Hustler Mower Throwing Drive Belts? PERMANENT fix shown here
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- This Hustler Raptor SD 54" kept throwing drive belts. In this vid we dive into what happened, why it is happening, and the solution I came up with to both fix the problem and permanently keep it from happening again.
Here are some links to save you time. Most of these are affiliate links so if you end up buying I will earn a small commission. Thanks for your support!
I didn't use these, but would be a good option if you can't weld to repair the bracket like I did. It looks like there are some aftermarket brackets available that are thicker than the factory ones (make sure you find the right one for YOUR mower): amzn.to/3JTXI2e
If you do decide to go the route I did, here are links to tools and parts to do it:
Norton 4.5" grinder flap disk: amzn.to/3pIs0y9
Carbide burr bit set: amzn.to/3pTqxVA
Grizzly radial arm drill press: amzn.to/3NNq1AI
5" cross slide drill press vice: amzn.to/3pLYhEp
Quick clamps (for squeezing/spreading): amzn.to/3riMxto
Inkzall (the BEST shop markers I have ever used): amzn.to/44Ejdft
5/16-18 x 3" Grade 8 bolts (10 pack): amzn.to/46JZxIU
5/16-18 coarse thread nut/washer assortment: amzn.to/3Oc8HXk
Raptor SD Hydraulic Transaxle filters (qty 2): amzn.to/44nkbwW
20w-50 Full Synthetic Hydro-Static Transmission Oil: amzn.to/3pLaMA9
Hydro-Gear Transaxle Air-Purge Process: • Hydro-Gear Transaxle A...
This is the way I did it, I would love to hear your feedback on what has worked for you in your shop. Hope you get some ideas!
Check out our site at www.DIYMetalFa... and store at www.CreativeEn...
Hustler offers a frame bracket kit for this issue. The older models, (which I own) have very flimsy brackets on them. I ordered the kit, available on amazon or from hustler, and installed it. Mower has not thrown a belt since replacement.
Thanks for posting. I was wondering how the bracket kits held up, glad to hear they work well!
I have links in the video description for one of these kits. Looks like the kit needed varies based on which mower it is.
Nah they break to looks like this one already had the thicker upgrade.The most important thing is to keep all bolts tight and double nut the rear ones.
I pick up scrap bed frame angle and use it for all kinds of repairs.Great video bro!
Thanks!
Bed frames are an awesome source of free angle iron. I do the same thing when I come across them.
The "improved" design is still shit. I've been welding my broken brackets all summer. POS
I wonder how people drive their raptors. I have a raptor SD, known for breaking/bending the trans mounts. Mine lasted 400 hours...hours i put on in 2.5 seasons as i use it for commercial use. That means it gets trailered, drives on/off trailer and is used on a few dozen different lawns, most not flat. But a lot of people use these mowers for their own lawn and have the brackets fail in less than 250 hours. Same for the bolts backing out, ive never had that happen on mine. There is an updated bracket kit, which has a thicker side plate along with a backing plate. I do kind of like the idea of tying in the 2 rear mount bolts.
The raptor in the video was bought new by my neighbor and only used in her personal 1 acre yard; it has around 500 hrs.
Before she brought it to me she had already had the bolts back out twice and as shown in the video one of the mounts was ripping apart.
I use mine like you do and you still need to keep an eye on the bolts plus had a front upper mount crack twice
I mow a fairly flat yard and in 75 hours all mounts broke and 1 bad drive. I am 55 years old and drive easily took 2 1/2 months for rural king to get fixed, I also got model that deck was not primed so paint came off in sheets. Rk wanted to do nothing, hustler made them fix it all. I will buy another hustler but nothing more from rk after 40 years of buying mowers there.
My SD broke 2 bolts and bent the mounting brackets. Bought the bracket kit (upgraded thicker brackets) which should be free, somebody under engineered these parts at the factory at your expense. My last Hustler purchase. My 20 year old John Deere has given me less trouble
For sure. The mower in the vid is my neighbors Raptor, and it has the same hours and is about the same age as my Deere z425. I have had almost no issues with my Deere other than regular maintenance parts and a clogged up carb once. Hers has had a new transmission on one side and multiple service calls, loose bolts, sloppy handles, etc. I will say the hustler with the fabricated deck does mow nicely though.
I have 100 hrs on the new design. It broke the 1st time before 90 hrs. Flimsy shit.
I also have one of these fine pieces of s**t! They paid to fix it with all the brackets and some type of stiffener for the other belt or something which I paid for while they had it apart. It stopped today and found that the drive belt idler screw is wobbling. Which is under the motor, best I can tell. So I tightened the nut to jam the idler arm tight. Then, I got the belt back on. I will have to get it up in the air and figure out what is going on with the bolt. Anyway, I still feel this mower frame flex all over the place when mowing. They will fail again. I am certain. Hustler should have a class action law suite thrown at them for this engineering disaster! Let's get it going!
