Does my 42" mower deck need a tensioner pulley?

[Rgausman]

Beside having spare belts, would also keep a spare #932-3009 Spring, Torsion on hand.

Bob G.

 

[MadMonkMort]

So I know it's not OE, but this was what I salvaged from the pile of junk parts down the street, plus a few purchased nuts, bolts, and a spring. I'm not sure how much tension the stock arm and spring are supposed to impart to that belt, but this is going to go a round or two on my lawn and we'll see how it goes. I'm sure the belt is still a bit stiff due to being new, so I may have to change that spring to pull harder, although it took a little bit of effort to get the one that's on there mounted. I put a shoulder bolt into the pivot point so I could torque it down nice and tight and the arm didn't bind. It's a little stiff, but I'm hoping a little use will free it up some. I put a bolt in for an attachment point for the spring so it clears the belt running under it. It's a full thread, so I put a nylok lock nut on the upper part with a washer sandwich to keep the spring from wandering south, and then double nutted the bottom through the arm.
The diagrams I saw also had a spring on one of the mule drive pulleys, so I bought another spring to put in there, as mine has nut and bolt adjustment for both sides. I assume (we all know what that does) that the spring is to make automatic adjustment for the drive belt tension as the mower deck is raised and lowered, and the nut and screw adjustment on the other mule drive pulley is to get the belt tension into the ballpark.

 

[mgonitzke]

That spring probably isn't going to be stiff enough. The OEM torsion spring is pretty stiff. You also may find that blue belt stretches an inch or more. I have not had good luck with those.

 

[MadMonkMort]

That spring probably isn't going to be stiff enough. The OEM torsion spring is pretty stiff. You also may find that blue belt stretches an inch or more. I have not had good luck with those.

Ok, so right on the spring being pretty weak. Got it all put together, and managed a successful mow of my lawn. It did the job, but the arm bounces around pretty wildly. I did a few modifications after the test run (it probably didn't help matters that the grass was super tall). If it doesn't help anything, I'm going to change the anchor point on the arm to one of those other holes to give the spring more pull. If that doesn't do it, I'll just buy some used parts off ebay.
I also put a spring on one side of the mule drive after I did the test run, as the tensioner bolts were worn out and got loose during the mow, and the belt jumped off right at the end. As with the deck spring, this one is probably too weak and it jumps quite a bit, but maybe it will suffice.

 

[dschwandt]

Get the right parts, do it right and be done with it.

 

[HKCooper44]

Get the right parts, do it right and be done with it.

Those hardware store springs don't cut it. They're either too long, too short, or the wire size isn't right. They just don't work!

 

[dsarow]

Always better to chase the parts it was born with,lots of sources here

 

[MadMonkMort]

Those hardware store springs don't cut it. They're either too long, too short, or the wire size isn't right. They just don't work!

Got that right. But it got my little 104 going and mowing for the season. I'll get the OE parts eventually, just waiting for someone to offer them for a total of less than $50 off eBay. Or the parts wanted page here.

 

[-CӞ]

Got that right. But it got my little 104 going and mowing for the season. I'll get the OE parts eventually, just waiting for someone to offer them for a total of less than $50 off eBay. Or the parts wanted page here.

Morty, i’d recommend checking with one of the sponsors of this site. CC Specialties, for example. eBay is rather less of a certainty, often with sellers less knowledgeable of iHCC machines. Best wishes!

 

[HKCooper44]

Morty, i’d recommend checking with one of the sponsors of this site. CC Specialties, for example. eBay is rather less of a certainty, often with sellers less knowledgeable of iHCC machines. Best wishes!

I have gone on line directly to Cub Cadet for deck parts, as well as to Parts Tree, which has excellent exploded deck views and reasonable prices.

 

[MadMonkMort]

I have gone on line directly to Cub Cadet for deck parts, as well as to Parts Tree, which has excellent exploded deck views and reasonable prices.

I checked Parts Tree and wasn't impressed in the price department, but the Parts diagrams were very good.

 

[MadMonkMort]

That spring probably isn't going to be stiff enough. The OEM torsion spring is pretty stiff. You also may find that blue belt stretches an inch or more. I have not had good luck with those.

Inre the belts, that blue aramid is holding up pretty nicely (I say after only two mows), but it ate the heck out of the rubber PIX drive belt after only one mow. I had a spare 84" drive belt of the same blue aramid cord as the deck belt and swapped that on. I fiddled quite a bit getting the mule drive to line up square under the uptake side of the drive pulley, and compensated for slack on the departure side, and still not rub stationary bits of the mule drive, but after my 2nd mow, the new belt had noticeable fraying. There's something that's not kosher going on, and is chewing that drive belt. Before my 2nd mow, I swapped the mule drive spring back off for my original (to me) nut and threaded rod tension setup. This seems to have worked better, especially after I swapped out to nylok nuts so they don't loosen up during running (that may have been part of the problem last time.)
Maybe I need an 82" belt instead of an 84" so I don't have to pull so much slack out of the belt and it'll be more lined up with the drive pulley...

 

[jack casey]

I checked Parts Tree and wasn't impressed in the price department, but the Parts diagrams were very good.

My CC102 has a 42" mower. Thought a tensioner was a good idea, with shipping it was $68.00 from Digger. He must believe in them or wouldn't sell AND any belt will stretch given time. Cheers, Jack