Belt problems -- Woods L306 mower under a CA

Spend about half a day yesterday adding a woods L306 belly mower to my CA. Bought used mower and used belt from a guy on the forum. All good until I tried to mow with it.

Belt twists (rolls over on its back on some of the pulleys) and is wearing down quickly with rubber powder being dusted onto the back pulleys.

I downloaded the Woods manual for my mower and studied its photos but am still not sure I have the belt and the pulleys set up right. Can someone post clear and up-close photos of how the back of their CA looks with the mower on it (?) Any tips or tricks that are not in the manual (?)

The way I have it, there is a partial twist in the belt as it comes out of the "left side" pulley and runs up to the PTO pulley. This seems to be where the "roll" is coming from, but I'm not sure. And I can't see any other way to make the belt work in the V grooves without that twist.

Also, the manual says to run the belt "tight" but I don't know what that means. How tight is tight, IOW.

thanks in advance.

Dicks C looks like my CA. But the idler pulleys are differant. One is on each side of the tensioner support. Except it's winter here and mine is currently hanging on the wall. Move the deck back as far as you can it's best to run the idler pulleys as low in the adjustment slots as possible. The pulley below the fry edge of the belt pulley run all the way to the bottom of the adjustment slot.The belt needs to be tight I use a 3' crowbar on the pulley to tighten it. Your deck needs to be properly leveled. The front of the deck sits about an inch lower than the back. Use a long straight edge and check for the belt alignment fron the idlers to the center pulley on the deck. I get a few years out of a belt mowing my 4 acre yard and the churches 8 acre yard every week. If the belt has turned and run you might as well throw it away. I've ruined a belt picking up a stick mowing throught the trees at the church. Once it turns over I have to stop and flip it back frequently. So when I get home I just put a new one on. The local JD dealer has one in stock.

Edited by Dakota Dave - 26 Feb 2017 at 5:48pm

Just ageeing with everyone, once rolled over you might as well run it til it breaks.

BUY A WOODS BELT NOT A AFTERMARKET A FEW DOLLARS MORE BUT WELL WORTH IT

I had both an L59 which I gave away and a L 306 which I still use. Both mounts have one pulley on each side of the slotted plate and both pulleys are V pulleys. I can't find any pictures with them mounted. But I'll look on my old computer tommorrow. If you follow the instlation instructions you'll be able to get it right. There's a couple pages on setting it up and aligning the belt. I bought my L 306 new from the woods dealer so I'm pretty sure it's correct. It came banded to a pallet with all the hardware packaged and bound to it.

If both idler pulleys on the L Deck are V pulleys you will have a 1/2 twist on the back (forward) side between the pulleys. It is this 1/2 twist in the short distance between the idlers that creates problems. You must have the idler and deck pulleys aligned exactly...and keep the belt extremely tight, to minimize the problem; the Woods manual has the details. Also, the idler pulleys have a pressed in sealed bearing that can wear causing the idler to "wobble" and give problems. A flat idler on the top, Like Dick L's eliminates the 1/2 twist as it runs on the back of the belt. Both idler pulleys have a 5/8" bore in the bearings; You may be able to locate a flat idler pulley at an implement dealer. I have used after market belts for 4-5 seasons without difficulty; but have re-tightened them a few times during the season to take up the "stretch" that develops during use. Once you have the mower set up properly, you will love it; however, until then it is a PITA!! The generic belt for the L306 is "B248" and the generic belt for the L59 is "B225".

GregL is mostly right. You need a grooved top idler pulley on the L models under all circumstances. It sets the direction of the belt to the main spindle pulley. A flat idler pulley in that spot lets the belt roll. btdt.

The non-L models used a flat idler, just like DickL's picture shows.

Years ago someone posted on here how to convert mowers to 3 belts. Need 2 idlers to tighten short belts. I am unable to locate that post. It gave belt sizes. Lower belts around B65?

Leon's got it right, the lower idler pulley is on the right side and the upper pulley is on the left side. You will need a bunch of 5/8" flat washers and/or 5/8" machine washers as shims to align the pulleys. The belt must enter the 3 pulleys straight on. I like the way Leon's idler bracket has been re-engineered with the tightening bolt added; has to make keeping the belt tight much easier. Get the manual for the deck and study it, then check out your pulley alignments as stated in the manual. It also contains a diagram on installing the belt.

A free PDF from the Woods website (http://www.woodsequipment.com/) is available there; or pm me your regular email and I can send you a PDF copy of mine. Setting up the mower per the manual will make the mowing experience much more pleasant. Nothing like the sound of a good CA and smooth Woods deck for mowing. I ran my CAs in 3rd gear and 1/2 throttle to mow; when getting into taller grass, would go to 2nd and 2/3 throttle to keep the blades spinning fast enough for the tough stuff

I have been told that one can obtain "double" V belts, that is one that has the V's on both side that eliminate the need to twist the belt for applications that need to run off the back side of the belt. Never followed thru on the tip or tried them on the Woods; the my AGCO Allis 2020LC has one and it stands up well. I have been purchasing my belts from Jaydee (http://www.jdv-belts.com/catalogs.html). Their belts are reasonably priced, the folks are knowledgeable and helpful, and their service is great.

I had a B with I believe the L 306 deck. The belt was twisted in about every possible way but to my amazement it still worked fine. I sold it because I hated climbing on and off that thing.

UPDATE from OP

Glad you've got it going the way you want.  I'm switching my L306 from my C to a CA that I have to pick up and I'm looking forward to it.  I've gotta do it fast, as I think there is a rear wheel bearing going out on my C.  Good luck!!

Rember moving the deck up and down in the back sets your mowing height. You need to start at the front edge set your garage wheels to your desired mowing height. Select a mount hole so the blades are 1/2" lower in the front than the back and move the deck back as far as you can before hitting the tire. I had to cut 2 holes off the left side one. Those mounts are universial ther provided for all tractors. Get the left pulley down as far as posiable. The half twist is nessasary. Replacing that pulley with a flat pulley will cause the belt to run on the back side under tension. That's not good for belt life. Get that belt as tight as you can I use a 3 ft pry bar on the right pulley when tightening. I've run the same belt for five years mowing 12 acres every week. But when your belt flips and isn't running in the V it'll wear out real soon. I've caught a branch in a new belt mowing the church and ruined a week old belt. A Pix belt seems to last the longest. That's what the woods dealer recommended over a woods belt. The belts from JDV belts are a lot Cheeper and I get two or three years out of them.