Thanks so much for this!! Saved me time and money. Your detailed video helped me get the belt back on. I think snapping the brake on or off shocked the slack belt off the right idler pulley. Great job man!
Thanks for the video, I could already see myself pushing my mower up the trailer & taking it to get repaired for a few hundred dollars. Saved me time & money.
I posted a year ago about my drive belt slipping. I was able to fix that problem by adjusting the end of the rod that the parking lever moves; it was not allowing the idler pulley arm far to move far enough to tighten the old belt. (Note that it is easier to remove the clip in the rod end on the underside of that idler pulley arm than to remove the cotter pin on the front of the rod in order to turn the end in or out). That old belt recently came off the main drive pulley and somehow also bent down the "keeper" on the right side driven pulley and got up into the right side fan breaking off all the fins. One of the idler pulleys had seized bearings, so I just finished replacing the drive belt, both idler pulleys, and both fans. Your video was again helpful to determine that my "Keepers" at the driven pulleys were mounted the same way yours are and I was able to bend the right side one back up to the top lip of the pulley where it belongs. Something I wish I had was the torque specs for the driven pulley nuts, the idler pulley bolts, and the bolt that holds the PTO clutch on. I ended up using my air driven impact wrench which has four strength settings to tighten these using lower settings for the bolts and the highest setting for the driven pulley/fan nuts which is usually around 80 foot pounds. For Terry Long, it does not take any special tools to change the drive belt, but an impact wrench is a big help. Otherwise you need someone to hold the flywheel nut on the top of the engine while you tighten the bolt that holds the PTO clutch on the bottom. Shame on Sears for not giving any torque values in their video.
Idk what the torque specs on the keepers is but it ain't much broke it left handed with a tore up finger lmao 😂. Was not happy going to try ur idea for raising tension on my drive belt, I've looked everywhere and was questioning my mechanical sense because I see no other way for tension. My question is how could it have gotten so loose in the first place my belt is an oem replacement by part number out of the manual. Either way thanks for the idea. 💡
Thanks for posting this Ken. I have the same mower I bought used and while my drive belt has not come off, it slips climbing steep hills and won't move the mower at all if you try to zero-turn up hill; I have to do all my turns going down hill when mowing back and forth across a 20 degree slope. I'll follow your instructions to check the belt and the idler pulley spring, but I've not found any specs on how to tell if the belt is too worn or if the spring is too weak. I was surprised that none of the videos I've found so far mention whether or not to release the drive lever or even mention the lever itself - even the Sears video does not mention it. Have you found any adjustment on the drive release lever that might affect belt slippage?
Really appreciate this video. I have the same mower. Have you ever replaced the drive belt and if so is the process essentially the same? I read somewhere that it takes special tools & must be done at the dealer.
I'm confused. The section from 5:30-6:30 describes taking off two bolts that will allow the belt to be threaded over the engine pulley past a clip which is used for anti rotation. Taking off those two bolts has nothing to do with moving that clip out of the way. The clip is part of a bracket which is welded to the body and can't be moved out of the way.
Maybe I didn't explain right. There is an anti-rotational bracket that is welded to the frame and prevents the belt from being slipped onto the pulley. The bracket has a tab which fits into a notch on the PTO assembly. How do you get the belt past this tab in the notch?
Thanks so much for this!! Saved me time and money. Your detailed video helped me get the belt back on. I think snapping the brake on or off shocked the slack belt off the right idler pulley. Great job man!
Thanks for the video, I could already see myself pushing my mower up the trailer & taking it to get repaired for a few hundred dollars. Saved me time & money.
I posted a year ago about my drive belt slipping. I was able to fix that problem by adjusting the end of the rod that the parking lever moves; it was not allowing the idler pulley arm far to move far enough to tighten the old belt. (Note that it is easier to remove the clip in the rod end on the underside of that idler pulley arm than to remove the cotter pin on the front of the rod in order to turn the end in or out). That old belt recently came off the main drive pulley and somehow also bent down the "keeper" on the right side driven pulley and got up into the right side fan breaking off all the fins. One of the idler pulleys had seized bearings, so I just finished replacing the drive belt, both idler pulleys, and both fans. Your video was again helpful to determine that my "Keepers" at the driven pulleys were mounted the same way yours are and I was able to bend the right side one back up to the top lip of the pulley where it belongs. Something I wish I had was the torque specs for the driven pulley nuts, the idler pulley bolts, and the bolt that holds the PTO clutch on. I ended up using my air driven impact wrench which has four strength settings to tighten these using lower settings for the bolts and the highest setting for the driven pulley/fan nuts which is usually around 80 foot pounds. For Terry Long, it does not take any special tools to change the drive belt, but an impact wrench is a big help. Otherwise you need someone to hold the flywheel nut on the top of the engine while you tighten the bolt that holds the PTO clutch on the bottom. Shame on Sears for not giving any torque values in their video.
Idk what the torque specs on the keepers is but it ain't much broke it left handed with a tore up finger lmao 😂. Was not happy going to try ur idea for raising tension on my drive belt, I've looked everywhere and was questioning my mechanical sense because I see no other way for tension. My question is how could it have gotten so loose in the first place my belt is an oem replacement by part number out of the manual. Either way thanks for the idea. 💡
Thank you so much for this video. It was very helpful.
Thanks for posting this Ken. I have the same mower I bought used and while my drive belt has not come off, it slips climbing steep hills and won't move the mower at all if you try to zero-turn up hill; I have to do all my turns going down hill when mowing back and forth across a 20 degree slope.
I'll follow your instructions to check the belt and the idler pulley spring, but I've not found any specs on how to tell if the belt is too worn or if the spring is too weak.
I was surprised that none of the videos I've found so far mention whether or not to release the drive lever or even mention the lever itself - even the Sears video does not mention it. Have you found any adjustment on the drive release lever that might affect belt slippage?
Really appreciate this video. I have the same mower. Have you ever replaced the drive belt and if so is the process essentially the same? I read somewhere that it takes special tools & must be done at the dealer.
Terry Long I think the only difference with replacement is you'll have to remove the pto pulley to get the new belt on.
I'm confused. The section from 5:30-6:30 describes taking off two bolts that will allow the belt to be threaded over the engine pulley past a clip which is used for anti rotation. Taking off those two bolts has nothing to do with moving that clip out of the way. The clip is part of a bracket which is welded to the body and can't be moved out of the way.
Maybe I didn't explain right. There is an anti-rotational bracket that is welded to the frame and prevents the belt from being slipped onto the pulley. The bracket has a tab which fits into a notch on the PTO assembly. How do you get the belt past this tab in the notch?