idler pulley on Superduty hydro system

[james mcdonald]

I have a fastrak super duty 54 inch which I really enjoy. Last week I noticed a noise I do not remember hearing. It appears to be coming from the belt drive on the hydro system. The belt appears to be vibrating a lot at medium idle and the cause appears to be some play in the idler pulley that sits almost directly under the engine. You can move the edge of the pulley up and down about 1/16 to 1/8 inch. The mower has about 110 hours on it and is almost two years old. It looks like it would be a job to replace because of its location. Does anyone know if this is normal?

[mowerconsultant]

It is possible you have a bearing going bad in the tensioner.
I would remove the belt and check the bearing, I would also check the grooved in the 3 v pulleys in the hydro drive, it is possible you may have got a piece of debris in them, it will act just like you describe when it happens.

Pj

[james mcdonald]

Thanks for the advice mower consultant. I will check out this weekend.