Preach it!
I have a Deere Z425 myself and the difference between it and this Hustler is pretty big. My Deere has a square tube frame and doesn't flex at all. This hustler with it's C channel frame feels like riding a magic carpet over the grass as the frame flexes 😆 (not in a good way). It is also really slow and both transmissions leak despite tightening and checking everything last time I looked at it...
Let us know how your fix holds up!
. I have Problem with my hustler.The driving Belt is always throwed off. I have check everything
Probably needs some additional bracing. Try out the bracket in the video if you can and let us know how it goes!
I put an extra washer on the tensioner
Thx. I have fix the mower
Mine is in the shop right now and Hustler sent the new brackets for free. Front and back were split.
What year is yours?
Was it still under warranty or did they do it under some kind of good will?
Thank you for making this! Very nice video! I hope your solution solves my problem.
Thanks, let us know how it goes!
They built a cheap bracket and to light weight 😢😢😢
For sure. Did you get yours fixed yet?
They make an upgraded bracket kit to replace the old junk parts. All of them. The side brackets bend and the front and back ones crack or completely break.
You definitely can buy the upgraded brackets, but even they might not be a permanent fix. There were some comments on this vid from about 5 months ago saying they were having issues even with the upgraded brackets.
Try them out and let us know how it goes!
I’ve put on several and so far no complaints 😊
There have been many upgrades for this mower. First almost all of the brackets have been replaced with upgraded thicker parts, the tall free standing idler pulley mount has been upgraded with a thick washer and longer bolt as the deck bends there with no support. The brackets you welded will only fail again as the metal is not strong enough. Also, a great upgrade is adding zerk fittings to the blade mounts as those bearing fail constantly from heat.
Might put a plate over it for added support 😮. Just thinking about it
It’s definitely a faulty design, hustler went way to cheap on the frame and brackets
I have a 60’’ and that one is extra sensitive to any uneven surfaces
Agreed. That is exactly when the belt would pop off for my neighbor, anytime she got close to the ditches.
Cub cadet are a much better machine 😊
Good job, but grade 8-24 fine threads are a bit stronger because of less material removed during the threading process.
I hear ya there, and you are likely right, but I hate fine thread in situations where they get dirty. Seems like they pack up with dirt or corrode, and then when removed, they strip out or crossthread.
I had this mower back in my shop fixing something else on it yesterday, and the bolts were still holding strong so far 💪
I have a 2018 Hustler with the same problem throwing drive belt. I just went and looked and the bolt was missing on the left side will repair with bracket. Thanks for the information
Glad I could help! Let us know how it goes.
19,000 views is really saying something about our MF mowers . I’ll never buy another Hustler . I was talking about upgrading to the fastrak next year but I have changed my mind .
For sure. They really failed on this design. I never thought this vid would get so much traction. The mower in the vid is my neighbors and she would happily set this thing on fire and roll it down a hill.
I think I got most of the issues fixed at this point. Just replaced both steering pivot points a couple weeks ago because the handles were sloppy and hitting each other.
Let us know how your fix goes!
@@diymetalfabrication I will ! I explained in another comment that I already had the upgraded front cross member , I paid for out of pocket , after the original failed . Now this !
I’m Keen to see how a drive belt is changed ……I changed my cutting belt first time I’ve broke one 60hrs in was a piece of cake to change that.
The drive belt isn't bad. Would be easy if the rest of the mower around it held together and we didn't have to fix these brackets while we are at it 😅
Ahh man thank you! I’ve been farting around with this belt issue for a few days now. My bolt backed out. Wild they installed them in such a way that if the nut comes off the bolt falls out the bottom. I’ll be turning those around. You’re the man!
Thanks! Let us know how it goes.
I had the exact same problem with my 2017 Hustler Raptor SD... Thank you for the fix idea... I just welded mine and built the extra bracket...
Awesome! Glad I could help.
Let us know how it works out!
Thanks Brother, found the exact problem.
Glad it worked for you! Let us know how it goes.
Thank you so much for this video it really did help me a bunch for real 🙏🙏😉
Glad it helped! Let us know how the repair holds up long term.
My drive belt jumped off and after a lil inspection i noticved the tensioner pulley arm had a lot of play in it. Tightened down the arm and its been ok since then. 🤞
Hope that works for you, good luck! 🤞
If it keeps jumping off after that, the next steps are to thoroughly check the bolts and brackets on the pumps/transmissions for looseness or cracking.
