We have a Kubota T1600 diesel ride on mower.

It has worked reliably for many years but has recently begun to eat
drive belts. The drive belts are used to take power from a pair of
pulleys on the front of the crankshaft to the mower deck. There are
two belts in parallel with an idler which is pushed against the belts
by a lever to engage the mower drive.

I'm pretty sure the fundamental problem is wear in the mechanism
through which the lever moves the idler. The idler 'flapped' around
to a significant extent. I have done a temporary fix to minimise the
wobble and to keep the idler 'square' but belts are still failing.

This could be for a number of reasons:-

Using slightly imperfect and badly matched belts (at £50 per pair
one does want to get the most out of them).

The idler may still not be perfectly mounted (but it must have
worked OK for a long time in its 'part worn' state.

I don't know exactly how to set up the various guides that keep
the belts in position.


My problem now is that I can't find any information on how to set up a
belt drive like this, all the owner's manual tells you is how to
tension the belts. It doesn't tell you how to replace them let alone
how to set up the various guides - there's a plate at the bottom, a
bolt at one side, a smooth bar at the other side and an adjuster that
raises/lowers the engine slightly.

In addition doing a proper, long lasting fix the the idler mechanism
is difficult because the most worn part is a pin (~ 1" diameter) which
is simply welded onto the mower's chassis. Thus the only way I can
see to fix it is to build up some weld on the worn parts and then
carefully grind them back to being approximately round. At present I
have just set it up so I can use end thrust to keep it in position but
it's not a very satisfactory solution.


Any and all ideas and suggestions on how to fix this problem would be
welcome, e.g.:-

Information on how to set up a belt drive like this.

Source of a proper Kubota T1600 workshop manual.

Other ways to build up the shaft part of the idler bearing.

Etc.

--
Chris Green

Big garden then?


You dont want the workshop manual you need a service manual...
http://stores.ebay.com/Kubota-On-Dem...-Packages.html

"George" wrote in message
k...
Big garden then?


You dont want the workshop manual you need a service manual...
http://stores.ebay.com/Kubota-On-Dem...-Packages.html



Here's a site that might be able to help?
http://www.howtomendit.com/questions.php?id=49&page=1

George wrote:
Big garden then?

9 acres.


You dont want the workshop manual you need a service manual...
http://stores.ebay.com/Kubota-On-Dem...-Packages.html

Semantics! :-)

..... $150, that's a bit steep and they don't have any manuals for the
T1600 anyway in spite of having a link for it.

--
Chris Green

wrote in message
...
George wrote:
Big garden then?

9 acres.


You dont want the workshop manual you need a service manual...
http://stores.ebay.com/Kubota-On-Dem...-Packages.html

Semantics! :-)

.... $150, that's a bit steep and they don't have any manuals for the
T1600 anyway in spite of having a link for it.

--
Chris Green

Thats why they give their email to find out if they do, which they probably
have.

Steep? thats the american price, try buying it in the uk lol

wrote in message
...
We have a Kubota T1600 diesel ride on mower.
snip

Have a chat with the people on the forum on here
http://www.kubota.co.uk/

R wrote:

wrote in message
...
We have a Kubota T1600 diesel ride on mower.
snip

Have a chat with the people on the forum on here
http://www.kubota.co.uk/

Yes, I *think* I have just joined the owners club there, I am awaiting
some sort of response with a login so I can use it and post a question
or two.

--
Chris Green

replying to tinnews, Davesnothere wrote:
tinnews wrote:

We have a Kubota T1600 diesel ride on mower.
It has worked reliably for many years but has recently begun to eat
drive belts. The drive belts are used to take power from a pair of
pulleys on the front of the crankshaft to the mower deck. There are
two belts in parallel with an idler which is pushed against the belts
by a lever to engage the mower drive.
I'm pretty sure the fundamental problem is wear in the mechanism
through which the lever moves the idler. The idler 'flapped' around
to a significant extent. I have done a temporary fix to minimise the
wobble and to keep the idler 'square' but belts are still failing.
This could be for a number of reasons:-
Using slightly imperfect and badly matched belts (at �50 per pair
one does want to get the most out of them).
The idler may still not be perfectly mounted (but it must have
worked OK for a long time in its 'part worn' state.
I don't know exactly how to set up the various guides that keep
the belts in position.
My problem now is that I can't find any information on how to set up a
belt drive like this, all the owner's manual tells you is how to
tension the belts. It doesn't tell you how to replace them let alone
how to set up the various guides - there's a plate at the bottom, a
bolt at one side, a smooth bar at the other side and an adjuster that
raises/lowers the engine slightly.
In addition doing a proper, long lasting fix the the idler mechanism
is difficult because the most worn part is a pin (~ 1" diameter) which
is simply welded onto the mower's chassis. Thus the only way I can
see to fix it is to build up some weld on the worn parts and then
carefully grind them back to being approximately round. At present I
have just set it up so I can use end thrust to keep it in position but
it's not a very satisfactory solution.
Any and all ideas and suggestions on how to fix this problem would be
welcome, e.g.:-
Information on how to set up a belt drive like this.
Source of a proper Kubota T1600 workshop manual.
Other ways to build up the shaft part of the idler bearing.
Etc.


My T1600 has a single belt for both pulleys, but I experience very similar
issues.
The problem with my tractor was with the bearings in the Idler were bad.
Once
I finally replaced the pulley all my problems went away.

--

Davesnothere wrote:
replying to tinnews, Davesnothere wrote:
tinnews wrote:

We have a Kubota T1600 diesel ride on mower.
It has worked reliably for many years but has recently begun to eat
drive belts. The drive belts are used to take power from a pair of
pulleys on the front of the crankshaft to the mower deck. There are
two belts in parallel with an idler which is pushed against the belts
by a lever to engage the mower drive.
I'm pretty sure the fundamental problem is wear in the mechanism
through which the lever moves the idler. The idler 'flapped' around
to a significant extent. I have done a temporary fix to minimise the
wobble and to keep the idler 'square' but belts are still failing.
This could be for a number of reasons:-
Using slightly imperfect and badly matched belts (at �50 per pair
one does want to get the most out of them).
The idler may still not be perfectly mounted (but it must have
worked OK for a long time in its 'part worn' state.
I don't know exactly how to set up the various guides that keep
the belts in position.
My problem now is that I can't find any information on how to set up a
belt drive like this, all the owner's manual tells you is how to
tension the belts. It doesn't tell you how to replace them let alone
how to set up the various guides - there's a plate at the bottom, a
bolt at one side, a smooth bar at the other side and an adjuster that
raises/lowers the engine slightly.
In addition doing a proper, long lasting fix the the idler mechanism
is difficult because the most worn part is a pin (~ 1" diameter) which
is simply welded onto the mower's chassis. Thus the only way I can
see to fix it is to build up some weld on the worn parts and then
carefully grind them back to being approximately round. At present I
have just set it up so I can use end thrust to keep it in position but
it's not a very satisfactory solution.
Any and all ideas and suggestions on how to fix this problem would be
welcome, e.g.:-
Information on how to set up a belt drive like this.
Source of a proper Kubota T1600 workshop manual.
Other ways to build up the shaft part of the idler bearing.
Etc.


My T1600 has a single belt for both pulleys, but I experience very similar
issues.
The problem with my tractor was with the bearings in the Idler were bad.
Once
I finally replaced the pulley all my problems went away.

That is a rather old post of mine you're replying to!

My cure is partly what I said above, service the idlers as far as
possible to make them square and use good belts which I have now
managed to source at a not too exorbitant price. The mower is still
churning away quite happily.

--
Chris Green
·