I have the 66 inch version and have similar problems with the drive belt slipping off -- especially when "disengaging" and turning off the engine. I've learned to keep the belt tension engaged when turning off the mower and also tightening the blade belt tension as high as I can and still disengage the blades. The long/short story is to keep the blade tension pulley as tight as possible yet still allowing the blades to disengage when you release tension.
Well I spend a lot of time and probably more money than I should on trying this conversion and I had it working for a bit but it wasn't worth it cause I kept breaking chain on engagement and I try to convert that to belt and that was even worse so I give up on it and got a second gas pull behind mower with the sale of the pto one. Again money and time spent on this project I could've buy 2 gas mower :) but I like to try stuff so was a good lesson in learning in the end :)
Yes you are correct sir, lower the guard and run the belt above the guard, Tip : to extend the life of your belt keep it engaged even when the mower isn't running.
Thanks. I have a Swisher T-60 Polaris version with 4 castors so you can push it with an ATV. It is the most hateful thing I have ever seen for changing the belt. It'll eat a belt in a heartbeat in any grass taller than 5 inches. You can't see a thing to change the belt. Either you can see but you can't reach, or you can reach but you can't see. I haven't used it for years because of that. Your technique makes me think about pulling it out again because it sure is a time saver when it works. Thanks again.
Thanks for all the comments guys, I'll be posting new videos on fine tuning the T60 shortly with a bunch of new features I'm working on :) hopefully I'll be able to edit these videos in the next couple weeks.
The blade engagement belt on my 60" keeps hopping off. I measured and used old belt to ensure sizing. Its a PITA but not complicated. It will run for a hour sometimes but eventually come off. I've played with engage tension to no avail. If pulleys were bad it seems it wouldn't work at all. Bought it used.Had one years ago and it worked flawless.Any suggestions ? Appreciate you.
Helpful, but I found a slightly different way, same principle. Standing at the front of the mower where the key is, I loosened the two bolts for the entire motor mount, remove them, and slightly lifted the front end of the motor mount. This allowed enough space between the top of the front end of the drive belt in the bottom of the motor mount that it easily slid over top. I then merely fed The belt through the pulley at the other end and rotated it onto the top probably underneath of the motor. Wondering if you would provide some dimensions on the “hitch apparatus“ which you devise for your tractor. I have 2 Swisher mowers, (not experienced the same level of problems) & want to mow/tow the same way as you behind my Kubota! Thanks in advance!!!
did the little spring that make the idler return got unhook or break ? sometime when you fiddle under there trying to replace the belt you might push the spring around cause it's right there next to the pulley under the motor. Was the belt pretty tight to install than ? cause you could also have a shorter belt than the 47 inch ? this happen to me once, sometime people play around with the belts in the store and take them out the package and either put them back in the wrong sleeve, I end up buying a 48 inch belt once thinking I was getting a 47 inch, didn't put that one together for a while either, I did a lot of double checking before measuring the belt....
I have a newer model Swisher T-60 and had to change the same belt, what a PITA it was. I'm checking youtube to see if anyone has a easier way. When you say you mow 18 acres does that mean 18 acres of your own private property? Thanks for sharing.
Yes I do mow about 18 acres of my own property, I had cleaned up about 10 acres of it and last year did the rest so now 18 :) you could say I like doing this :) its more like a hobby for me since I'm in front of a computer all day. Yesterday actually was the first time this year I had to replace the belt and I think it would've last longer if I would've double check the idler pulley more often, it got a little lose and rattle too much and I think the belt got caught on something and broke. there is little room under there for the belt and doesn't take much for something to go wrong :) but again I now can change this belt in about 5 minutes cause I'm use to it now.
@@MrCleo10168 That's awesome you mow that much of your own property, we own 5 acres and mow all of it......I have people ask me why we mow all 5 acres, I tell them we own 5 acres and we like to see all 5 acres looking nice. Again, thanks for sharing.
Great video. Just broke a belt
I have the 66 inch version and have similar problems with the drive belt slipping off -- especially when "disengaging" and turning off the engine. I've learned to keep the belt tension engaged when turning off the mower and also tightening the blade belt tension as high as I can and still disengage the blades. The long/short story is to keep the blade tension pulley as tight as possible yet still allowing the blades to disengage when you release tension.
