[tiredblades]

Deck drive belt overheating on Honda 4518 tractor with 46 inch deck. When checking pulley alignment I discovered that the deck drive pulley is about 0.5 inches higher than the driven pulleys. The deck is not bent nor is the bracket on which the drive pulley is mounted. I'm thinking that proper alignment would lower the belt temperature. The overview picture attached shows a hot pink string which goes around the center of the 3 deck pulleys and a second picture shows the drive pulley above the string. Any suggestions?

 

[teamlipp]

I just finished rebuilding my deck and hope to reinstall in this weekend, after the Wayne County Fair. Something doesn't look right in your pictures. I'll take a look at mine and get some pictures before I put it back under the machine. I'll get back to you after I take a look.
:howdy:

 

[teamlipp]

Here's an exploded view of the deck from Boats.net. Check to make sure you have all the pieces.

 

[Dave4514]

I have not worked on a 46" deck, but on my 3-blade 42" deck there are two different spindle lengths. The center one is shorter. Maybe it is the same on your 46" deck. Did they get switched.:dunno:

 

[tiredblades]

Good thought. The pulleys are not all the same diameter, but they all sit on shafts of the same length - same part number for each one.

 

[tiredblades]

I just finished rebuilding my deck and hope to reinstall in this weekend, after the Wayne County Fair. Something doesn't look right in your pictures. I'll take a look at mine and get some pictures before I put it back under the machine. I'll get back to you after I take a look.
:howdy:

Ill look forward to the pictures.

 

[tiredblades]

I just finished rebuilding my deck and hope to reinstall in this weekend, after the Wayne County Fair. Something doesn't look right in your pictures. I'll take a look at mine and get some pictures before I put it back under the machine. I'll get back to you after I take a look.
:howdy:

One thing that might not look right is that the string is not tracing the belt path, it is there only to illustrate the misalignment. Also the two idler pulleys on the deck are missing from the picture. Had to take them off to check the alignment.

 

[teamlipp]

Sorry, I couldn't get a usable picture of my deck.
Are the pulleys on the blade spindles on upside down?

 

[tiredblades]

Sorry, I couldn't get a usable picture of my deck.
Are the pulleys on the blade spindles on upside down?

Pulleys are installed correctly. Turning them over would put the belt 1.75 inches higher. Can you measure the height from the deck well around the pulleys to the top flange of the pulley? Mine measures 1.7 inches to the top of the driven pulleys and 1.95 inches to the top flange of the driving pulley. Did you check the alignment of the four pulleys after your overhaul? Were they all aligned?

I am going to try to take the deck to a body shop (where they are used to looking for warped bodies) and see if they can see deck damage that I cannot. I have a drastic solution in mind - cutting the bar on which the axle of the double pulley is mounted and welding it back together with an offset that will lower the driven pulley into the plane of the other three pulleys. I think it will work but I don't like it. I would like to figure out how to restore the deck to original condition where I assume all the pulleys lined up.

 

[teamlipp]

I did my best on pictures. The mower is in the back of the pole barn right now, and I didn't want to haul it out.
These pictures are pretty big, if you want the originals, send me a PM with your E-mail address.

 

[tiredblades]

Thanks for the pictures. I think they show that my deck is set up the same as yours, Your drive pulley is about 0.25 inches higher than the driven pulleys. Since yours doesn't heat the belt, I will have to look for other sources of heat.

BTW I did take it to a body shop, the deck looked OK to them. They came up with the same correction option I was thinking about. The guy's son in law works for a Honda dealer so I took the deck there. The Honda guys didn't think the misalignment was anything to worry about. Interesting thing to me, is that if I take it back on the tractor they can run it and then use an infrared thermometer to look for hot bearings. I may try that. This has been a great help - thanks.

 

[teamlipp]

As with most things in life, I do the best I can with what little I have.

I haven't run my mower since I got my machine this spring. The machine was given to me with a seized bearing on the center spindle. The guy that had the machine was given an estimate to fix the deck of almost $1000. He decided to buy a new Craftsman instead. I installed $18 worth of bearings, and made a little love with the TIG on the stress fractures. (If you look close, you can see some of the burn marks that haven't been painted yet).

I am working on getting this machine together, mostly for snow removal this winter. In the summer, it will be more of a 'toy' for my boys to cut the playing field, so I don't have to use the big machines.

There is a picture of the tractor with the blower installed on my post about swapping between mower and blower.

BTW- the blue belts are my fancy new Kevlars I mentioned on another thread.

One question- you don't have different diameter pulleys on the blade spindles do you? Obviously, that would make the blades turn at different speeds. I can't imagine the noise and vibration from that.

 

[teamlipp]

Why does the pulley on the non-chute side look different?
If it is not the right width, it would pinch the belt and make it heat up. The deck uses a 'B' width belt -21/32" (5/8" from some manufacturers).
http://www.vbeltsupply.com/conventionalvbelts.html
This site has a lot of useful belt info. They sell belts too.

 

[tiredblades]

That's elbow grease! The pulley opposite the chute was some rusty and in the process of removing the rust, the gold colored finish also came off. Thanks for the belt site. If I replace any more belts I intend to use the kevlar kind.

 

[tiredblades]

I do have two different diameter pulleys on this deck. The outlet pulley has a smaller diameter than the other two. That is by design I guess. At least the parts diagram shows that one as different from the other two.

 

[sekull]

can you help me find a place to order some of these parts I am having trouble finding any thing to do with the deck you can e mail me [email protected] thanks so much