Mastercut 13.5 HP 42 in. cut about 7 years old. The belt broke this afternoon. Questions: Is it hard to replace with normal household tools? Where does one get a replacement? If negative to all of the above, where is a good place to buy a replacement mower? Thank you Ed B
It is fairly easy to replace the belt. Take th old one to a mower repair place and see if they can find one that matches. Before replacing the mower, ask a mower repair place to come over and evaluate the situation.
Ed,
It's probably easy to find a new belt and easy to replace the belt. First, see if you can find the owners manual. Second, figure out if your belt is a mowing deck belt or a drive belt. Third locate the model number. Fourth,call the local repair places and maybe the local auto parts store to find a new belt. Now if you have the owner's manual read it and follow the instructions. If not look at the belt and where it belongs and replace it or buy the owners manual or a repair manual if you are not handy.
Dave M.
That sounds like an exceptional belt life to me! It is worth your while to have a spare around, just because of the breakage issue. They are generally cheap enough. If it is a conventional "V" belt, any decent hardware store will have them. The size is printed on the back, or if you have the broken one, you can match it to what they have in stock. Buy 2.
As to getting them on and off, it depends on the mower design. On an old Sears I had, many moons ago, I had to drop the mower from the tractor (a couple of clevis pins), turn the mower unit over, and then loosen some tensioners to replace the belt. A good set of socket wrenches were all that I needed. The bolts were on pretty tight, so don't even think of using a crescent wrench!
The manual that came with the mower likely shows a good diagram, and maybe even directions for servicing the belts. You might try a Google search to see what you can find, or check their web site.
As long as the engine and transmission are in good order, a broken belt is just part of the cost of doing business. I never could get more than a couple of seasons out of a set of belts. Your milage will vary...
Not really. It's only a 14HP engine with a 42" deck, so it's not getting much of a workout. And, he may have used it for 7 seasons, but he didn't say how many hours are on the meter. Maybe he's just mowing half an acre of thin grass.
Probably not, if you're mechanically inclined. Usually involves dropping the deck (couple of clevis pins) and threading the new belt around the pulleys and tensioner.
Try WalMart. They sell MTD tractors (and parts for them). Mastercut is owned by MTD; maybe they use the same parts.
You're going to buy a new mower because the belt broke?
I have a Riobi (re-badged MTD). Belt replacement is simple -except- that the instructions say you need an impact wrench to remove the motor pulley. Access is not all that nice either. My solution was my come-along hooked to a tree branch and hoist the front end almost verticle in the air. I also found the come-along, a tree, and a vice grip made replacing the deck tension spring very easy. It was all but impossible to do it without the factory tool.
Harry K
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