If you’re looking for a solution to a squeaky belt, then a belt dressing may be your answer. Hearing a high-pitch squeal while working on your lawn becomes annoying very quickly. Belt dressings are great for routine maintenance, but do they potentially hide a problem? Let’s take a closer look at what belt dressings for mowers are and what they do, plus make sure you’re not covering up an issue.
Typical Belt Dressing Ingredients
Belt dressing ingredients are complicated. If you read through the manufacturer’s datasheets, you’ll find two principal items that make up the bulk of the product. The first component is hydrocarbon polymer, a tacky substance you’ll find in adhesives. Then there’s a non-chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent commonly found in sealers. As a result, these two main ingredients within a belt dressing work together to add tackiness and seal the belt.
Is There a Difference Between Belt Dressing and Belt Conditioner?
Not that I can tell. Belt dressings and belt conditioners both use the same chemicals and serve the same purpose. Therefore, it’s a term that manufacturers likely pick between when making products. As a result, what is belt dressing compared to belt conditioner? They’re the same.
What Does Belt Dressing Do – How Does Belt Dressing Work?
With the constant movement and use of deck and drive, belts inevitably become worn. As a result, the wearing down of the belt causes a loss of traction through a glazing process. The shiny appearance, otherwise known as glazing, provides very little in the way of traction on the contact surface.
So, what does a belt dressing do? Well, belt dressing works by improving the traction of a belt. The tacky nature of the dressing gives back the grip the belt needs to grip the pulleys efficiently. In addition, the belt dressing formula adds back flexibility to the belt, resulting in resilience to hardening, cracking, and further glazing.
Why Use Mower Belt Dressing?
Once a belt loses traction, the wearing-down process dramatically speeds up. Every time you hear the belt squeal, it’s asking for help. By using a belt dressing, you are reintroducing traction and giving life back to the belt, and of course, you’ll be stopping the awful noise.
What are the Downsides to Using Belt Dressing?
Belt dressings are sticky, so grass loves to attach itself to a freshly sprayed belt. This can lead to a build-up of grass within the pulley flanges, making the belt increasingly tight.
Not only will grass stick to the belt, but so will dirt. Depending on your location, you could have a high concentration of coarse material such as sand in your lawn. Sand will undoubtedly polish the pulleys, but unfortunately, it will also abrasively wear down the belt.
With added friction of the belt, you may cause additional stress on the lawn mower. Having a little slippage on the belt and pulleys isn’t bad. However, a sudden force is applied to the belt when you engage the blades. This force distributes between the tensioner, belt flexibility, and slippage on pulleys. Increasing the belt friction will reduce this tolerance and produce extra stress.
What Problem Could a Belt Dressing be Hiding
Loss of traction and slipping from the glazing are not the only causes for a squealing belt. This sound can also indicate there is a problem with the lawn mower. For example, the belt could be slipping if you have a misaligned pulley. Additionally, if you have a bad tension spring, there might not be enough tension in the first place to achieve sufficient grip on the pulleys.
How to Use Belt Dressing for Your Mower (7 Steps)
Here are my 7 steps on how to use belt dressing spray on your drive and deck belt. I’ve discovered the hard way that trying to apply belt dressing to a moving belt causes a terrible mess. As a result, these seven steps will limit the mess and give you even coverage.
- Inspect the belt for damage and the correct tension.
- With the lawn mower off, spray the inside of the belt just before a pulley.
- Spay for 2-3 seconds.
- Start the lawn mower.
- Engage the Blades/drive the lawn mower
- Run belts for several minutes to allow the product to distribute evenly.
- Repeat application to ensure complete coverage.
My Best Advice
In my experience, I’ve found it helpful to look at why you would need belt dressing in the first place and what you can do to avoid this or at least reduce it. So here’s my list of a few things to look out for and techniques to use before you apply belt dressing.
- Engage blades at a low RPM
- Gently use the accelerator
- Regularly check the tensioner
- Regularly check the pulleys
- Do not put the mower under stress
- Clean down the lawn mower between uses
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