Joined
·
1 Posts
I mounted a JD 44” snowblower attachment on to my X350 JD lawn tractor. Both are brand new. I threw the belt twice on my first attempt to use it. The first time was simple… it came off the PTO pulley (engine) so I put it back on. The second time the belt disengaged it came off the large pulley at the front of the blower. How it got past the belt guard was perplexing until I examined the guard and noticed the guard acted like a razor blade. I noticed a buildup of belt material on the guard, a very fine, almost powder consistency. (This took only the amount of time it took to clear 2 driveways, double wide about 25 yards each and about 50 yards of sidewalk.) It had skinned the belt down to a size that allowed it to sneak past the guard and come off the pulley. I wasn’t re-attaching the belt back on this go-around! It was back to the JD dealer. The dealer diagnosed the issue and assumed I had replaced the belt and threaded the replacement incorrectly. But that was not the case… it was the original belt that came on the blower new, already threaded correctly. It was then that I determined the problem occurred each time when I had lifted the blower without disengaging the PTO. The angle of the belt changed from a straight, level path, to one that created an upward angle when the blower was raised. And that bend in the travel path caused the belt to try and slip off the forward-most pulley, with the guard the only thing preventing it… until the guard had removed enough material, reducing the thickness of the belt, allowing the belt to escape between the guard and pulley. A discussion ensued with the manager of the repair shop and it was determined the warrenty had not been violated so the repair was covered (as there was no notation or warning about DISENGAGING the PTO BEFORE RAISING THE BLOWER). But going forward, I will be sure to disengage the PTO BEFORE raising the blower.
We surmised the excessive belt wear was not a problem as long as the blower was used on level ground, without the blower experiencing traveling over terrain that pitched up, causing the angle of the blower to increase. But this raised the question of how to clear snow from a driveway street cut, where the driveway pitches up from the road, and again after the sidewalk if the driveway continued on an incline. It meant the blower would rise to the angle necessary as it worked its way into an inclined driveway! I should note when the blower is raised, it only comes up 2” off a level surface. The instructions say to expect about 5 inches but it seems general consensus shared by others with the same blower and tractor are that is not realistic, about 2-3” will be all one can expect.
Another consideration could be how the belt was fed from the blower to the tractor’s PTO… it did not appear that it needed to be fed above or below certain cross member pieces of the tractor while the blower was resting on the level garage floor when it was attached to the PTO pulley, but maybe it should have taken a different route to the PTO pulley, where it would not create additional tension if it was rubbing against a cross-member? I don’t know… I will wait until the shop gives it back to me and take a picture of (what they believe is) the proper routing, to refer to for next years snow season when I swap out the mower deck for the blower once again!
I suggested JD should be made aware of our findings so they could include a note or warning in their operating instructions that the PTO should be disengaged before raising the blower but the tech said their experience with that type of feedback was not well received by JD. He further emphasized this with animating pounding his head against the wall. So much for customer feedback!
We surmised the excessive belt wear was not a problem as long as the blower was used on level ground, without the blower experiencing traveling over terrain that pitched up, causing the angle of the blower to increase. But this raised the question of how to clear snow from a driveway street cut, where the driveway pitches up from the road, and again after the sidewalk if the driveway continued on an incline. It meant the blower would rise to the angle necessary as it worked its way into an inclined driveway! I should note when the blower is raised, it only comes up 2” off a level surface. The instructions say to expect about 5 inches but it seems general consensus shared by others with the same blower and tractor are that is not realistic, about 2-3” will be all one can expect.
Another consideration could be how the belt was fed from the blower to the tractor’s PTO… it did not appear that it needed to be fed above or below certain cross member pieces of the tractor while the blower was resting on the level garage floor when it was attached to the PTO pulley, but maybe it should have taken a different route to the PTO pulley, where it would not create additional tension if it was rubbing against a cross-member? I don’t know… I will wait until the shop gives it back to me and take a picture of (what they believe is) the proper routing, to refer to for next years snow season when I swap out the mower deck for the blower once again!
I suggested JD should be made aware of our findings so they could include a note or warning in their operating instructions that the PTO should be disengaged before raising the blower but the tech said their experience with that type of feedback was not well received by JD. He further emphasized this with animating pounding his head against the wall. So much for customer feedback!
