How long do you find deck belts last?

[jeepman3071]

Little sticks in the yard caught the deck belt on my Troy Bilt today twice. Made the belt come off. I am going for a new one now. Been on there about 3 years.

Make sure the idler pulleys are aligned correctly and the bearings are good in them. When my Deere threw the belt at 600 hours I noticed that the idler pulleys were shot. Any time the blade hit something the slight deflection would cause the belt to jump. The belt itself was fine, but I replaced it while I was doing the pulleys.

 

[bchannell]

Deck belts and drive belts should last an awfully long time if there's no problem with pulleys. Most better tractors and ZT's have high quality belts, that should last literally hundreds of hours. I'm pretty sure that all of the JD tractors I've had over the years, I only broke one deck belt and it had something on the order of 600+ hours on it. That's the only deck or drive belt I replaced because it frayed from normal use. I know for sure JD OEM belts are bullet proof. Any belt that only last less than a hundred hours has a huge problem.

 

[Lubener]

I can't remember ever having to change a mower belt that wasn't atleast 12 years old. I go with an OEM belt for replacement. I never seen an aftermarket belt out last an OEM replacement.

 

[cbear]

How many times during a mow do you engage and dis-engage the blades? I have neighbors who disengage at the end of every pass. My blades pretty much stay spinning until the lawn is done.

 

[dcd]

How many times during a mow do you engage and dis-engage the blades? I have neighbors who disengage at the end of every pass. My blades pretty much stay spinning until the lawn is done.

I also engage just once or twice per mowing. But that didn’t keep the non-OEM belt I bought from lasting only 2 seasons.

 

[Cujet]

I stopped purchasing the JD belts and simply go to Tractor Supply or Advance Auto Parts. I even wrote down the sizes needed.

The ones from Tractor Supply seem to hold up fairly well and last about a year of HARD use at my FL property. I do use the tractor for mulching tree branches, so it gets a real workout.

Really, it does not matter how high quality the belt is, when branches get jammed in the works, smoke comes out.

 

[bchannell]

I mow 5+ acres a week and start and stop the deck several times during each mowing to transport from area to area, and never a problem. I have had JD 318's, 214's Husqvarna 27HP, Wheelhorse 141A, Simplicity 12hp, and for the last several years a JD 425, and in all of them, I had to replace a belt on the 318 deck after many hours of use. The Wheelhorse and the JD 425 were the only used tractors I've had, and they both ran on the belts that came with them. I have a replacement set of belts for the 425 hanging in the garage, since I don't want to get caught empty handed, but they've been there for several years, and it's not looking like I'll need them anytime soon.