C-160 drive belt help

[ondeadlin 32]

First post, so a little background. Last July, after a little research, I ditched my plan of buying a big box tractor and found a really nice condition C-160 automatic for sale here in Michigan. Great back story - original owner family, original manuals, and a hand-written note he had left for his wife before he died telling her how to start and run the tractor. She did use it for a few years, but was officially retiring from mowing, and I bought it from a friend of their family. Under 200 hours on the gauge, but it was inoperable and probably had been for a long time.  Came with a decent 48 inch deck, grader blade, snow blower, tiller, and a sweeper and a thatcher that were both third-party.

I have no background in tractors, let alone Wheel Horse. I'm a guy who is comfortable laying down a wood floor or doing basic wiring, but could not rebuild an engine. So once I get it on site, I read the manuals, check the fluids, clean the deck and sharpen the blades, and use it all last summer and fall to cut grass. Late in the year, I change out the deck for the grader blade and grade out the gravel driveway. Two weeks ago, I check the fluids again, I take the grader blade off, put the mower deck back on, and mow a big meadow we have (that gets mowed once a year), as well as the first cut of the normal mowing.  Some of the meadow moving is a bit thick and involves some brush, but I'm cutting with the deck as high as it goes and there are no issues. At this point, I feel like I know how everything is supposed to sound, and everything sounds normal.

My plan this weekend was to attach the tiller for the first time and break ground for a good-sized garden. I get the tiller lined up and attached to the rear hitch, run the cable from the tiller to the mid-point attachment, and turn on the tractor. Turns over fine, runs fine. I chock the wheels, and drop the parking brake so that I can use the hydro to raise the tractor, and as soon as I drop the parking break, there's an unusual sound and vibration. I raise the tiller, and the sound gets worse. The source of the vibration appears to be the parking brake itself, which makes no sense, but then when I look closer, I can see the drive belt is not running correctly. I turn it off, put the brake back on, and examine the belt.  It's chopped to hell.  It's not all that loose, but it's clearly damaged.

At this point, I know: (1) I'm not tilling today; and (2) I'm coming here to ask for some advice.

I turn it on once more to lower the tiller and take the video below.  As I'm taking the video, the belt appears to get even looser and vibrate more.  Once I shut it down, I examine the belt further, and it's clearly right on the brink of failure. I think if I ran it for even a few more minutes, it would have gone.  Oddly enough, I was only able to find one small piece of belt debris under the tractor (and I looked pretty hard).

So, two questions: 

1. Is there a way I could have damaged the drive belt putting the tiller on? If no, is there a way a piece of brush in the field could have somehow whipped up and  damaged the belt last week and I just didn't realize it at the time? If it's neither of these things, was it just this belt's time to go? I have to admit, I have no idea how old it is and never inspected it previously. I'm kicking myself for that now.

2. Can I - a guy who has previously only swapped out implements - change this drive belt? Even if it's possible, would it be more advisable to take it to somebody experienced? I've got a trailer, so that's not an impossible task.

All thoughts and advice are welcome.  And if I obviously screwed something up, just say so. I recognize that could be the case.

Jim





 

[ebinmaine 68,277]

 

 

AWESOME back story and excellent information on your first post!

 

If you can do wood floors one would assume you can spin a wrench.

Drive belt isn't a super difficult task.

RH side step, belt guard need to come off.

While there inspect the idler.

 

Looks like that belt is about 3 weeks older than dirt.

Do you know the age of it?

 

No worries.

You got this.....

 

[ondeadlin 32]

A few shots of the belt.

[wallfish 17,079]

Remove the belt guard and changing the belt is almost self explanatory plus we can help with any questions or guidance. No need to pay anyone to do it and the more familiar you get with maintenance on your machine the beter off you are.

The missing pieces of the belt is what's causing all that jumping around of it. The missing pieces will also make the belt looser around the pulleys.

One thing to check and inspect while you are in there changing the belt is the idler pulley which tensions the belt. It's a common problem for the bearings in that pulley to wear out over 50 years. Look for anything which could be rubbing the belt too.  

[Ed Kennell 38,632]

                                             

When you get the belt guard off, be sure to check all the Vee pulleys for damage and/or pieces of the old belt wedged in the bottom of the Vee grooves.

[tom2p 2,394]

welcome - and great looking tractor !

 

( very desirable model also )

 

if you have not already - get some grease on that steering gear and pump some grease in the fitting in that area  ( and other areas also )

 

[BOB ELLISON 2,981]

Welcome to another Michigander. 

I also have a c160 that is by far my best wheelhorse.  I had the same problem as you a few years ago. The belt I got at tractor supply  but as others have said the idler pulley was shot. 7434 idler pully replaced by 112426.

V DRIVE belt 7478.

This is the place to get all your answers. 

You can still get these parts from Toro but there very pricey. 

