MTD lawnmower belt problem.

[Geo]

Our club use an MTD sit-on mower. It has just been repaired for the 4th time this season - broken belt. Cutting the grass today for the first time since the repair and the (brand new) cutter belt was thrown off as I disengaged the drive. I dismantled the necesary bits and re-fitted it but it came off again after a few more yards. Refitted once more and managed to finish the cut. The mower has two sets of blades and the long belt has two twists in it to route round the "engaging" pully. When dis-engaged the belt is /very/ slack. Does anyone else have this problem - or a solution? A new belt is £30 and fitting £50 each time we cut the grass!. Geo

[Howard Neil]

I had this problem last year with a second hand MTD I bought from a dealer. The belt would delaminate. Fortunately, the dealer has excellent customer service and came out to me every time it happened (a 50 mile journey for them). We found that this happened with a non-MTD belt and went through 3 before the dealer ordered a genuine MTD belt. This has worked perfectly since. I do not know what the difference between the belts was as they looked much the same. I can only think that the MTD one was more flexible and hence able to take the twists better.

[Geo]

Thanks for the information - had another try today and the belt eventually reversed itself on one or more pulleys so that the flat back of the belt was in the "V"! This could tie in with your theory - but the repairers *are* the MTD dealer for our area. May be time to look for a better quality machine...

Geo

[bigcat]

yep, else redesign the belt path a bit, by adding guards to prevent belts coming off. Have to do it in such a way that the belt dosent tend to get pulled off when it hits the guard, think what happens when moving belt meets static guard. Done it successfully on other equipment.

Also helps to watch the belt coming off so you see just where it goes off course.

NT

[Howard Neil]

My dealer was also an MTD dealer but still tried to use other belts. Barrus are the importers and should be able to help you source the correct belt.