@@diymetalfabrication Yeah, i have inspected these since watching a few videos on that. They are ok so far, but I have a good idea what to do if I ever have an issue. Thanks! :)
Excellent video, well explained and thoughtfully planned out. Just threw my drive belt, had other issues in the past. Great idea for a rear stiffener bar. I'll probably put that idea to use before the end of this mowing season. Mower has 1100+ hours...still runs well, just these little(rather frustrating issues).
Nice, congrats on making it to 1100 hrs.
Have you had to replace the handle bar pivots yet? I just got those delivered for this same unit and will be putting them on here soon. Might make a vid about it. The handle bars are sloppy and knock against each other while steering.
@diymetalfabrication it's my father-in-laws mower. Most everything we've had to do to it revolves around the hydro system, and the deck pulleys.
I done mine works great thanks man.
Glad I could help! Let us know how it goes long term.
Is the issues only with the SD? I have a raptor XD no problems yet, mind you it’s only done 33 hrs
Not sure. If yours is that new, they might have fixed it by now. You could take a look at mine in the video and compare it to yours, see if it looks different now.
@@diymetalfabrication I just had a look at mine and where yours is torn that little gap mine is one solid bracket and if I wanted to I couldn’t put a bar across the back like you have as the pulley comes out to Far at the back and would be in the way .
My Raptor Limited has the same problems but I use it in my lawn business so it has lots of hours. Broke the first bracket at about 250 hours and it's pretty much a regular occurrence now. I've welded all of them and finally added stiffeners to the side L brackets.
What about the plastic tensioner passive pulley??
Not sure what you are asking here.
I didn't discover any issues with the pulleys themselves, the issue is when the frame flexes and the pulleys get misaligned with each other.
Drive belt part 604491
Hi, not sure if you can help but I’m at wits end as well. Replaced the drive belt after it broke off, and my mower still won’t move. Hustler raptor 60”. After watching your vid I noticed I’m also missing one of the transmission bolts. I plan to replace that as well but can’t figure out for the life of me why it still won’t go after putting the new belt on 😢
All the bolts on the transmissions need checked, tightened, or replaced if needed. This is the #1 cause of the belt slipping off. When the transmissions are loose, everything can flex around and get misaligned.
Here are some basic things to check:
Is the belt routed correctly?
Did you check the fluid level for the transmissions?
With the back end up on jack stands or blocks, will the tires spin if you start it and try forward and reverse?
If they spin while off the ground but not with weight on them, then likely they are low on fluid and/or need to go through the bleeding process to get air out of the transmissions (plenty of vids on youtube about this). Hope this helps.
@@diymetalfabrication I checked last night after making this comment and I had the belt routed incorrectly. Thank you for the response. I am going to work on the transmission bolt today. Is there a part number for it? Or can I get any similar bolt at Lowes etc?
A similar bolt from the hardware store works. Take the other side off that is still there to take to the store to use as a guide (I think I also covered the bolt sizes in the video). I would replace bolts on both sides while you are at it even though the one was still there. I highly suggest getting grade 8 bolts with washers and locknuts or lock washers and double the nuts as I mentioned in the video. These see a lot of vibration and doubling up the nuts will help them stay on.
@@diymetalfabrication thank you so much for the assistance! I am not mechanically inclined at all, I got this mower a couple weeks ago and the drive belt broke in the first 10 minutes I used it. I was about to pay someone to do it but decided to grow a pair and do it myself, and so glad I came across your video otherwise I would’ve never known that bolt was missing.
Something else to look at is the spring on the outside of the hydro-pump. Just threw a belt on my 60" and when i put it back on, it would only drive the right wheel. Got to looking and noticed the spring on the left side was gone.
Great video!
Thanks!
Hi, is there anywhere locally where you'd recommend buying the drive belt that doesn't cost an arm and leg? Thanks for all of your videos! ❤
These parts can get expensive. Looking around, it appears to be part 607400 for the drive belt if you have a Hustler SD 54". Here is a link to the OEM belt on Amazon currently around $25 amzn.to/4arWo2r
You can get a little discount by going with the no name import brands on Amazon, but im not sure it is worth the risk to save $5. Let us know how it goes!
Shout out from Olathe!
👋
Still working?
So far so good! It is my neighbors mower so I will be the first to hear and have to tow it back to the shop if it fails. She has some pretty steep ditches so this machine gets a workout regularly.
I use mine for a bush hog
Always keep the pump brackets snugged up.Ive cracked the upgraded parts as well.HF welder saved your butt with this mower.
Yep, gotta check them often.
@@diymetalfabrication Amen. Every time I change the oil it gets snugged up.