Another video of yours I just found. Thanks Claude! Great tutorial of the T60 belt replacement! 👏👏
Glad it was helpful!
Did you ever make a video on the conversion of the pto mower to gas’s?
Well I spend a lot of time and probably more money than I should on trying this conversion and I had it working for a bit but it wasn't worth it cause I kept breaking chain on engagement and I try to convert that to belt and that was even worse so I give up on it and got a second gas pull behind mower with the sale of the pto one. Again money and time spent on this project I could've buy 2 gas mower :) but I like to try stuff so was a good lesson in learning in the end :)
PS. Thx!!
Got a question....when you say the belt "goes under the guard" you actually mean "above the guard right"?
Yes you are correct sir, lower the guard and run the belt above the guard, Tip : to extend the life of your belt keep it engaged even when the mower isn't running.
Thanks. I have a Swisher T-60 Polaris version with 4 castors so you can push it with an ATV. It is the most hateful thing I have ever seen for changing the belt. It'll eat a belt in a heartbeat in any grass taller than 5 inches. You can't see a thing to change the belt. Either you can see but you can't reach, or you can reach but you can't see. I haven't used it for years because of that. Your technique makes me think about pulling it out again because it sure is a time saver when it works. Thanks again.
Nice video. Saved me time and aggravation. Thank you.
Glad it helped
Thanks for the help you explained it well
Glad it helped
Thanks for all the comments guys, I'll be posting new videos on fine tuning the T60 shortly with a bunch of new features I'm working on :) hopefully I'll be able to edit these videos in the next couple weeks.
The blade engagement belt on my 60" keeps hopping off. I measured and used old belt to ensure sizing. Its a PITA but not complicated. It will run for a hour sometimes but eventually come off. I've played with engage tension to no avail. If pulleys were bad it seems it wouldn't work at all. Bought it used.Had one years ago and it worked flawless.Any suggestions ? Appreciate you.
Helpful, but I found a slightly different way, same principle. Standing at the front of the mower where the key is, I loosened the two bolts for the entire motor mount, remove them, and slightly lifted the front end of the motor mount. This allowed enough space between the top of the front end of the drive belt in the bottom of the motor mount that it easily slid over top. I then merely fed The belt through the pulley at the other end and rotated it onto the top probably underneath of the motor. Wondering if you would provide some dimensions on the “hitch apparatus“ which you devise for your tractor. I have 2 Swisher mowers, (not experienced the same level of problems) & want to mow/tow the same way as you behind my Kubota! Thanks in advance!!!
This is how I do it also
I had to change the short belt but now the blades won’t disengage any more? What could be wrong?
did the little spring that make the idler return got unhook or break ? sometime when you fiddle under there trying to replace the belt you might push the spring around cause it's right there next to the pulley under the motor. Was the belt pretty tight to install than ? cause you could also have a shorter belt than the 47 inch ? this happen to me once, sometime people play around with the belts in the store and take them out the package and either put them back in the wrong sleeve, I end up buying a 48 inch belt once thinking I was getting a 47 inch, didn't put that one together for a while either, I did a lot of double checking before measuring the belt....
I have a newer model Swisher T-60 and had to change the same belt, what a PITA it was. I'm checking youtube to see if anyone has a easier way. When you say you mow 18 acres does that mean 18 acres of your own private property? Thanks for sharing.
Yes I do mow about 18 acres of my own property, I had cleaned up about 10 acres of it and last year did the rest so now 18 :) you could say I like doing this :) its more like a hobby for me since I'm in front of a computer all day. Yesterday actually was the first time this year I had to replace the belt and I think it would've last longer if I would've double check the idler pulley more often, it got a little lose and rattle too much and I think the belt got caught on something and broke. there is little room under there for the belt and doesn't take much for something to go wrong :) but again I now can change this belt in about 5 minutes cause I'm use to it now.
@@MrCleo10168 That's awesome you mow that much of your own property, we own 5 acres and mow all of it......I have people ask me why we mow all 5 acres, I tell them we own 5 acres and we like to see all 5 acres looking nice. Again, thanks for sharing.
thanks for posting this video. what color paint did you use ?