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w/b belt drive & sulky

5628 Views 20 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  sniggly
Thinking of buying a 52 inch belt driven walk behind. One dealer tells me, a belt drive won't pull a sulky. The next dealer tell me it will pull it. Anyone have a 52 inch pulling around a 200lb rider? Thanks...
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I had 44" toros and 48" lesco's pulling velkes behind them.

One guy I had was 280... no problem, just have to step off it going up a hsteep hill.

This is my youngen, got an early start, pic is for the velke on a belt drive 48"

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I have 17hp belt drive,I weigh 220 son 225 pulls us around good unless steep hills,with 52 you need at least 19.others may say a 12hp with 60"dec will pulla 300lb man on a 1 wheel sulky through 12"wet grass up hill and never bog.:eek:
The belts might slip a little if its wet. Stepping off the velke going up hill is no problem. I am 200 lbs and my 48" would slip when it was really wet.
I used a Scag 12.5 hp kaw on a 36" WB belt, one wheel velkey, and me ....250lbs...pulled ok....pulls better now with a 18hp kohler. :D
I am amazed every time I read a post with this question, because these dealers that tell people they can't tow a sulky on a belt drive either have no clue or are just trying to sell hydro's. I am 200 lbs., and have pulled myself with single wheel sulkies on everything from a 9hp Snapper 32 gear drive with single width belts and never wore out a belt letalone broke a transmission! The only way I can see breaking a peerless trans, aside from a factory defect, would be trying to force a shift under a load. This will break the trans regardless of a sulky or not. I have a sulky on all of my machines, regardless of deck size and engine size, and I have all hills around me. You will be fine putting one on. ;)
I used a Scag 12.5 hp kaw on a 36" WB belt, one wheel velkey, and me ....250lbs...pulled ok....pulls better now with a 18hp kohler.
Same as CT except I got another 50-75lbs on him depending onthetime of the day (Before or after lunch):D :D

Ron
I'm 6'5" and 285 and my 36" Metro HP belt drive pulls me on my sulky just fine.

Mike
we have a 32 and 52" inch belt driven and they pull me, 230lbs
I've got a belt-drive Toro Proline 48 with the kawasaki 15hp twin. I am 6'1 and 220. The mower has no problems at all pulling me on the velke. That dealer is full of it.
Your dealer is either lying, stupid, ignorant, or just thinks he knows. Careful of any other 'advise' he may offer.
Keep belts at proper tension, shouldn't have any problems.
Your dealer is lying to you. Find another one. Hydros have advantages, but pulling weight isn't one of them.
While I'm only 5'7" and 175-180, seems a LOT of you guys are over the 200 mark by quite a big margin.

Belt will do fine with a velke. May wear a tranny out a few hundred hours sooner than a non sulkie mower, but thats splitting hares.
Me too....

I am 6' 0" and weigh 230 lbs.

I have a belt drive John Deere that was made way back in the old days.
I also have a brand new belt drive 36" Scag.
They both pull my big butt around, even up the hills.
That is not to say that I wish I had bought a hydro instead. Because I do, but the belt drives will pull you too.
Belt drives will pull velkes no problem. I for one am not a big fan of them on belt drives. Just find that you are hopping on and off them too much making turns. On larger areas they work well, and can save you time. There is nothing like a velke on a hydro though. :cool:
Thanks to all for the replies regarding the sulky walk behind. I can buy a 52 inch w/b belt drive for $3,000, for my third mower, and I am going to use it sparingly.
That's my son....he charges quite a bit......but he does a mighty fine job! BTW he is not actually operating it for those that might ask.

No problems with Sulkies and Belt Drives. Those are jungle wheels on the back of an Exmark 36 Metro HP.

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Hey, Sniggly, that boy is just like me! except I am a lot older!
I 've got fixed deck, same mower/pistol and setup, bro...eXmark rules...:)
I mowed about 1.2 acres yesterday with it PDQ. In fact, that is the lawn you see it sitting on. Good Mower. It was all Pensacola Bahia to.

:)
Originally posted by sniggly
I mowed about 1.2 acres yesterday with it PDQ. In fact, that is the lawn you see it sitting on. Good Mower. It was all Pensacola Bahia to.

:)
Wow, cutting Bahia? I dropped all my Bahia accounts for good, now I only cut St. Augustine, those Bahia is from hell, dull your blades so quickly and grow back so fast that customers even gave me a call like in 2 days whether I came by and cut! Metro with Jungle Wheels does real nice job on St. Augustine which I call " lawn".
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