Cub Cadet Belt slipping

hunter24605

Handloader
Apr 30, 2016
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My Cub Cadet lawn tractor is having a belt slip issue with the blade drive belt. It takes about 6 seconds of squealing for them to spin up, but stall in the grass when I lower the deck. I've searched and there is no way to adjust the tension on this model (LTX 1045)..Thinking the belt was old and stretched, even though the mower is only showing 115 hrs, I replaced the belt and leveled the deck, same issue. With the engine off I can move the tensioner pulley by hand into the fully engaged position. I don't have a spring gauge, but just pulling on them with pliers, they have plenty of "spring" left in them. Something else I noticed is the PTO engagement handle doesn't return to its "full off" position, it stops about 3/4 the way, thus resulting in an Ah-Ha! moment, could a bent PTO handle not have enough movement to fully engage the belt? Also, thinking maybe the PTO cable was worn, I tested it by pulling on it, and it still has an additional 1-1/2" of available movement that is not being "pulled" when the handle is engaged.
 
I would try some cable lube. If that doesn't work, replace the cable. Still have problems, replace the idler tension pulley and spring. Also grease the spindles. It could possibly be the problem and you may have to replace them.

JD338
 
JD338":1u5yvrzo said:
I would try some cable lube. If that doesn't work, replace the cable. Still have problems, replace the idler tension pulley and spring. Also grease the spindles. It could possibly be the problem and you may have to replace them.

JD338

Thanks JD, I greased the spindles when I gave it a tune-up a couple weeks ago. The spindles spin freely without any grinding or wobble. The cable moves with ease, but nonetheless I'm headed out for a cable and a "deck spring kit". As cheap and easy as they are to replace, it's probably a good maintenance idea, anyway. Something is definitely caddywhompus...Fingers crossed!
 
Unfortunately when MTD bought out IH Cub Cadet when Case bought IH. They soon went to pot in a hand basket. Even the low end JD mowers are built by MTD and suffer the same problems so you only get what you pay for no matter what the brand name.
Yeah I know this doesn't help with your problem.
I did some research a few years ago when I was looking to replace my Wheel Horse tractor when I found Toro who bought Wheel Horse was discontinuing the garden tractor line.
While I still owned my Trucking company I picked up a load at a small cottage manufacturing business in NC that made body pans for JD lawn and garden tractors which was delivered to a small business in PA which took them to the next stage of manufacture.
With such a spread out parts and supply chain I decided then I wouldn't buy something that wasn't built in house and is why I bought a Kubota compact tractor.
 
So I found the problem when detaching the PTO cable to take w/me to the parts store...There's a 2-piece plastic bushing (they call it a bearing) where the PTO handle passes through the frame. The bottom half is busted putting a bunch of slop in the handle. I took it out and glued it back with loctite 495 and it worked beautifully for 6 or 8 tries until it broke again where I glued it. Nobody carries it in their shop, so ordered both halves online. If it breaks again, I'll have my machinist friend make one from aluminu
 

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Good to see that you worked this out--that is always a good feeling when you can diagnose a problem yourself. If the original wore out (broke) that quickly, it is likely that it will break again. Might as well get your friend working on the replacement.
 
DrMike":k89ujdiz said:
Good to see that you worked this out--that is always a good feeling when you can diagnose a problem yourself. If the original wore out (broke) that quickly, it is likely that it will break again. Might as well get your friend working on the replacement.
Plus one on what DrMike has written.
 
Excellent. Glad you got it figured out and have a robust solution for the fix.
It's that time of year for us here too. I just cut the grass for the first time this year today. I'm using a Husqvarna 54" Zero Turn mower. Good times...

JD338
 

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Lol. Reminds me of keeping my MTD snow thrower working. Cheap broken plastic parts.. and the reality is there are plastic(family) parts that can put wear steal, but they use milk jug plastic...


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JD338":3jyhfe68 said:
Excellent. Glad you got it figured out and have a robust solution for the fix.
It's that time of year for us here too. I just cut the grass for the first time this year today. I'm using a Husqvarna 54" Zero Turn mower. Good times...

JD338

You just reminded me of a time 3 or 4 years ago the young couple across the street bought a zero turn and tried for 45 minutes to back it off the trailer they brought it home on, and kept getting it sideways, run it half off the ramp or hung-up on the trailer walls before another neighbor backed it off for them. Then the first day of mowing he couldn't get the hang of it and sold it, and bought a regular ride-on....Watching all this go down, I remember my son in law saying.."That's the dude you wanna beat to the boat ramp" :lol: :lol:
 
hunter24605":1iw4gwc8 said:
JD338":1iw4gwc8 said:
Excellent. Glad you got it figured out and have a robust solution for the fix.
It's that time of year for us here too. I just cut the grass for the first time this year today. I'm using a Husqvarna 54" Zero Turn mower. Good times...

JD338

You just reminded me of a time 3 or 4 years ago the young couple across the street bought a zero turn and tried for 45 minutes to back it off the trailer they brought it home on, and kept getting it sideways, run it half off the ramp or hung-up on the trailer walls before another neighbor backed it off for them. Then the first day of mowing he couldn't get the hang of it and sold it, and bought a regular ride-on....Watching all this go down, I remember my son in law saying.."That's the dude you wanna beat to the boat ramp" :lol: :lol:
That's a funny story. They do take some getting used to but it's a quick learning curve.
Your son in law makes a valid point.

JD338
 
Lol good story. My brother bought an Xmark several years ago. I wanted to try it out, and he told me to make a straight line. Well I didn’t on that first pass at all, but I quickly got the hang of it. Once u get used to it those zero turns sure are nice.


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Get you a good zero turn .

I put it off for years ..

I will never be without one now

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