Riding Mower Repair

.....Mower deck belt replacement.....

When I was looking to buy a riding mower, several people told me that I had better learn to fix things myself or else plan on spending a lot of money at a repair shop. I took their first suggestion. I've only owned the mower one year but I've already replaced a spindle, mandrel pulley, changed oil and filters, repaired a tire, and generally kept things aligned and clean. Now the mower deck belt broke, so it's my next repair job. 

I had thought myself clever by buying a belt in advance when I had purchased the spindle. But alas, I was ignorant of the mower parts. What I purchased was the engine drive belt. I discovered my mistake when trying to install it on the mower deck. Drats, too short.,....something's wrong. An investigation quickly revealed my error. But hey, I might need that belt anyway and it's good to keep one on hand. So on my trip to Hilo I stopped at Sears and bought two mower deck belts, one for now and a reserve. Since I wasn't 100% sure of the part number, I opted to buy them at Sears. The price actually wasn't bad because I got to use my Sears points I had acquired when I originally bought the mower. 

(The right belt this time!)

Now to do the task....install the new belt. First of all, how does the belt go? No problem. Didn't even have to look at a manual. The diagram was right on the mower deck. I guess that's there for mower owners like me who haven't a clue.

 Looking back and forth between the diagram and the actual mower, it was really easy to figure it out. I didn't even have to drop the deck to get the belt into place. Just loop it around the various pulleys and belt keepers. The hardest part was getting up off the ground afterward. 

(Not a great photo but the space is really tight.) 

I opted not to go to the hassle of dropping the mower deck off of the tractor. Even though the space was right, I didn't have much of a problem treading the new belt into the appropriate spots. 

With the mower back in business I took the opportunity to get a bit of mowing done. The grass has been growing like crazy with all the rain lately, so the mowing had to go slowly. I actually went over the areas three times, bringing the deck a notch lower with each pass. Within two hours I had accumulated 4 jumbo piles of grass clippings. Quite a haul! Then it began raining. Sigh. 

The mower is back in the barn again awaiting another morning of no rain. And that might be days from now. I've got a couple more hours of mowing ahead of me just to catch up with the grass. But this will give me plenty of clippings for mulching, just what I desperately need down at the seed farm.