My zero turn slings/eats belts. Normal for a consumer grade zero turn?

Donny

Donny

Big Damn Hero
I bought a toro z4200 timecutter new I believe in August 2011. It worked fine for mowing a half acre of fairly flat ground. The forth time I mowed the belt slung. Over the time I have owned it I have slung or ate a belt 5-6 times. Otherwise it's been normal stuff like batteries and blades. Garage kept and cared for better than average. The pulleys look and feel fine.
My questions are. Are belts just a problem with a zero turn? Would I do better to buy a professonal zero turn like a badboy? Should I switch to a tractor style?
 
I wouldn't expect that to be normal, but I don't own one. Usually belt chucking issues are pulley alignment related. Might be worth an eyeball under there to see if they are all in the same plane.
 
I have fixed a few that have covers over the pulleys....grass and other debris get stuck around it and actually bend the housing. It can cause the belts to rub. Just a thought.
 
I have had several zero turn mowers, small riding mowers, and compact tractors. I have seen both issues mentioned above. Belt alignment, and debris/grass damage. I have also seen the wrong belts installed cause it as well. There are several cross profile belts in use over the years. The commercial pulleys tend to be very broad with a shallow depth, while consumer machine pulleys tend to be narrow and deeper. You cant mount a pro belt on a consumer machine due to how wide it is, but you can install consumer grade belts on a pro machine which will shred them up pretty quick.
If you have your heart set on getting something new, I would suggest a subcompact tractor. A subcompact tractor can do a lot of jobs, while a zero turn is very limited. You can pull some implements with a zero turn but since they have such a tight turning radius you have to be super careful. Of course a subcompact tractor like a Massey cost as much as two or three zero turn machines. If all you do is cut a half acre of grass, and do nothing else, stick with the zero turn.
I purchased the subcompact tractor shown below at the end of 2015. It has been the most fun machine I have ever owned. In fact, I find myself inventing projects just so I can play on it.It looks like a toy, but it can lift over 1000 pounds and pull over 2000 pounds.It has 4 wheel drive and a diesel engine. Maintenance costs such as oil and filters are high, but do not have to be changed often.

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Bob Price said:
I have had several zero turn mowers, small riding mowers, and compact tractors. I have seen both issues mentioned above. Belt alignment, and debris/grass damage. I have also seen the wrong belts installed cause it as well. There are several cross profile belts in use over the years. The commercial pulleys tend to be very broad with a shallow depth, while consumer machine pulleys tend to be narrow and deeper. You cant mount a pro belt on a consumer machine due to how wide it is, but you can install consumer grade belts on a pro machine which will shred them up pretty quick.
If you have your heart set on getting something new, I would suggest a subcompact tractor. A subcompact tractor can do a lot of jobs, while a zero turn is very limited. You can pull some implements with a zero turn but since they have such a tight turning radius you have to be super careful. Of course a subcompact tractor like a Massey cost as much as two or three zero turn machines. If all you do is cut a half acre of grass, and do nothing else, stick with the zero turn.
I purchased the subcompact tractor shown below at the end of 2015. It has been the most fun machine I have ever owned. In fact, I find myself inventing projects just so I can play on it.It looks like a toy, but it can lift over 1000 pounds and pull over 2000 pounds.It has 4 wheel drive and a diesel engine. Maintenance costs such as oil and filters are high, but do not have to be changed often.

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A tractor would be handy to pick up my dead zero turn lol
 
I agree that it sounds like a pulley alignment and/or belt tension problem.

I have had a Cub Cadette Zero turn commercial mower for four years. No problems at all. Its all hydraulic drive so the only belt is on the mower deck.
 
Alignment issues arise quickly if a foreign object gets caught between the spinning pulleys and belt. It doesn't take much to get one off a few degrees. That happened to my Cub Cadet and I had to straighten the bracket.
 
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