PIX Replacement Belt With Kevlar© To FSP Specifications Replaces MTD Cub Cadet Belt 754-04041 954-04041

Dont waste your money! This belt didn't even last 1 Hour and broke.

I have used these belts on my 2004 model Cub Cadet garden tractor. When new these belts are difficult to install for my 75 year old body. However, I have found that if I remove the left rear wheel from the tractor then the lever for the tensioner can be moved farther to the rear of the tractor which causes the tensioner pulley to move toward the front of the tractor which allows me to get the belt on. I have the same issue with OEM belts also. Once the belt is on and the mower has been run for an hour or so, the belt stretches enough that the next time you have to take it off and put it back on removal of the rear tire is not necessary. I purchased 3 belts this time so I will have some spares if I break a belt. The last one lasted 3 years and then broke when it jumped out of one of the front pulleys and tore itself up on the shaft. The tractor has a guard that is supposed to keep that from happening, but it does not always work.

perfect replacement on my Cub Cadet 2042LT tractor.

This is a heavy duty belt that fits my Cub Cadet GT2542 well. Hoping it lasts a good while - but it’s more a design issue with the tractor than the belt itself.

saving it to have for a spare

This belt is made in India, like so many other belts, but the listing says "Pix America" which makes you think it is made in America. I don't like that kind of obfuscation, but I do like this belt! Very high quality and fit my Cub Cadet GT2544 like a glove. The previous belt which I burned up--a Cub Cadet OEM belt at twice the price--lasted about 5 hours of heavy mowing. Having burned up lots of belts, I have some comments and suggestions for you Cub Cadet users.1) the engineers at Cub Cadet ask a lot of their PTO belts because the engines that drive these belts are horizontal shaft engines; horizontal shaft engine means that it is easy to run a solid drive shaft back to the transaxle in a straight line; however it also unfortunately means that to power the mowing deck the belt has to TURN 90 DEGREES on two goofy pulleys at the front of the engine! What is even worse is that this unnatural occult 90 degree turn takes place in a MASSIVELY HOT sandwich between the engine (hot) and the exhaust (EVEN HOTTER!) so the the belt is cooked as it is contorted. If everything otherwise is A-OK, then this cooked turn won't immediately destroy the belt, though heat is a rubber belt's worst enemy. But if everything is NOT OK...2) ...for instance, if your belt is rubbing on something, your overheated cooked bent belt WILL SHRED! So back to those Cub engineers. The clearances for the PTO belt as it turns 90 degrees and heads to the deck are very small, again, an engineering choice/compromise. To give you an example, the reason my most recent belt shredded was that I was mowing very high grass and had the deck lifted to the highest position, position "6". ONLY in that highest position, the overheated cooked belt would rub just a little against the chassis enough to start it fraying, then the fraying would turn to shredding. In position "5" however, the belt would not rub. If you are trashing many belts, try adjusting the setting of your deck and/or looking real hard at the belt path for even the smallest signs of rubbing.3) Those crafty Cub engineers want to protect us, so they insist on putting a reverse mowing safety system in place where you have to reset the control to allow mowing in reverse every time you get on or off the mower. What happens to me all the time is that I forget to reset this control and when I go into reverse the PTO cuts out. IMPORTANT: every time you engage the PTO you drastically shorten belt life! The acceleration/deceleration cycle of PTO on/off puts more wear on the belt than any mowing you do, so minimizing PTO engagements/disengagements will dramatically increase belt life. And, importantly, minimizing PTO engagements will reduce belts slipping off pulleys...4) As I described in 1) above, Cub Cadet PTO belts make an unnatural 90 degree bend. What follows pretty naturally is that when the belt wants to slip off, it often slips off at the pulleys of this 90 degree bend. What is super annoying is that when the belt slips off one of these pulleys THE DECK WILL KEEP MOWING so you often have now idea it has slipped until it burns up! How is this possible? When the PTO belt slips off the pulley, it lands on the pulley axle and there is still enough tension in the belt to ride on that axle with enormous friction until the belt self-destructs through excessive heat. On other mowers, if your belt slips off, your mower deck quits mowing and you just get off and put the belt back on. Once again, the engineers have designed a system whose most likely failure mode is a STEALTH FAILURE that will send you right out of the frying pan and into the fire. To make matters worse, the most probable moment when the belt will jump off the pulley and onto the axle is when you engage the PTO, at which point you are sitting on the tractor and if you lift up your butt the seat switch will shut everything off. So you are locked into a position where you physically CANNOT EVER SEE the STEALTH FAILURE. If it starts smelling like burning rubber, time to jump off and check that belt!5) Another fascinating mode of failure that comes from the problem of excessive heat is heat deformation. A recent belt failure on my Cub Cadet GT 2544 was caused by overheating due to 1) and 2) above but then a massive thunderstorm hit while I was mowing and the temperature of the belt went from boiling hot to freezing cold in a matter of minutes. The super hot semi-melted belt solidified when it cooled very fast and permanently took on the shape of the pulleys! When I took it off, it stood up like a cobra with that 90 degree turn locked into its very being.OK, probably more than you ever wanted to hear about Cub Cadet PTO belts. However, this diatribe only scratches the surface of belt lore in my 47 years of mowing and property management!

good fit, seems to work as good as any

The belt is an exact fit on my Cub Cadet 2544. I only have a few hours on the new belt but so far it is working perfectly.