# Repairing lawn tractor, does this sound right **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898 "2003-06-10T16:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/1 "2003-06-10T16:31:00Z")
I have an MTD riding mower. The belt that drives the pulleys which turn the blades disintigrated. I am getting a new belt. It seems that I will have to remove 4 cotter pins to partially remove the deck from the mower to install the belt. Is there a way to avoid doing this? Also, each pulley has a housing around it that looks like it will have to be removed. Think I can slip the belt around the pulley without doing that? As always I am looking for the easiest way to get something done. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/2 "2003-06-10T17:34:20Z")
I have a Simplicity lawn tractor. I recently rebuilt the mowing deck. (Geeze, what a job.) After reinstalling the deck under the tractor I installed the drive belt. It was the easiest part of the job; I didn’t have to remove any cotter pins or pulleys. You might want to take another look at the situation. If you can take off the old belt without removing anything, then (obviously) you can install the new belt without removing anything. But it does sound like you might have to remove the shrouds around the pulleys. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/3 "2003-06-10T17:43:40Z")
Some mowers use on belt that runs around each blade spindle and then around the drive pulley. Others use a belt that connects the blade spindles, while only one spindle is driven by the engine. Sometimes there is enough clearance to remove and replace the belt without any disassembly, but there is often a belt guard that partly surrounds the pulleys to prevent the belt from jumping off. I’d plan on having to partly disassemble the deck. And check to see if there might be grease fittings on the blade spindles. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/4 "2003-06-10T17:46:59Z")
You should be able to get the new belt around all of the necessary pullies, but one. You will notice that the belt is just too short to reach around the last one! One of the pullies should be spring loaded, meaning you should be able to push, pull or pry it in a direction that will allow you slip the belt over the last pulley. Be very carefule because this is usually a powerful spring, and if you get a finger caught between the belt and the pulley…ouch! The pulley with the spring may also have a detensioner nut. This is a wing-nut that allows you to ease the tension on the spring because the spring is connected to the detensioner. As you loosen the wing-nut, it eases tension on the spring, allowing you to slip the belt over the pulley. Remember to tighten it back after the new belt is on. Let me know how this works. You should not have to remove the deck. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/5 "2003-06-10T17:48:45Z")
As has been said, you should plan to remove the shrouds on the pulleys. They should be easy to remove. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/6 "2003-06-10T18:42:43Z")
The old belt vanished while I was mowing, just broke and disappeared. My perusal of the situation yesterday showed three pulleys in a triangular arrangement. There is the drive pulley toward the front of the mower and then the two blade pulleys, or perhaps they are spindles. Unfortunately, in the middle of this triangle is the mechanism to hold the deck in place, which contains the aforementioned cotter pins. It looks like I can only get the belt on two of the pulleys, then all the crap attaching the deck will get in the way. Once this belt fell off, and I managed to manhandle it back to the power pulley with a screwdriver. None of the pulleys seem spring mounted but I will look for a detensioner nut, maybe I just didn’t know what I should be seeing. The shrouds seem easy enough, three hex bolts each holding them in place. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/7 "2003-06-11T12:02:18Z")
Get some blocking – bricks, maybe, or boards – jack the deck up as far as it’ll go, place the blocking under the deck edges so as to support the deck, and let it down until the blocking supports it and the linkage is ‘loose.’ That should make it easier to pull the pins. Believe it or not, I once worked in the plant where MTD riding mowers were made… many years ago, in Valley City, OH. That makes me an expert, right? ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/8 "2003-06-11T13:42:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TBone2 \* > \*\*Get some blocking – bricks, maybe, or boards – jack the deck up as far as it’ll go, place the blocking under the deck edges so as to support the deck, and let it down until the blocking supports it and the linkage is ‘loose.’ \*\* A friend told me the easiest way is to drain the gas tank and **turn the tractor on its side.** I said that sounded like it might hurt the tractor. He said it would not. What’s the truth? ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repairing-lawn-tractor-does-this-sound-right/180898/9 "2003-06-11T14:17:04Z")
Thanks for all the advice. It was actually easier than that. At first I thought I could slip the belt around the deck from below, but that didn’t work. I lowered the belt as far as it would go, removed the blade spindle shrouds, took out the cotter pins, fed in the belt, replaced the cotter pins (only had to nudge up the deck about 1/2 inch to do it). The hardest part was figuring out how to get the belt around the last spindle. There was no detensioning bolt. Turns out that by moving the deck into the park position gave plenty of slack and the sucker just slipped on. Took about 30 minutes total.