In real time, I just realized I have the same condition on the opposite side. I have no idea how I did not see missing hardware. Thank you so much! I was buying belts every other mow. Driving me crazy!
You should do more videos. Especially if T and C get a house you do a lot of work in one day. Never too many “common sense” help vids. This “common sense” stuff is rocket science to most of us.
Thanks Chad! My Raptor has EXACTLY the same issues right down to the broken frame part. Maybe I can weld the piece back on. Now off to do some brain surgery.
Thanks Olivia for commenting on this.....I've about pulled all my hair out trying to hold the shaft while loosening the nut.. Have bought three new open end wrenches so far and none have worked. (3/4,7/8, and 1 inch) Tried vice grips and adjustable wrench as well all to no avail. Hoping I can find a 15/16 open end wrench. Wish me luck and thanks again
I’ve literally had to replace every bracket underneath my hd60 as well as the crossmember. Kawasaki engine is great but crazy how much they skimped on the quality of the brackets and hardware. Will it buy another hustler as it’s literally falling apart with less than 200 hours on it.
Same here.....I was able to buy a "beefed up" versions of all the brackets as well as the cross member...have had them on for 2 years now and knock on wood so far no problems until a couple of days ago when one of the mounting bolts broke which caused the drive belt to pop off and broke one of the blades and having a heck of time getting the pulley nut off.
Thanks! One thing i think that led to my fan hitting my belt was that my transmission (hydro) support bolts were slowly loosening. Either way have to change the fan now.
Thanks Chad. My machine has exactly the same problem. The Raptor has been a piece of $hit machine from the get-go. Brand new machine stopped working two minutes after it arrived, and went back into the shop for a week. Has never mulched properly despite the expensive extra mulching blades. The fans are a design problem. My chassis is also broken in exactly the same place, so I guess that's not an uncommon problem either.
I took a hot knife (putty knife heated with a torch) and trimmed about 1/2" off each blade. No more issues, been running with the trimmed blades for a couple of years.
The fans aren’t the cause for the belt problem it’s the brackets that hold the hydro pumps to the frame they are too thin and break causing the rear end to pull the belts out of alignment on uneven ground and they fly off. Been through that a few times before I beefed up the brackets then no more problems. They make an upgrade kit with thicker brackets but it’s alot cheaper to plate them yourself.
Brackets break,,very common. .. Fan blades distored ,,kick belt off,,edge of pulley cuts belt. Too thin bracket metal.Will fail again if not repaired properly. Look for paint cracking at 90 degree areas, flexing,,fixing to fail,,fan blades hit edges,,tear up.
Broken bracket would of been the first issue followed by the pulley. I've learnt all this first hand after having a hustler 6 months ago. Very annoying design with the weak brackets. Finally getting fixed under warranty on Monday
Great video - love you tube as well - proud viewers put wrench sizes in comments - also like to see if have a link to purchase - thanks for advice on taking fendor off - assume you took the other side off as well?
You can order just the fan...it is a hydro gear 7" 10 blade fan. I have the raptor SD 60" deck and the part number is 53994 (hydro gear part#). I think it is the same for all versions of the Raptors. The broken frame part can be ordered or is carried by your local Hustler dealer. It is less than 10$.
I know this is an old vid, but the broken frame caused your issue. There is tons of posts about it on the web. They do sell a kit to strengthen the frame and motor brackets. No video showing the procedure.
Have the same mower with the same problem, thank you for posting this. Did you have any trouble getting the nut off the top of the pulley? Having a heck of a time trying to loosen it.
John Berg mine came off easily. You can try putting a piece of old belt around the pulley and squeeze the ends together to keep the pulley from turning.
I used a 3/4 box wrench on the nut and a 15/16 wrench to hold the shaft. Turn the 5/16 on the shaft until it rests against the frame, then use a rubber mallet on the 3/4 wrench until it comes loose. It is on there tight!
~~ Where do you think the brain surgeons learn their butchering skills ?? They mite spend years and thou$and$, but the videos are a primary teaching/learning tool -- that, and all the practice they get, operating on us, at our expense.... --