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Walker Decks Belt drive or gear drive

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#2 ·
From reading other posts on this, its a toss up, the belt driven deck is a good deck. I have a 48" SD deck and it is gear driven, its ok but the front is weak on the deck, it gets bent easliy, the 52" looks a lot stronger.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Are you sure you're not confusing one and the same, because a lot of folks
use the words gear and belt drive interchangeably while it refers to the same mower.
The only two mowers are usually hydraulic, and belt OR gear drive
but in most cases gear / belt refers to the same machine.

Because in most cases when folks say "gear drive" they are simply referring to the 5-speed transmission (on a belt drive).

Now...
There is such a thing as a true gear driven blade system, but they are very rare, I have never seen one, other than in pictures.

Now if you do run into a gear drive blade system, there is a CHAIN that runs
from the engine to the blade pulleys and a set of gears it runs around.

These gear drive decks MUST have the blades running in synchronicity, I'm not sure what the reason for a
gear drive blade system is but I do know the blades have to be precisely TIMED or they'll hit each other.

Everything else runs belt(s) from engine to deck, on these the blades need not be synchronized.
 
#4 ·
topsites said:
Are you sure you're not confusing one and the same, because a lot of folks
use the words gear and belt drive interchangeably while it refers to the same mower.
The only two mowers are usually hydraulic, and belt OR gear drive
but in most cases gear / belt refers to the same machine.

Because in most cases when folks say "gear drive" they are simply referring to the 5-speed transmission (on a belt drive).

Now...
There is such a thing as a true gear driven blade system, but they are very rare, I have never seen one, other than in pictures.

Now if you do run into a gear drive blade system, there is a CHAIN that runs
from the engine to the blade pulleys and a set of gears it runs around.

These gear drive decks MUST have the blades running in synchronicity, I'm not sure what the reason for a
gear drive blade system is but I do know the blades have to be precisely TIMED or they'll hit each other.

Everything else runs belt(s) from engine to deck, on these the blades need not be synchronized.
Click to expand...
Walker brand mower not walkbehind :)
 
#5 ·
I have never owned a belt drive but did look into getting one and this is a few things I found out about them.
The gear deck is cheaper than the belt.
The 52 gear is all 3 blades staight across and the belt has the blades staggered like most ztr's.
The belt is heavier gauge metal.

Does anyone know if the blade tip speed is the same?
 
#6 ·
From what I have heard, don't have 1st hand exp. with gear drives, is the spindles will last longer on belt drives, and the vibration will be reduced. I spoke with my dealer last week about this, and he said that belt is by far the way to go. On a gear drive you have to make sure your blades are perfectly balanced, where as on the belt drive it is not as important b/c the belt dampens any vibrations caused by blades that are out of balance, thus extending the life of the spindles.
 
#9 ·
If you have a 52SD belt drive, you have an excellent deck. I own one and it makes the Walker a different machine. It can cut wet as well as dry and leave an awesome cut. I have mine fitted with double blades and it is like you have 3 helicopters spinning underneath. You won't be sorry.
 
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edward hedrick
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