets wedged in their over heating the belt.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Keep the pulley guards off. These ruin belts because after one or two mowing grass gets wedged in their over heating the belt.


Good to know! Even better because it was purchased (used) without them!
 
Just called my pal with the Cub Cadet.

1) He said there is an idler down there which essentially isn't aligned with the other hardware.
He said he used a shim of hard plastic to get the parts aligned.

2) He also mentioned that years before he had a "6 sided belt" which was perfect for the machine.
The supplier of said belt no longer has 'em available.

3) He had experienced a bad spindle bearing years before without drama. It became real noisy and he replaced it.
 
OPE belts are different than standard "fan" belts, they are MUCH stronger.
Also, if you are trying to "mulch" the clippings, remove the mulching attachment and side discharge the clippings, cut to the inside of where you are throwing the clippings, raise the cutting height, and slow down your ground speed until you knock the tall grass down.
 
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Originally Posted By: Kira
Just called my pal with the Cub Cadet.

1) He said there is an idler down there which essentially isn't aligned with the other hardware.
He said he used a shim of hard plastic to get the parts aligned.

2) He also mentioned that years before he had a "6 sided belt" which was perfect for the machine.
The supplier of said belt no longer has 'em available.

3) He had experienced a bad spindle bearing years before without drama. It became real noisy and he replaced it.



Thanks for doing some investigating! I looked at parts diagrams and found there are a couple bushings on the idler pivot point that may be worn out, I need to look into it some more.

Originally Posted By: wag123
OPE belts are different than standard "fan" belts, they are MUCH stronger.
Also, if you are trying to "mulch" the clippings, remove the mulching attachment and side discharge the clippings, raise the cutting height, and slow down your ground speed until you knock the tall grass down.


This 'Husky' belt I bought was merchandised as an OPE belt and is/has 'Kevlar' as well. Seems to be that it's just a sort of universal OPE belt.


I hope I can get away with maybe replacing a few bushings and greasing the spindles up. I got down a rabbit hole and saw a very tempting deck rebuild kit of sorts with spindles, pulleys and blades for around $140 on eBay, but it doesn't appear that it will fit the LT2042's deck.
 
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I got down a rabbit hole and saw a very tempting deck rebuild kit of sorts with spindles, pulleys and blades for around $140 on eBay, but it doesn't appear that it will fit the LT2042's deck.

Spindle assemblies and blades are VERY specific to the exact machine they are used in. $140 is WAY too high, the specific spindle assemblies for your mower are not that expensive, most MTD OEM spindles are under $50 and aftermarket spindles can be found in the $30 price range. You don't need to replace them if the bearings are still good.
Also, you need to check that the deck has not fractured/cracked around any of your spindles. This is a common problem on MTD mower decks.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I got down a rabbit hole and saw a very tempting deck rebuild kit of sorts with spindles, pulleys and blades for around $140 on eBay, but it doesn't appear that it will fit the LT2042's deck.

Spindle assemblies and blades are VERY specific to the exact machine they are used in. The specific spindle assemblies for your mower are not that expensive. You don't need to replace them if the bearings are still good.


They seem to me to be good, as I mentioned the blades (with spindle belt removed) spin easily and keep on spinning for a solid minute or so. I think there's a small amount of bearing noise but no noticable play. Also need to replace one grease fitting on one spindle.
 
I had a neighbor's Simplicity that kept throwing belts, and there were two problems that were contributing to it. The first was the idler pulleys were worn, and it would cause the belt to be thrown off the pulley. Replacing them helped, but it still came off every once in awhile.

The only way I completely fixed it was to buy an OEM Simplicity belt that had the exact measurements. It had a tractor supply belt on it, and it was the wrong length. I measured 4 other belts from tractor supply that claimed to be the same length and they were all off by a half inch or so.
 
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
I got down a rabbit hole and saw a very tempting deck rebuild kit of sorts with spindles, pulleys and blades for around $140 on eBay, but it doesn't appear that it will fit the LT2042's deck.

Spindle assemblies and blades are VERY specific to the exact machine they are used in. The specific spindle assemblies for your mower are not that expensive. You don't need to replace them if the bearings are still good.


They seem to me to be good, as I mentioned the blades (with spindle belt removed) spin easily and keep on spinning for a solid minute or so. I think there's a small amount of bearing noise but no noticable play. Also need to replace one grease fitting on one spindle.

You probably didn't catch this after I updated/edited my previous post...
You need to check that the deck has not fractured/cracked around any of your spindles. This is a common problem on MTD mower decks.
 
Originally Posted By: wag123

You probably didn't catch this after I updated/edited my previous post...
You need to check that the deck has not fractured/cracked around any of your spindles. This is a common problem on MTD mower decks.


Had I had more motivation I was going to take the deck home and pressure wash it and tear it down and make sure it's solid. I may still end up doing that, or at least taking a scraper to it.
 
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