Cub Cadet Enforcer 44 eating belts

[allseasons]

I need some help here guys. I have a 2008 Cub Enforcer 44" that can't seem to keep a deck drive belt for more than a couple hours worth of moving. I bought it brand new in 2008 and have only put 200hrs on it since then. The belt from the clutch to the deck is continually getting hot and coming apart. The OE belt lasted maybe 50hrs. After that over the years, I have used Primarily Rotary Aramid or premium belts since then. It calls for a 79.4" belt which I can't get in the Rotary or other aftermarket brands, but with my dealer account I'm paying about $6 for the aftermarkets while the OE is $30-$50, depending on where you get it. So I'd had been running a 79". Wondering if it was just to tight, I bought a 80" and tried it. Way too loose, and smoked it the first tall patch I hit. Went back to the 79 until I could get a OE size belt. I found a MTD 79.4" kevlar belt for $36 and installed it, hoping it would fix my problem. Nope, Still eating them up. The $30 belt lasted about two mowings longer than the $6 belt. All of my pulleys are in good shape and I've replaced both the flat and v pullies on the tensioner. Is there a fix to this one like there is on the blade pulley belt tensioner? Or am I just destined to deal with this obvious bad deck design that MTD/CUB contracted to the lowest bidder?
Thanks!

[bgsengine]

Can you get some photos of a couple of the ruined belts and, run a new one for a couple hours or one mowing , take it off and get some comparison photos - Reading belts is a learned art form but some of us are pretty good at figuring out exactly why they failed - there are quite a variety of possible causes for such rapid failures - as a general rule of thumb an OE belt should last 3 "average consumer" years - or typically around 200 hours-ish

[allseasons]

Thanks for the replies. I will get a pic of the belt tomorrow evening and post it up. I really don't want to drop $50 on a belt from the Cub dealer here locally unless I know what the problem is that's burning these things up.

[Arkie]

Thanks for the replies. I will get a pic of the belt tomorrow evening and post it up. I really don't want to drop $50 on a belt from the Cub dealer here locally unless I know what the problem is that's burning these things up.

You can sometimes closely inspect a new belt such as yours after it's been operated short time,(before it completely ruined) looking for scrub marks and overheating to determine if the problem is on the inside of the belt (slipping) or the outside of the belt (idler pulley seizing and scrubbing the outside of the belt) If you see strands or cut marks on the V part of the belt look real close at the edge and bottom V grooves in the pulleys for a weld bead, pitts, bent groove, etc. I found a small crack in a pulley v groove awhile back that was damaging belts after the pulley and belt got warm. (had to remove pulleys for close inspection after I got hint of the belt actually being gradually chewed and cut by a pulley or foreign object to one side of the belts v. The pulley looked real good while still on the mower. A belt that feels excessively warm is sign of short belt life and if you start smelling burned rubber type smell it's time to stop and inspect. A new belt is easier to read than a old belt when it first starts getting damaged, but sometimes you can closely inspect a old belt and get an idea of the cause. Tears in the eyes and sadness detract from reading a bad new damaged v belt when they cost $50 or more) How do I know this.

[38racing]

I had a hanger bracket come off and belt shifted and caught a guide pin and cut a groove in belt. Deck then vibrated until I replaced the belt. So make sure deck is hanging properly.

[Arkie]

I've had real good luck with v belts from a place on flea bay. the seller is upe_group (note the underslash between the e and g) and here is one of their listing now to get you started. Copy and paste this number into the flea bay search. I'm not associated with them in any way just a customer.
200856704126

Find your OEM part number and also try to get size (length and width) and do a flea bay search and see if UPE has yours or send them a email from ebay. Their belts are less than 1/2 the cost for OEM MTD/Bolens belts and are good heavy duty belts.
Some of the other sellers cheaper belts on flea bay are no good, but you will like upe's belts!
They also ship priority USPS fast and free in USA.

[allseasons]

Ok, sorry it's taken so long to get some pics up...It's been a crazy week.

Before it actually broke and came off the deck, I did notice that the inside of the belt was making contact with it's self on the return at the idler pulley. I think it was pretty stretched out by that point though because I've never noticed it making contact before. I tried posting big enough pics on here, but this site won't even take a 640x480. So I linked them on my Flickr account. Make em as big as your heart/monitor desires.
https://flic.kr/p/z4Ay8t
https://flic.kr/p/z1tJzh
https://flic.kr/p/yLbAfm
https://flic.kr/p/yLbwef
https://flic.kr/p/yLbwef

[bgsengine]

I tried posting big enough pics on here, but this site won't even take a 640x480.

Resize them to 600PX width and they'd go in (Dont know if you can edit and re-size at Flickr) problem with big photos is not everybody has high speed connection and big photos can take forever to load, which holds up the rest of the page from loading... Thus, the size limits for forum hotlinking.

[allseasons]

Flickr gives you a dozen size options from thumbnail to poster size, but no 600. It goes from 500x375, to 640x480. 640x480 has always been the message board standard from what I remember.
Anyway, here are some 500x375's for those who don't want to click.

[bgsengine]

OK.. belts do not stretch (unless they are broken internally) - they wear , or the pulley grooves wear causing them to be "longer" than the designed fitment. I really wish people would quit blaming the belt for "stretching" when in reality it is the pulleys, grooves, and side wear on the belts.

From your pictures, looks like you have a pulley that may be binding up, some worn pulley grooves, some loose idler bushings (Idler arm that pulley bolts to and spring loaded to tension belt - with spring removed from it see if it flops around - if it does it needs new idler arm and/or bushings) the worse worn belts look like they have been shaving or rubbing on something (belt guides, or too close to frame or other parts due to worn pulley grooves causing belt to "stretch" as you term it)

Just a little bit of wobble in the idler arm or pulleys is enough to throw off belt alignment - Idler arm hole worn a little out of round, worn idler arm bushings, and worn idler pulley is enough to make your belt deflect as much as over an inch closer to whatever it is rubbing on than where it should be. the "newer" appearing belt , you show signs of wear on a V corner so I'd also be taking close look in the grooves of all the V pulleys the belt runs on for wear, nicks, damage, any bent sides, wobble, etc.

Then there's the deck suspension to check for wear - they all do over time, the linkage holes wear "out of round" letting the deck shift further towards the tension of the belt, reducing the effective length of the belt. I think you need to go through the whole thing with a fine tooth comb and check all your idler arms and bushings for wobble, check your deck attachment points, and deck level (which can affect angle of operation of the belt and put more load on one side than it should)