Belt broke on riding lawnmower

Posted by edb on September 7, 2006, 6:27 pm

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

Posted by Stubby on September 7, 2006, 6:35 pm

edb wrote:

> 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?

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.

Posted by professorpaul on September 7, 2006, 7:11 pm

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...

Posted by Ether Jones on September 7, 2006, 9:35 pm

professorpaul wrote:

> That sounds like an exceptional belt life to me!

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.

Posted by David Martel on September 7, 2006, 7:09 pm

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.

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