Need belt help!

[SEMI_287]

I'm working on my not so mechanically inclined buddies mower. It's a Yardman built by MTD. The deck belt gave up the ghost the other day. It flipped inside out and just about shredded itself and got stretched out. There's quite a bit of slop in it. So knowing it's an MTD machine I picked up the correct 954-040460B belt. Which was about the same length as the old stretched one.. I put the new belt on and the slop is still there, not as much but the belt bangs around like the old one did. I measured the belts at TSC and they read 88.5 inches long. But the new belt dimensions are advertised as 1/2x96.5. How the heck??? Maybe I can find a slightly shorter belt? The tractor model number is 13AN772G729.

 

[Corvette Owner]

Using your tractor number I found this:

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/Jacks-Parts-Lookup/Manufacturer/yardman/20485/20480

which lists belt as part number 954-0329A which is a V belt .625 X 69.28 and it said it is no longer available.
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This website lists 3 belts, but doesn't give dimensions:

http://www.repairclinic.com/Yard-Machines-Lawn-Mower-Model-13AN772G7292007-ID-1077610-Belt-Parts

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Google your yardman part number and look at the results. Hope you find what you need.

 

[tnt31]

I do not have that mower but just from a quick google search it seems that mower model came with three different size decks. The belt you have is for the 42" deck. The 38" and 46" decks take a different belt and both are shorter.

mowerpartsweb

SearsPartsDirect seems to indicate the same thing.

Again I add a disclaimer that I do not have first hand knowledge of this mower.

 

[JTK]

Usually when you come across a shredded PTO to deck belt, it's something broke or out of position on the deck that caused the belt to fail. Bad tensioner, idler, etc...

On the real cheap-o MTD's, there's no idlers or tensioners. Lowering the deck, causes the deck to swing rearwards, tensioning the belt. That's a linkage adjustment to correct.

Many an owner went thru ~$100+ worth of deck belts before they fixed the root cause of failure.

 

[SEMI_287]

It's a 42" cut deck. Well a 1/2x96 fits perfect and runs good until you do to mow then she keeps throwing the belt. all the guards are in place. I replaced the spring on the deck to keep the blades from spinning when the PTO is off. Do you think that spring is keeping the tensioner from having the full tension on the belt?

 

[JTK]

Could be a tension issue SEMI-.

Also could be the deck is moving around too much in relation to the machine. Weak or broken hangers.

I've seen instances where just letting the deck bang around on the ground while mowing causes the belt to jump.

That's the #1 cause of belt & cutting deck issues on this type of machine. These decks need to "hang" and only contact the ground over very high/uneven spots. IMO, 8 out 10 people have this wrong.

 

[SHOZ]

All the bearings and pulleys in good shape?

I had a john Deere that the pulley actually wore out and the V part of the belt was then too small. It started flipping the belt. The pulley sheaves were worn to a dimes thickness.