Cutting Belt keeps turning when lawn tractor blades are disengaged

8 months ago

last modified: 8 months ago

So I put a new cutting belt on my Craftsman Lawn tractor (944.605160) and it seems to cut grass fine but when I disengage the blades the belts keeps turning and makes a loud rattling sound when it does so. If I turn the mower off and pull back on the belt and fire up the mower again the belt is OK but again, once I engage the blades and then disengage them the problem comes back.

Reading up on the problem is sounds like the belt I got might be a little too short since this appears to cause my type of problem. I am wondering if there is an adjustment to fix this or if the belt will eventually stetch and fix itself or do I need a new belt.

I also notice that the pulleys around the belt seem to get fairly hot. Is this normal when cutting grass?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

jrb451
8 months ago
I’m assuming you’re referring to your owner’s manual and replaced with the same belt. Have you checked the idler pulley? Mower manual
optsyeagle
Original Author
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
The idler pulleys look fine to me. The engagement pully appears to bottom/stretch out to provide the maximum slack in the belt when disengaged.

I was not the person that put the belt on the mower. I had some welding work done on the deck and decided to put on new belts while the deck was off the tractor. The guy that did the welding work and put the belt on is coming over tonight to look at it, but I wanted to get some thoughts from some knowledgable and independant people beforehand.

I put the last belt on this tractor and did not have this problem. It appears the spec for the belt is 95.5" but the orginal one I took off, after 12 years of use, was about 97.5", so I figured they must stretch to some degree. Reading up on this problem, others seem to say that 1/2" too short causes this problem and perhaps mine might stretch and fix itself. I don't know. The belt obviously fits because when cutting grass it seems fine but it just keeps turning when it is disengaged and also makes an annoying and concerning rattle while doing so. I think the sound is from the flapping slack belt still turning on the deck. Not completely sure but the sound goes away when the belt/blades are engaged for cutting.
Related Professionals
Windham Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Harvey Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Amesbury Landscape Contractors · Fort Wayne Landscape Contractors · Mendota Heights Landscape Contractors · Shenandoah Landscape Contractors · Commack Landscape Contractors · Kailua Landscape Contractors · Methuen Landscape Contractors · Streamwood Landscape Contractors · Clayton Landscape Contractors · Downey Landscape Contractors · Fuquay-Varina Landscape Contractors · Kahului Landscape Contractors · Mount Pleasant Swimming Pool Builders
jrb451
8 months ago
FWIW, I'm not an "independent expert", far from it. Good luck in getting this solved.
optsyeagle
Original Author
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
So I got her working again. It had nothing to do with the cutting belt.

I dropped the cutting deck and noticed that the ilder arm plate was catching up on the the arm of the right side spindle brake. That prevented both spindle brakes from engaging when I disengaged the cutting blades. It seems there is a relationship between no brakes and no stopping. lol. In this case no cutting blade brakes meant no stopping the cutting blades. With the cutting bed off I simply bent back the arm of the right side spindle brake and the brakes were able to fully engage again. I also used some anti-sieze grease on the idler arm and brake arm in hopes of preventing a future occurance.

Mowed the lawn today and the blades disengaged well when I placed the lever in the disengaged position. I just wanted to update the thread with my fix.