Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeMowersMid-mount mower deckDeere 54D/60D Mid Mount Mower Belt Replacement

Deere 54D/60D Mid Mount Mower Belt Replacement

While mowing down our corn stalks last year, I had the brilliant idea of “backing up” over the stalks that I had just mowed over to help get them cut.    This quickly resulted in one of the stiff corn-stalks pushing the belt off the pulley.  By the time the smoke and smell had alerted me to my error, I had essentially destroyed the belt.  At that time, I decided I would put the belt back on, finish the job, and see how long it lasted.

It finally failed the other day while Christy was mowing.      I suppose I could have tried to blame her some way.  In fact, watching this video, I think you can see that she was prepared to take the blame.  …but I don’t work that way.  So, I ‘fessed up!

You can choose whether you want to watch the video before or after you read the rest of this post.  I’m placing it here (near the top) for easy access, but it might be most effective to read the post first.

First, I ordered the belt from Green Farm Parts.  Here are the links to the 54D and 60D belts:

Add 54D Belt to your Cart

Add 60D Belt to your Cart

Without really thinking about it, I assumed replacing the belt would be trivial. On smaller mowers, the belt usually needs to be removed to attach and remove the deck, so it is relatively easy to access. However, I deeper look at the 54D/60D deck made it clear that some wrenches were needed. Don’t be concerned, it is not a difficult job, but it is not trivial either.

The instruction manual for the 54D/60D deck can be found here.  For the section specifically related to servicing the mower belt, click here.   These instructions are accurate, and should provide sufficient guidance to replace the belt.  However, nothing is better than a video (at least in our opinion)!

Before we even got started, we realized that the mower didn’t smell very good.  Grass from the spring mowing season was all caked up under the deck, and it was, well, not so pleasant.  So, we decided to use the power washer to remove that unpleasantness!    During this process, we learned that the Gator blades we installed last fall really aren’t working so well with the mulch kit.

Check out this post and video to see details on the mulch specific blades.

GearWrench



In this video, we use a “GearWrench”, and discuss the two common types of gear wrenches available. As we mention in the video, both types are useful in certain situations. I’ll include links to both types here. I highly recommend getting a set of GearWrenches (maybe both the angled AND the straight ones). They are VERY handy.

The Amazon link to the left (if you don’t see it, disable any ad-blockers you have enabled) shows one of the angled sets. The link to the right shows the straight style.

Lock-n-Lube



Also, near the end of the video, we grease the mower deck. As we’ve done before, we use the Lock-n’Lube product.  This thing is amazing, and makes greasing MUCH easier.   It is rare for us to find a product which totally transforms a task like greasing.  However, the Lock-n-Lube does just that.   Once you get one of these, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.  The link to the left is the standard Lock-n-Lube.

We also discuss the new Lock-N-Lube XL which is longer than the standard Lock-N-Lube.  The team at Lock-N-Lube sent us one of these recently, so we’ll show it to you in an upcoming video.  This version would be useful in certain situations where the handle of the original Lock-n-Lube would be in the way. We’ll demonstrate this on a future video. Meanwhile, it functions exactly like the original Lock-n-Lube other than being longer. Use the link to the right to order.

Tim Marks
Tim Marks
Compact Tractor Lover. Rural Lifestyle Enthusiast. Tractor Time with Tim on YouTube. Married to Christy for over 31 years. We love showing tractors, attachments, maintenance, storage ideas, and our daily activities around our 10 acre property. We also do some contract tractor work, and significant amount of charity projects.

16 COMMENTS

  1. Eric here again… I also have the lock and lube and the gear wrenches…they have made “life” easier and I like easy. Check out flail mowers and 12 volt Milwaukee grease guns. Video comment…Don’t fight that spring…it wants to hurt you…walk the belt off one of the side pulleys first then lastly walk it back on with the tensioner stuff already done…maybe. Thanks for the videos.

  2. Loctite on those nuts you said had glue on them? Or were they nylock nuts too? Prevent them from vibrating loose. Blue stuff. Not red. Red will be damn near permanent. Don’t use anything if they are nylocks.

  3. […] I do appreciate it Ilmo. Here is the link. It is an amazon link, in the lower right of this page:Deere 54D/60D Mid Mount Mower Belt Replacement – Tractor Time with Tim If you have ad-blockers enabled, you won't see […]

  4. Trying to figure out how to get a hold of you to ask you a question about the 60D. It takes me a good hour to get it onto my 1025 – constant problem lining up PTO auto-mount. Whenever I take off mower deck, it ends up breaking mount bracket rod on back of mower deck and I have to buy a new one for $25. Any suggestions, or do I have a lemon mower deck

    • Mike, it is very likely an auto-connect adjustment issue. The adjustment is a bit finicky. If your tractor is still under warranty, your dealer should be able to help you adjust it. On the other hand, you need to learn how in case it needs adjustment in the future. There is a good thread of discussion on this at http://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/content/142-1026r-1023e-series-mower-setup-adjustment.html

      There are many aspects to the adjustment, and I am not an expert at it. So, I recommend reading (and following) this tutorial.
      Once adjusted properly, the auto-connect deck is amazing!

    • Tim, I’ve watched a LOT of your videos. Nice info for all of your equipment. I know you have the 1025R and 2038R. My question is for your tractor and deck size. I’ve got an X585 with a 62′ deck. I’d like to step up to a bigger tractor with a bucket. The 1025R can carry a 60″ where the 2038R can cary a 72″ deck. Is the extra 12″ deck size work the bigger tractor size? I also use mine now for snowblower work with a 47″ .

      Thanks for all of your info.
      Dave

      • David, that is a difficult question to answer.
        The 2038r is definitely a lot more tractor than the 1025r. But then again, you will see the 1025r as quite a step up from a 585…at least in versatility.
        Is your 585 still doing a good job as your mower? If so, consider adding a loader tractor without a mower deck. The decks are crazy expensive for these little tractors.

  5. I’m going to remind myself not to abuse my mower so I don’t have to go through this belt change. Not saying you abused your mower deck Tim. Those belts can last for 20 years and more. My JD 425 has the original belt and I got that mower 21 years ago.

    • I did abuse it. no question. …but with limited downside risk…the belt is about the worst damage that could have happened. There was essentially no other risk to the mower.

    • I have not tried a pull-behind mower.
      I actually think a pull-behind brush cutter would work better than the 3 point version. The limiting factor is that there are no rear hydraulic outlets.

      I have seen some photos of folks online pulling a finishing mower ‘offset’ to the left or right to speed up their lawn mowing chores. That seems to be a bit of a hack to me.

      I’m thinking I need a new Johnny. Bobby keeps saying that you want my current Johnny!

  6. In your belt replacement for 1025R deck the belt slipped under the tension pulley, I can not get it to go under pulley wheel. Please help. I don’t want to remove whole assembly.

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