Farmall C Woods Mower, Belt wont stay on the mower!

Hey everyone, got the ol C fired up to start cutting the grass I haven't got to yet this year. It has a Woods L306 mower on it. If I stay in the short grass and don't work it too much the belt will stay on about 10 minutes, if I hit the tall thick stuff it flies right off the pulleys. The belt is fraying and looks old, would that be reason its not staying on? I tightened it up on the rear small pullies as much as I dared to and it seemed to help but not much. The pulleys all look good and it has new blades. Whats making that darn belt fly off?

several usual reasons a belt wont stay on the pulleys, first check the pulley alignment they must be directly lined up with each other, next check the belt guides if one is missing or not close enough to prevent the belt from flying off between it and the pulley it needs to be fixed or adjusted, or another one made or bought, if its missing completly, but the first thing id do is change the belt, if its frayed, it may have a broken cord, if it does, no amount of tinkering will make it stay on, if all this fails to correct the problem, take clear pics of the whole setup from several angels and post them, one of us may be able to spot the trouble,

I've had a Woods Belly Mower on our C for many years and the secret is to keep that belt tight and straight. There is two places to tighten the belt make sure when you lower the mower the belt is in a straight line and tight.
No real secrets other then that. The belt typically lasts 5 years for me but I do abuse the mower once in a while by getting into real tall stuff. I bought it used several years ago and it has proved to be a low maintenance outfit. 3 zerks to grease once in a while and sharpen the blades is about it. Pull one of them 5 foot Swishers behind and you can cut a lot of grass.

I can't remember is your mower a 5 or 6 ft? My IH C came with a 5 and I replaced it with a 6 ft off an IH H.

My 5 ft mower would eat the belts because the bracket attached to the right axle needed support. So, I made a brace out of thread stock to pull the support forward. Did the same with the 6 ft mower except I have braces pulling the deck forward on both sides. What happens is when you bump the mower deck with something it pushed it back enough and loosens the belt. When the belts slips, it damages it. All kinds of rubber is left at the center pulley. I think my replacement belt was over $100 from Case/IH. On the 6 ft deck, I centered mower under tractor and made rollers to prevent belt from vibrating. If your belt starts vibrating like mine did, it may jump off.

I need to post pics to show what I've done. Really don't have a good way to post pics at the moment.

I'm thinking the L306 is the left hand discharge 6 ft mower designed for the IH H and it uses a big pulley attached to the PTO. The 5 ft woods is a right hand discharge and it uses the smaller pulley attached where the flat belt would be attached.

Don't ask me why, both 5 and 6 ft mowers were off set to the right. I had to have mine centered because at the time, I only had a 7 K trailer that wasn't very wide.
George

time for a new "WOODS" belt
once a belt has twisted and rolled then it is done for
buy only the genuine WOODS belt as other belts won't take the twisting
good luck
Ron

I have an L306 under a Farmall H. The belt requires a 1/2 twist on the right side, and a 3/4 twist on the left side. The belt will NOT stay on if not installed properly. I learned it the hard way.

We have the same tractor mower combination, and have never had a problem. If you do not have an operators manual go to Woods website and print one, it's free! We are also running an aftermarket belt we got on Amazon, $50 delivered to the door. I think it's a B225. When you get it on correctly it has to be very tight, most people don't realize how tight a V-belt is supposed to be. Good luck!

The belt is frayed... Replace it before you try anything else.

The belt Will Not Hold/Grip the Pulley and Hold the groove when it is that Worn Larry