What's the difference in the 4.5" & 6" pto drives

[jcondon]

I'm going to go to the newer 54" deck and those machines all have 6" pto's.My cub uses the 4.5" pto.Will this work or does this deck need the 6"
pto to work right

 

[jchamberlin]

Jim: I believe the deck pulleys interchange, or at least I hope they do, because I bought a 6" deck pulley to match my 6" PTO. It is recommended that the size of the PTO and deck pulley match in order not to over- or under-drive the deck. Blade speed will be affected, and, if over-driven, the bearings will experience more wear. Finding the proper belt to fit can also be a challenge. However, if you want to live dangerously, try matching a 6" PTO up to a 4.5" deck pulley to speed up those blades!

Seriously, it sounds like your PTO is 4-1/2" and the deck you're looking at has a 6" pulley, I would swap the pulley on the deck for a 4-1/2" version and use the same belt --you should be good to go.

One final thought, the 6" and 4-1/2" pulleys I'm talking about are for the 82 series (and later) tractors which use the 5/8" wide belts. If you're talking about fitting a 54" deck to a Quiet Line or earlier Cub Cadet which uses the 3/8" drive belt, then you would need to use the 4-1/2" "speedup" pulley designed for the "A" decks which still interchanges with the 82 series "C" decks (and later, I presume).

Good luck.

 

[sblunier]

I have the exact same set up...54" off of later model on 82 series. Use the center deck pulley off of a 50C or 44C deck and all will be well.

4.5" PTO driving a 6" deck will result in terrible performance (slow deck blades).

BTW,

I have 2 54" decks, on under my 782 and one on my ZTR.......they are one of Cub Cadets crown jewels......they are very nice cutting and high capacity decks!!!!

 

[bjamison]

Never seen one of these 54 inch decks - anyone have a pic they could post?

Would one of theses 54 inch decks fit under a 1x8/9 or QL series tractor? Sounds interesting.

 

[sblunier]

GT-54 on my 1872....