One last thing that needs to be mentioned 

Dont put on the parking brake when it's in motion. You will sheer the teeth off in the transmission. 

Edited May 4, 2020 by BOB ELLISON

[tom2p 2,394]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

 

If you can do wood floors one would assume you can spin a wrench.

 

agree agree - especially if he can use a drum sander and screen a floor with one of those buffers 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by tom2p

[daveoman1966 3,758]

Best prices on Wheelhorse /Toro OEM parts..here:  

https://www.psep1.biz/arinet.asp?aribrand=TO#

Just type in your part number...  112426 and then 7478

I'd suggest a new spring too..  # 9170

When istalling the belt, make SURE the belt guard is on correctly...you MAY tear up the belt if not.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by daveoman1966

[roadapples 6,983]

Before removing belt guard take note where the belt rides on the inside of the guard.

   Also after installing new belt the guard has to be on to work properly.

[ondeadlin 32]

Thanks, guys, I'm going to give it a go based on all your advice. Already ordered the parts from Pat's small engine - belt, pulley and spring.

Going over a couple of questions/comments from above:

1. I don't know the age of the belt; it would not surprise me if it was original.
2. Good advice regarding grease. I have not done that yet and should. Will do that this weekend.
3. I can use a drum sander and the orbital buffer, but nobody learns to use that orbital buffer without having to repair at least one or two drywall bumps. :-)

I was afraid this job was going to require more work than is described here.  I know it's a lot to ask, but if anyone could walk me through exactly what needs to be removed and how to do it, I'd be appreciative. I assume the PTO has to come off?

One more question: In installing the tiller, I realized that the one thing the tractor didn't come with was the tiller belt. I had a couple of spare belts, but none of them were long enough.  According to the tiller manual, the belt's part number is 1599, but Pat's did not have it. I can get a none OEM replacement here:

Off Road Belts 

I'd seen that belt called 138 inches on the forum, but it looks like the D&D replacement is 139. Anyone every use this one?

Thanks again! I've been lurking for a while, knowing the time would come where I'd need help.  I'm deeply appreciative of how fast you provided it and the encouragement to do it myself.
 

[ebinmaine 68,277]

I don't have a PTO or run any implements with my own c-160 so I'll let the other guys answer your questions. Should be a bolt in, bolt out type situation even if you do have to remove the PTO.

 

[ondeadlin 32]

I found a replacement belt.

 

(Just joking, I ordered the belt ... but then this guy came up for sale locally and the price was just too good to say no to).

[tom2p 2,394]

wow son of a gun great find

 

C-160 8 speed 

 

[ebinmaine 68,277]

8 minutes ago, ondeadlin said:

I found a replacement belt.

 

(Just joking, I ordered the belt ... but then this guy came up for sale locally and the price was just too good to say no to).

 

 

76 or 77 ...

Love those.....

 

[ondeadlin 32]

38 minutes ago, tom2p said:

wow son of a gun great find

 

C-160 8 speed 

 

Thanks, it was luck. Was looking on Craigslist to see if anyone was parting out a deck. Hadn't looked at Craigslist in weeks. Was just listed today, so I jumped on it. I figured at worst, it would be good for parts, and it came with a deck. Deck turned, engine was loose. Not sure what I'll do with it, but it'll probably start with seeing just what shape the deck is in. If it's usable, I'd like to do some work on my current deck, so I'll take that out of service.

[ondeadlin 32]

A little SOS here.

 

Parts were originally out of stock, so I didn’t tackle this project until today. It all went well at first, thanks in no small part to some of the advice given here.

 

The old pulley wheel was seized/frozen, so that’s probably what did the belt in. Good advice to order the replacement.

 

I replaced the pulley, put the new belt on, and the decided to run it before I put it all back together. Wasn’t sure it would start with the seat off, but I made sure the parking brake was set, put my foot on the brake, and she fired right up. Ran perfect, belt moved easy while disengaged.

 

After a minute, she started to slowly stall. I went to adjust the fuel but she stalled out.

 

And then nothing. Turned the key and nothing. Played with the parking brake, made sure I was in neutral, nothing. Put the seat back on, engaged the dead man’s connection, nothing.

 

The battery is strong. No obvious loose connections.

 

Help? 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,090]

Don't know your exact model but this may help.

Follow the power from the battery to solenoid, solenoid to ammeter and ammeter to ignition switch. 

If the ammeter has failed you can place both wires on the same terminal to by-pass it. Disconnect the negative battery cable before you do that for safety reasons.

These drawings show the back of the ignition switch as you will see it so testing is easier.

Let us know what you find.

 

Garry

[ondeadlin 32]

Thanks, Garry, appreciate the help. I might have to seek some outside help on this one - electrical is outside my comfort zone.

[Horse Newbie 7,114]

@ondeadlin… how did this situation turn out ?