V Belt preferences???

[Matt]

hi y'all, what belts are you putting on your machines?? anyone have any luck with goodyear or dayco?? ive thus far been able to find/use gates(no issues) but seems these brands are comin in cheaper and offshores even less, just dont know if they last as long or anyone havin issues/probs with them?? TIA. matt

[KE4AVB]

These are just my personal experiences...so they may not mean much.

For me most v-belts hold up well as along as they are hp rated which many automobile belts are not. The main problem that I ran into when I first started working on mowers was and still is length and width issues. Mtds have been especially picky about the belt sizes for me. Other than size related issues the only belt issue has been narrowed down just worn out pulleys and idlers. I have also find not all belts are the same width as the original belt and this will change the overall length requirement or cause other problems such clearance issues.

I had only one vendor's aftermarket belts to give me problems which is Rotary which I quit and do my best to stay from after 2 months of problems. This probably just a trust issue now as they may improved. Stens on the other hand has very good OEM spec belts.

As with all belts suppliers you will sometimes; although it rare, get the wrong size in a package. I had this issue once with Gates A86 belts. They were to be 1/2 x 88". I had 5 mowers in a row to burn them up. I was beginning to question my troubleshooting skills and it was getting very expensive quickly. I finally measure the new belt and found that they were only 1/2 x 86". Once I found and put on the correct belt the problems went away. At that time I was just the back up troubleshooter for my brother when he had problems with a mower that he could not fix. I also did not have the experience with belts that I should of had.

[bgsengine]

nothing beats OEM belts. exact size, exact fit.. We stock very very very few of any "standard size" FHP belts Aftermarket belts (oregon, Stens) that are "exact fit oem replacement" seem to work fine and equally as well as the O.E. Belt (Even the material looks to be identical.. starting to suspect many of them are off OEM assembly lines) - Also have found that those same OEM Spec belts are not necessarily cheaper than the OE Belt (In some cases, I can get the OE belt for as much as 2/3 of the cost of aftermarket belt)

[Matt]

i agree that oem replacements are the best but equipment manufacturers dont make belts, they sub them to belt companies. ive had great luck with gates belts over the years but like i said earlier, theres alot of aftermarket(offshore) belts around that "appear" to be well made, just dont know anyone who uses them. seems like small engine shops are getting scarce/non-existant round my parts, most/some equipment is/are throw aways, go get a new one at hd/lowes. so i cant get any good recommendations. maybe ill just stay with the gates. thanks. matt

[KE4AVB]

Matt,

If you work as many mower some us do you will sooner or later learn that even though the v-belt are made by outside belt manufactures they still need to made to specific specs for the equipment manufacture and not just something off the shelf. As said before there are clearance issues and some tension issues too with off the shelf belts. Also you need to be using fhp (Fractional Horse Power) belts which are quiet different than those automobile belts.

I do use a lot aftermarket belts but I make sure they are to the equipment manufactures specs. If I didn't nearly every MTD based mower would come back at me. They did when I first start repairing mowers and it took me some time find which of my suppliers provide the correct aftermarket belts. I don't have a single supplier that can provide all my belt needs at reasonable cost. I currently have at least 5 different suppliers that pull from just meet my belt needs.

It is the same with parts no single supplier can provide all your needs. Here is an example. I currently am needing a cylinder and piston set for a Husky 51 chainsaw. Husqvarna is wanting nearly 275.00 for it. My main supplier of aftermarket parts wants 80.00 for the same kit. And one of my seldom use suppliers can provide the same aftermarket kit for 58.00 plus and if I can get by a just a piston kit which none my other suppliers can provide I fix the saw for 25.00 in parts.

[Matt]

KE4, for sure, ive always been able to obtain gates belts, fhp's, they are well constructed and never had an issue. i was just curious as to other manufacturers belts quality/price?? thanks

[StarTech]

KE4, for sure, ive always been able to obtain gates belts, fhp's, they are well constructed and never had an issue. i was just curious as to other manufacturers belts quality/price?? thanks

In that case I use Stens, Sunbelts, Rotary, Gates, PIX and a few others.

I had nothing trouble with Rotary belts for some reason.

Stens are usually pretty high but well constructed.

Sunbelts are from one my aftermarket suppliers but you need a commercial account with them in order to purchase from them. Prices are very reasonable though.

I don't use Gates much but I can them get thru an online supplier at fairly reasonable cost.

For PIX I use many and I don't much about them.

As with anything I end using multiple resources when acquiring belts my customer needs.

[bgsengine]

We used to have Dealer's Choice, which were re-packaged PIX, which Sunbelt is, as well (usually)

As the Dealer's Choice line is discontinued, we've been using either OEM , or Oregon - Stens has good quality, but as we get much better discounts from our Oregon supplier, we go with them for any belts where we cannot get OEM easily.

But again, as noted as far as quality - We have had comebacks ( somewhat rare) on the Dealers Choice, and one or two on Oregon, and so far, NONE on OEM belts. When your only consideration is price, any old belt can work, but when your business reputation is on the line, OEM is the way to go... IF you value your business reputation, or don't mind being viewed as "the Cheap place"

[Buckshot 1]

I have found that for me it is best to use OEM belts. Especially MTD produced mowers, as after market belts do not seem to ride in the pulleys correctly due too the pitch.

[Mr Mower Man]

It's enjoyable to read your opinions on aftermarket belts. There's a Craftsman riding mower (917.275810) in my shop that gave me a headache today. The deck belt (OEM #144959) was the issue. The customer's original complaint was that it kept throwing the belt off. He threw it away before I got the mower, so I wasn't able to see the condition of the original belt. I got a Rotary aftermarket belt to replace it, and I've been having trouble when I disengage the PTO. Sometimes, it wants to flip the belt over so that the "V" was faces out on the engine pulley. Sometimes the belt comes off the pulley altogether. No belt guards or guides are missing. One thing I've noticed is that it would only do this when the mower deck was in its highest position. When I lowered it one notch, I had no problem at all. I was able to watch the malfunction, and it really looks like the engine pulley (which, when the deck is in the highest position, is quite a bit lower than the flat idler that the belt comes off of previously) wants to grab the belt, because the belt jumps around quite a bit when it gets twisted. The only thing I've been able to do is to move the deck height adjustments so it can't be raised up that high, and it seems to be doing fine now. I really think that an OEM belt would do better. I've just about sworn off aftermarket belts altogether. They're convenient, I get a good deal on most of them, and most of the time they work well, but when there's an issue I'd love to have an OEM belt just to make sure the belt isn't the issue. That's peace of mind, which is worth a lot to me and my customers.