Mule Drive Tension Question

[dbartlett1958 96]

I have a 1991 Wheel Horse 416-H, that I recently picked up. The belt that was on the mule drive was probably the original as it still had the Toro #'s on it. The tractor only has 190 hours on it as well.

I mowed with the tractor last week and noticed a bit of belt squeal, but at the time was not sure if it was from the mower deck or the mule drive. I have since determined it came from the mule drive from all the rubber particles on the front axle.

The pulleys on the mule drive spin freely, and the shaft appears to be straight, so alignment is not an issue, causing the old belt to fail. I am thinking it was an old belt and that I had the tension set too tight, which brings me to my question.

Now that I have a new belt, how tight should I run it. I used the mower today and the belt was tight enoug that it did not slip, but seemed to be fairly slack. How does everyone here decide how tight to run their belt adjustment?

Thanks for the great site.

[varosd 1,185]

The manual says to tighten the mule drive knob until you can "just squeeze the belt together using your thumb and index finger about midway between the mule drive and the PTO pulley." which PTO pulley groove are you using? perhaps the PTO is the culprit and not spinning as freely as it should but the particles of the belt just happen to be showing up at the mule drive. any pictures?