312-8 Mower PTO rubbing on guard is this normal?

[MAD MARK 74]

My, what I am thinking you guys refer to as the "Mule Drive", guard for the mower belts is rubbing on the pulley on the right sitting on the mower. It is the set of the pulleys on the quick attach on the front of the mower. I tried to the mower deck for the first time since buying it and it started smoking like crazy. I thought maybe one of the pulleys up front was seized so I took them off and checked them ( they need replaced but fine for now ). Upon looking closer I saw that the guard has rub marks where the right pulley goes. Any reasons why? Bent guard? Wrong size Pulley?Any insight?

 

Its the pulley circled in the picture below. My things went Guard > Spacer > Pulley > Spacer > Pulley

 

 

 

 

[can whlvr 993]

cant say what is going on but no it shouldn't rub,id have to go look at one but that wont be till tomorow

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

I think there are 2 spacers on the shaft. One between the pulleys and one between to outside pulley and the cover. They are different lengths and somewhere it describes which goes where.

 

Found it

1/2" long spacer is on the outside between the pulley and cover

5/8" long spacer is between the pulleys.

 

Garry

[953 nut 55,051]

Take a look at Figure 9 on page 7, it shows the spacers Garry is talking about.

 

[MAD MARK 74]

Yes, the spacers are correctly installed thanks for the references. The pulley isn't rubbing on the outer wall near the main nut, but on the half moon "safety" shield. It was gouging it there. I'm thinking either the pulley is wrong sized, or the pulley bearings are shot so bad it's willing around in there. Either way, it jams the pulley against the shroud and starts burning the belt. 

[312Hydro 474]

I think those pulley diameters are 4 1/4 - 4 1/2?

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by 312Hydro

[tunahead72 2,403]

I can't tell from your photo, but your inner pulley should have a "V" groove and the outer should be flat.

 

2 hours ago, MAD MARK said:

 

... The pulley isn't rubbing on the outer wall near the main nut, but on the half moon "safety" shield. It was gouging it there...

 

 

It sounds to me like the mule drive is bent somehow.  Can you take a couple of other photos with the mule drive and belt installed on the tractor, and the belt properly tensioned?  That might help us see any problems.  And are you sure the belt isn't rubbing on the tractor's front axle?

 

I'll take a look at my pulleys tomorrow and let you know if anything jumps at me.

 

[daveoman1966 3,745]

Mule drive should look like this...  There is a 'short' (1/2" ?) spacer between the two pulleys and a 'taller' one (3/4" ?) between the flat idler pulley and the outer half-moon shield.   

[MalMac 1,331]

Is this rub a new occurrence or has it been rubbing? Reason I asked there were a bad batch of mule guards that came out of the factory welded wrong. 

[MAD MARK 74]

This is the first time I ran the mower. I just bought this 312-8 last month and decided to see how everything was working/not working. My mule drive does look like that and the spacers are right. The picture I showed was a stock photo off of Google. 

 

I can take a picture of my drive later on with belt pics. I am 100% sure that the belt is not rubbing. It is the flat pulley rubbing against the mule guard. It rubs so long then gets bound up and stops thus making the belt smoke because the belt keeps rotating and the pulley is stopped. 

 

I've tried looking up the part numbers for the V and Flat pulleys but can't find those. Any help there? My nearest Toro dealer is over an hour away. 

[tunahead72 2,403]

I'm going to correct something I said earlier, because I've been staring at my parts and owner's manuals just now, and realized something that I never noticed before (because I've only owned 42" side discharge decks).

 

The 37" side discharge deck actually had two V-groove pulleys in the mule drive (as opposed to the one "V" and one flat we've all been talking about).

 

So, which deck are you using on your 312-8?  And is that actually your tractor in your profile photo?

 

In any event, here's the part numbers for the two pullies:

     104974 -- "V"

     104975 -- flat

 

There's also aftermarket versions of these two, but I wouldn't replace them until I figured out what the actual problem was.

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,031]

The front idler assembly shows up with the mower deck.

Garry

[MAD MARK 74]

1 hour ago, tunahead72 said:

I'm going to correct something I said earlier, because I've been staring at my parts and owner's manuals just now, and realized something that I never noticed before (because I've only owned 42" side discharge decks).

 

The 37" side discharge deck actually had two V-groove pulleys in the mule drive (as opposed to the one "V" and one flat we've all been talking about).

 

So, which deck are you using on your 312-8?  And is that actually your tractor in your profile photo?

 

In any event, here's the part numbers for the two pullies:

     104974 -- "V"

     104975 -- flat

 

There's also aftermarket versions of these two, but I wouldn't replace them until I figured out what the actual problem was.

 

 

Yes that is my actual tractor in my profile picture. I am using a rear discharge 42" and I am using the right kind of pulleys and spacer combo. I am going to order new pulleys anyways because the bearings were almost shot and kinda loose in both. It doesn't matter if I go OEM or aftermarket I just need pulleys. Stamped or cast.

 

I am still, without investigating any further, thinking that the bearings might be so bad that the pulley is going at an angle and rubbing the shroud. The flat pulley that is. So I can replace them and see if maybe if the wrong pulley is on there, or that there is slop in the flat one.

[daveoman1966 3,745]

I have BOTH original CAST IRON pulleys with NEW bearing in each.  Send an email to me and I will quote price for both....

email to me here:

daveoman@windstream.net

Edited March 10, 2016 by daveoman1966

[dcrage 627]

4 hours ago, tunahead72 said:

The 37" side discharge deck actually had two V-groove pulleys in the mule drive (as opposed to the one "V" and one flat we've all been talking about).

 

Just to be totally correct referring to Ed's post about 37" Side Discharge decks -- Some use a six sided belt (i.e. need to have two V-groove pulleys) -- Others use a normal V-belt and would use a "mule drive" configured like the ones shown in this post (Mine uses the 'normal' v-belt)

 

 

ALSO -- I had a similar problem as described by Mark -- In my case I had some how bent the outside of the belt guard (Can't believe I don't remember hitting something; that is some heavy metal) -- I had to use a ball and peen hammer to beat out the depression in that guard -- Seems like there was a flipped belt happening at the same time

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by dcrage