old SxS help Kawasaki KAF540

[lksmith]

Good morning,
I have a 1990-ish Kawasaki Mule 2010 (KAF540) it's in really good shape mechanically and pretty good cosmetically.
Only problem I have is that the pulleys/sheaves where the drive belt rides are glazed and mirror smooth. Causing me some issued with belt slippage.
Those parts are near unobtainium and very pricey if you can find them. Other than that they are perfect. The belt rides high in the grooves which tell me the sheaves themselves are not work.
Any tips on roughening them up with out screwing them up? Was thinking of hitting them with a wire wheel on the grinder or something like that. Not really taking any material off just roughening it up.

[rancher1913]

use belt dressing. may need to reapply as needed.

[lksmith]

use belt dressing. may need to reapply as needed.

I don't like using that stuff if I can avoid it, since it degrades the belts when it makes them soft and sticky dirt magnets

[cwtebay]

Good morning,
I have a 1990-ish Kawasaki Mule 2010 (KAF540) it's in really good shape mechanically and pretty good cosmetically.
Only problem I have is that the pulleys/sheaves where the drive belt rides are glazed and mirror smooth. Causing me some issued with belt slippage.
Those parts are near unobtainium and very pricey if you can find them. Other than that they are perfect. The belt rides high in the grooves which tell me the sheaves themselves are not work.
Any tips on roughening them up with out screwing them up? Was thinking of hitting them with a wire wheel on the grinder or something like that. Not really taking any material off just roughening it up.Having recently gone through this, there are a ton of reasons that your belt will slip other than worn pulley. I got lucky and hadn't changed the drive belt when I changed the tire diameter. Have you replaced the belt lately?

"1990 Kawasaki KAF540 Mule 2020 Drive Belts & Pulleys - POWERSPORTSiD.com" https://www.powersportsid.com/1990-kawasaki-kaf540-mule-2020-drive-belts-pulleys/



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[lksmith]

Belt is new. Changed it shortly after buying it since I was feeling some slippage. No more than 100 miles if that on the belt

[cwtebay]

I texted a client who owns a toy mechanic shop, he sent me this website.
He said that polishing of the groove can be an issue, but is only one of many and can generally be overcome by getting a tighter / larger diameter belt.
He also mentioned that the pulley on your Mule is likely not model specific if it needs replacing.

"Slippage of the belt in belt drives - tec-science" https://www.tec-science.com/mechanical-power-transmission/belt-drive/slippage/

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[farmbif]

most of those drive systems are about like comet torque converters the only differences are in dimensions, pulley diameters, shaft hole sizes and spring tension
if its polished shines maybe try a bit of 100 grit sandpaper. or email comet clutch and ask them for advice

[edp2k]

Most ATV repair manuals say to use 400 grit emory cloth to de-glaze the pulley faces.

[SeabeeMan]

As edp2k said, I've always seen emery cloth to take the shine off pulleys. Can't remember every seeing a specific grit, but finer grit is better. I'm not familiar with those systems at all, but I do know about finding pulleys for expensive replacements from my other hobby of old Simplicity garden tractors. Diameter, hole size, and belt width are about all you typically need to find a suitable pulley. Even offset which may have been built into one side of the pulley can be replicated with the appropriate spacer.

[lksmith]

I tried the 100grit a while back, let it idle while I held the sanding block on it, and it did "ok" for a little bit. Didn't take long to smooth back out and start slipping again. I'm guessing that it didn't cut deep enough to really break the glaze. This time I tried wire brush on my die grinder, drove it across the yard and the main scratches polished out but still appears to have enough roughness. Certainly had less slippage than before.
Strangely, I never saw any sparks while grinding. I thought they were steel, but steel has always sparked when I put a brush on it with a grinder.