Mower Belt Reliability

[rreyn1812]

Originally Posted by rreyn1812

I have a JD Ztrak 830 with 54" deck and am on my 3rd belt. I have had to replace the belt every 70 hours. JD did come out with a new design and that was the last one I put on, so early next year I will find out pretty quick if it will be holding up any better since I now have right at 210 hours on the mower.

Well, just an update. Now the mower has almost 500 hrs on the clock and I haven't had to replace the belt since 210 hrs. Checked the condition and it still looks fine. Still carry an extra just in case, but am happy with the redesigned belt.

[rreyn1812]

Got about 605 hrs on the mower now, and the same belt that I replaced at 210 hrs is still going strong. Have only put about 30 hrs on the mower this year what with the drought, and I mainly use it as my backup mower since I got the ZD326 (love that big diesel!!).

[retrodog]

Belts are hard to give expected lifespans to. There are a whole lot of different variables. I have seen belts fail at 1 hour and at over 1000 hours. If a belt fails twice the same way is the usually when someone figures out there is an issue. Anytime a belt fails i recommend inspecting each pulley for play, bearings out, rough spots on the pulley where the belt rides by spinning pulley with your finger sitting where the belt rides to notice imperfections. Also i like to look at the entire belt when its on to make sure there is nothing loose or out of place that can hit it. I would rather spend the extra 10 minutes than shelling out another $50 to realise something is wrong...
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[rreyn1812]

Originally Posted by retrodog

Belts are hard to give expected lifespans to. There are a whole lot of different variables. I have seen belts fail at 1 hour and at over 1000 hours. If a belt fails twice the same way is the usually when someone figures out there is an issue. Anytime a belt fails i recommend inspecting each pulley for play, bearings out, rough spots on the pulley where the belt rides by spinning pulley with your finger sitting where the belt rides to notice imperfections. Also i like to look at the entire belt when its on to make sure there is nothing loose or out of place that can hit it. I would rather spend the extra 10 minutes than shelling out another $50 to realise something is wrong...
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You're right of course, however, if we assume that all these other factors did not lead to a failure, and we are only talking about the belt, then the lifespan of the belt should be something greater than 70 hrs that I first experienced. Also, when I replaced the belt (by the dealer), the second belt lasted roughly the exact same number of hours. Leads one to believe that something in the belt (materials, manufacturing process, handling, etc.) caused the failure and that it was consistent between the two belts purchased from JD. I was informed by the dealer when I bought the third belt that the belt had been redesigned. I expect that is true since the failures stopped every 70 hrs or so and now I've gotten around 400+ hrs on this belt. Like you said, one never really knows when a belt will fail, or for what reason, so I now carry a spare in my truck. Extreme useage is another factor that can shorten the life of a belt, as I can attest from a Gravely 36" walkbehind I once had. Started cutting some knee-high grass with it, and the heat generated at the belt from the high load & resulting friction caused a premature failure of the belt. As you pointed out, when a belt fails, it should indicate to us to start checking these other factors to ensure we don't have additional failures that could have been prevented if we had just done due diligence and done some checking of the pulleys, bearings, etc. I believe the JD belt was about $75!