A loose mower deck belt is one of the most disturbing and unsafe problems if you have a riding mower. Usually the belt starts to rub off the pulley and without any attention will cause severe damage to your riding mower.
Mower deck belts wear over time and require periodic replacement. It is never a fun job, but you owe it to your lawn to perform this simple maintenance task. There are many symptoms that require repair or adjustment of your mower belt system.
Symptoms of a Loose Mower Deck Belt
Let’s start with answering why mower deck belts sometimes come loose in the first place. The reason is improper installation on your part or some wrong measurements regarding deck height, blade height or tire pressure.
If a deck belt can be too tight, it will be very hard for you to roll your mower. On the other hand, if it is too loose it can come off of the pulleys and cause all kinds of headaches.
There are not many symptoms by which you can identify whether the belt is too tight or too loose but it will be more clear as we get further in this article.
Belt will slip often
If the deck belt on your lawnmower is loose, it may start to slip. The blades will not work properly and the mower may suddenly lose speed, affecting the quality of the cut.
To check whether or not the belt is loose and slipping, start the mower up with the engine running, engage the blades and then listen for any squeaking noises that may indicate a problem.
A squeaky belt could be an indication of a number of things. In some cases, it could have been damaged due to friction or other issues that might be preventing it from turning smoothly.
Other times, however, this could just mean that you need to tighten your belts. To fix a squeaky belt, make sure first to turn off your lawnmower entirely. Then disconnect its spark plug so that it won’t accidentally start up when you’re working on it!
Once done, remove all debris from around where you’ll be working before beginning any repairs.
Too Much Deck Vibration
Excessive deck vibration is a symptom of a loose mower deck belt. A loose mower deck belt will cause problems and result in excessive vibrations. The excessive vibrations will cause the lawn mower to operate less efficiently than normal.
It may generate enough noise to disturb other people in close proximity to the unit. The mower may also lose some of its blade speed as a result of the loose mower deck belt.
If you notice your mower vibrating excessively when you first start out, check the tension on the mower deck belt. If it’s loose and causing these problems, tighten it up with a wrench or pliers and try again.
If you’ve already tightened your belt as much as possible but continue to experience vibrations or irregular movement, you may need to replace the belt. The old one is worn out and has lost its elasticity.
To prevent this from happening again in the future, make sure you inspect your mower deck belt from time to time for wear and tear.
Unusual Noise
The mower deck belt is a thick rubber belt that wraps around the pulley and provides rotational power from the engine to spin the cutting blades. Because it’s under a lot of tension, you’d see a lot of movement with the belt if it was loose, but if it’s only slightly loose, it can lead to a high-pitched noise.
A loose mower deck belt can lead to a high-pitched noise when the engine is running, and this is usually one of the first signs of the problem. While this isn’t the only noise you can hear, it’s a pretty common one and one that most people tend to notice right away.
Pulleys comes out
If your mower deck belt is too loose, it can slip off the pulleys. When this happens the blades don’t spin and you won’t be able to cut anything.
If the belt comes off, you should see it somewhere around the pulleys. Check there first before looking anywhere else. Once you find it, take a look at both sides of the belt and make sure they are not damaged. If they are, then you’ll need to replace it with a new one.
If your belt is still in good shape, then you’ll need to adjust the tension on your mower deck belt.
Once you have adjusted the tension on your mower deck belt, put everything back together and try running it again. If you were able to get enough tension on the belt before putting everything back together, then hopefully that will do the trick and keep it from coming off again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my mower deck belt loose?
Even the meanest of belts should be stretched several times and weakly tensioned before using. A large modern mower will get eight full turns around a pulley system. Worn out pulleys may cause the belts to break after some days.
At some point, whether due to misuse or part failure, both can end up being too short to turn the belt by stretching off center or by binding up on itself. In either case it’s time for a new belt.
Why does my belt keep coming off?
When the belt tensioner in a belt-driven job machine fails, either a wire rope from a pulley coming out from the pulley, or bearings on a horizontally-moving shaft and an idler causing an interlock.
When you find these causes for any strains on belts and sprockets, installing new parts is highly recommended because the accessory belt replacement is quite expensive.
What causes pulley misalignment?
Pulley misalignment is a common issue on how heavy machinery travels, due to the fact that there are no sweet spots that offer enough friction and favorable leverage for movement.
The misalignment starts when press-fit pulleys are installed with varying depths of thrusting. Typically observed due to skipping past one point before the slide of the bearing brings it back into operation, resulting in an improper offset.
Conclusion
Although there are several other causes for these issues, a loose mower deck belt is the most common cause. It’s also easily fixed, so don’t be afraid to take a crack at it yourself.
And if it’s something so small that the average homeowner can fix, you can be sure that even a novice can do it with only minimal difficulty.
