Does anyone know 656 tractor with 32 inch deck - belt sizes

[656_tractor 14]

Hello all.  Pretty frustrating day. As title. After my mower deck broke my belts became incredibly loose. So I need new belts but do not know the correct sizes  Also could this be the reason that my mower is mowing completely unevenly and hardly mowing?? I don’t understand why it needs two belts to spin one bar that seems to be spinning both blades

Edited September 16, 2022 by 656_tractor

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,036]

May not be the model of deck you have but the belts will be the same.

Click on the fuzzy picture - belts are listed on the page that opens.

 

[ri702bill 8,296]

Do yourself a big favor on the lower 1578 double 3/8 X 37 inch belt - these are not sold a as a "Matched Pair" set - I had the guy at NAPA drag out all 6 or so he had and only 2 matched up closely. Could be why some folks only run one of them...

Bill

Edited September 16, 2022 by ri702bill

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,036]

Matched pair belt sets are no longer available from good quality suppliers.

Belts were made in wide sleeves which the belts were cut from. Two adjacent belts made up the matched pair which was the best way to do it at the time.

 

As improvements were made to the manufacturing process the belt dimensions were more consistent so the "matched pair" was dropped.

 

This came from a Gates' rep.

[ri702bill 8,296]

33 minutes ago, gwest_ca said:

Matched pair belt sets are no longer available from good quality suppliers.

Belts were made in wide sleeves which the belts were cut from. Two adjacent belts made up the matched pair which was the best way to do it at the time.

 

As improvements were made to the manufacturing process the belt dimensions were more consistent so the "matched pair" was dropped.

 

This came from a Gates' rep.

[squonk 41,040]

NAPA 3L370W Never had an issue getting 2 of those belts to match up.  If you want to go all out with quality belts, Napa # 25-7365 notched belt. 

[656_tractor 14]

You guys are great.  Thanks for your replies.  The notched belt sounds good. I guess the loose belts are my problem mowing.  At leasr i hope so.  Do i just need one belt then?

Edited September 16, 2022 by 656_tractor

[Handy Don 12,177]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

NAPA 3L370W Never had an issue getting 2 of those belts to match up.  If you want to go all out with quality belts, Napa # 25-7365 notched belt. 

I just got two D&D brand belts and while they are close they are not perfect matches. I figure the tighter one will work a bit harder at first and wear in a bit faster and then the looser one will start having to carry more load! 

My guess is that the dual setup has several contributing factors:

- the geometry of the frame in the design of that deck put the driven pulley too close to the deck to use a 4L pulley/belt -- the 3L has a lower profile

- the design also made changing the belts a bit of a pain so dual belts would assure longer life and happier customers (two of my RM-366 parts decks had original WH-branded belts!)

[squonk 41,040]

Also on the older decks ( the ones where there are 2 rods you turn to adjust the tension) it's possible to get the pulleys out of line and have one tight belt and 1 loose belt. The rods have to be adjusted evenly.

[Handy Don 12,177]

10 minutes ago, squonk said:

Also on the older decks ( the ones where there are 2 rods you turn to adjust the tension) it's possible to get the pulleys out of line and have one tight belt and 1 loose belt. The rods have to be adjusted evenly.

Excellent point.

On the newer 326 and 366 (and similar) decks, there is a ½" rod or two stubs that form the pivot for tensioning the belts. All of my parts decks had enough wear on these that the "dual" pulley was not straight. Eventually I replaced the rod with two ½" bolts with nylock nuts. After doing the basic tensioning using the "screwdriver in the hole in the shaft--tighten the flange bolt" method, I tightened the pulley-side pivot bolt and then used a big clamp to position the other end to get the pulley's aligned and belts tensioned then finally tightened the "away" side pulley bolt.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Handy Don

[656_tractor 14]

In that case ill go with one notched belt..   the one above that is loose as well :/.  If anyone knows a napa part number for that please let me know. Thanks agaon everyone for your help!!    

[Handy Don 12,177]

1 hour ago, 656_tractor said:

In that case ill go with one notched belt..  

FWIW, I'd strongly recommend using both belts, even it you cannot get two perfectly matched belts for no other reason than to avoid having to change belts as often.

