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Prestige 54" deck shaking


joelk

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So I have had this prestige for 3 years, 154 hours on it, 2004 model. It has alway had a shake (whole tractor moves) when PTO engaged. I mowed this way two years and decided I had enough and wanted it to spin smoothly. I read through some posts and the most likely suspect is balancing blades. I made a bearing jig and balanced well, but still the same results. So I spent $76 dollars on new blades, no difference. I replaced a deck pulley that looked slightly bent, no difference. Nothing in the pulley grooves, belts look fine.... What am I missing? I assume that when new, it sits smoothly? Any suggestions?

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I had a very similar situation a few years ago with the 50" deck on my Prestige. I don't recall which belt it was, either the belt that drives the blades or the belt that drives the deck was either stretched or out of balance. Although the belt looked fine, it wasn't.

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Ok 720nut, I feel bad enough about wasting money...

So I will try to watch the belt as it runs and see if either one looks suspect, and then spend some more money. Any other thoughts I am all ears.

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I have the same mower and deck. My blades from local dealer last year were 92$. I believe when I checked on Jacks they were in the 70's$ for a set.

Mine shakes when I engage the deck but not more than any other mower with electric pto I've owned. Once the blades and engine are up to full speed it's smooth.

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What about take up pulley for arbor belt? If that doesn't swing free and easy, it raises heck. I have had a similar problem on smaller decks. When engaged idler pulley bracket is always in some sort of motion.

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Yes, I always run at full throttle. The shake is continuous, not just after engagement.

The idler arm has freshly greased zircs and moves completely free.

One reason I wanted a newer tractor is safety for my kids to mow with, but it makes it hard to troubleshoot as you can't get off the tractor while it is running. I will try to watch the belts carefully when running today and see if I can tell where the problem is coming from.

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I had something similar on my Conquest. The drive belt pulley on the deck is connected via a keyed spacer to the lower pulley that drives the deck belt to the other arbors. The bolt had loosened up on that shaft and spacer was able to jump the keyways and it made a big mess. IIRC this happened when I added my turbo blower which put just enough extra load on the deck belt to make it jump.

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  • 1 month later...
quote:Originally posted by tadams

You say the shake is continuous, do you mean it is there before you engage the deck?


id="quote">
id="quote">There is a good question.
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Maybe try engaging the deck with the blades removed and see if it is sooth. If it is try putting one blade on at a time till the shake starts in and then look further into the suspect arbor setup.

Never actually tried this but just a thought.

Harry

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  • 1 month later...

Use a volt ohm meter and check the resistance on your electric PTO, if it is out of spec, the unit is bad.

I had a couple of years of grief until I discovered the PTO was bad

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I believe for test purposes you can disconnect the safety switch on the seat and you can get off the seat. The tractor will die if you try to move it that way if I remember correctly.

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  • 2 weeks later...
quote:My trouble shooting helper is a concrete block on the seatid="quote">
id="quote">

I prefer a wheel weight myself...............

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  • 4 months later...

SOLVED:

So I went through another mowing season with the shake, and with cold weather on us I tried to troubleshoot one more time before taking the deck off for winter.  I removed the belt that drives the blades, so only the PTO belt engaged and the shake still exists.  I took a close look at the arbor with the two pulleys and it looked straight so that left only the PTO belt.  As others have stated, it looked fine, no cracks, chunks missing etc, but that was the problem.  I got a new OEM belt and it is as smooth as silk.  I was so exited that I put on my winter coat and gloves and gave the leaves one last chop!  So as many of you have suggested, just looking at the belt doesn't always tell the story.  Now the chains are on, the 46" blower, and ready for winter (and next spring).  

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Glad you found the problem. Didn't mean to be to critical about the cost of blades just that I've never paid that much for blades, must be special or unique to this tractor.

Anyway sorry if I offended you

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