[squonk 41,040]

3 hours ago, 656_tractor said:

In that case ill go with one notched belt..   the one above that is loose as well :/.  If anyone knows a napa part number for that please let me know. Thanks agaon everyone for your help!!    

I gave you both the kevlar belt # and the notched belt # in my first post.

[656_tractor 14]

Thanks guys; Mike I downloaded that pdf and for some reason saw every part # but the belts.  It was real blurry on my phone :/

 

Ah, my phone did not display:  Okay I see it now! 

Drive belt 1577 replaced by 7430 (1/2" x 28")
Spindle belts 1578 (3/8" x 37" matched pair)

Edited September 17, 2022 by 656_tractor

[656_tractor 14]

Sheesh that tacky grease wasnt worth a &@$.  Glad i had to add belts bc the old grease was better.  Look at what i found when i pulled the covers off. Like no grease!   Ultra heavy duty tacky antisling stuff is junk.  Putting the regular grease back in!
 

 

[Handy Don 12,177]

The manual says to put up to ½ pound of grease under each cover. That is 8 ounces, or a big handful not a few squirts. Go light and you'll have premature wear.

Also noticing that the grease zerk that should be in that hole in the top of the spindle shaft is missing. You need that to be sure the spindle bearings (the ones inside the cast iron plate under the deck) get extremely well lubed--there is no other good way to get grease down in there. The spindle has a hole down the center that branches out between the upper and lower bearings.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Handy Don

[656_tractor 14]

Ok.  Will do that. He must have put my fitting on loose.. it was on there when i greased it. Just not been my nite.  The bolts to get the belt off were really in a bad way. Required those sharp cutting sockets to get them off. Then i cut my hand on the blade deep.  Im getting new bolts tomorrow if i live thru it.  😮

[656_tractor 14]

I think this will go alot better when i get the new hardware for this deck.   Again want to thank all the knowledgeable folks here!! I am alive and well this morn after testing the sharpness of my blades 😮😁 the nylon lock nuts are such a pain to get off are you guys sure bolts with lock washers wont work just fine?  Thanks again. 

[656_tractor 14]

Hey guys I forgot to mention the primary pulley Just before the deck belt is spinning but There is a slight bit of resistance not a whole lot but I’m wondering if that should spin super free?

[Handy Don 12,177]

3 hours ago, 656_tractor said:

Hey guys I forgot to mention the primary pulley Just before the deck belt is spinning but There is a slight bit of resistance not a whole lot but I’m wondering if that should spin super free?

If you mean the triple pulley that gets one belt from the engine and two belts from the deck, then yes, that should spin very easily and quietly.

Ok, now for the not so good news...

I've discovered that of the six face gears (the ones on the cross shaft) that I pulled from parts decks, two have bores that are NOT perfectly perpendicular to the plane of the gears. That means they "wobble" ever so slightly when turning. On mine, that means that the teeth don't engage to the same depth on the spur gear all the way around. I noticed it because of the slightly increased resistance when the gear meshed very tightly.

 When I assembled this deck, I used the two gears having the best teeth. Now I'll probably go back and swap in one with more worn teeth but with a "true" shaft bore.

I'm also planning to put a shim or two on the cross shaft behind one of the face gears to "tighten" the gear's engagement with the spur gear--there is no built-in adjustment for this in the design.

[656_tractor 14]

Pretty cool you discovered tha Don.  Yours will mow better with your engineering tho!   Now i hv to find out where i can get that pulley. 

[656_tractor 14]

Oh nooo.   I tightened up the new bolts and now the blades are real hard to push!!    It wasnt like this last nite.  I loosened them up but the blades are still.hard to turn..  wtheck could i possible have wrong now ! 

Edited September 18, 2022 by 656_tractor

[656_tractor 14]

Hmmmmm so the ribbed belts were hitting this metal piece…. I dont know if theyvare making contact With the deck. But they just spun looser when I pulled off that metal bracket to the left of them in the picture.  

Edited September 18, 2022 by 656_tractor

[656_tractor 14]

Ugh. I Can’t get a piece of paper between the deck and the new ribbed belts that were suggested.      Any ideas appreciated!

[ineedanother 1,369]

I would clean those pulleys. It might not gain much depth for you but maybe enough so the belts clear that guard.