1638HXL Drive belt falling off

[twinblade 0]

I've recently picked up a 1638HXL Wheelhorse model 71227 (2003 production based on the serial). Dragged it out of the backyard it was at with my Wheelhorse with a manual transmission. While sitting, the brake was not engaged and the ignition was left in the ON position for the last 8 or a bit more years. The PO bought a house and all the equipment but then decided to just hire out the job so that resulted in the tractor sitting.

Changed the oil and cleaned the mouse nests off the top of the engine fins/air filter before attempting to start it up. Long story short, got it started but would not drive.

Further investigation showed that the belt had hopped off the hydrostatic drive pulley of the motor. Put the belt back on and started the tractor up, belt popped off again. Investigated and found I missed the idler pulley, put it back on and the belt popped off again. The belt seemed way too lose while the brake was engaged (required for starting) which likely explains the belt falling off once it began to turn. Side note, the idler pulley at this point is right up against the frame rail causing the belt to be as tight as it could be.

Alright, pulled the blade belt off so I could remove the drive belt in one piece for inspection. It is a sheathed 83" belt based on its generic part number. I'm surprised it had a generic belt but I don't know what Toro ships them with. I would expect it was originally bought at Sears considering the rest of the equipment was Craftsman, but can't say for certain.

I went to a local independent lawnmower repair shop and they said it should have an 84" belt. I was thinking the belt might have stretched because the brake was not engaged while it sat for so long. They gave me an 82" belt and said to adjust the idler all the way in and it "should fit". The 82" belt did not fit even with the idler adjusted as loose as it would go.

I manually measured the old belt using a tape measure in 2 foot increments and it does seem to be just about 84" long. It obviously has not had very much use for its age.

Should I go back to the lawnmower shop and try an 83" belt to split the difference?

I can turn the hydrostatic pulley by hand easily as well as both the idler and tensioner. Step one is to get this belt to stay on with the hydrostatic pull in the back set to neutral. Next will be to try to actually engage the hydrostatic and drive.

Be gentle, this is my first post! I'll have to put up some pictures of the big project I did last year with my other Wheelhorse.

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,266]

As long as you can return the belt you have nothing to lose by tryin the 83"er.

Mike.............

[twinblade 0]

Thanks Sparky. The guy at the store said "match them up" and he'd take it back if it didn't work and was not installed. I technically didn't "install" it because it wouldn't fit, but the sheath is blue and now has some black smudges on it from trying to fit it, so we'll see!

Any more info from anyone would be appreciated. The repair shop is about 40 minutes away!

[TheReDStAnG 4]

I had this problem on my 17-44hxl this spring. For me it had nothing to do with the belt itself. There should be belt guards right by the engine pulley to not allow the belt to jump off. They need to be set close to the engine pulley without touching it (obviously). Sounds like if adjust them closer to pulley you should be all set

[Wheel Crazy 23]

:text-welcomeconfetti: Welcome to the site!

[twinblade 0]

I had this problem on my 17-44hxl this spring. For me it had nothing to do with the belt itself. There should be belt guards right by the engine pulley to not allow the belt to jump off. They need to be set close to the engine pulley without touching it (obviously). Sounds like if adjust them closer to pulley you should be all set

Thanks for the suggestion Redstang. I'll have a closer look at that again. I did not see any belt guards by the hydrostat pulley (where the belt is initially falling off of) but I will check again later today.

I suppose if I simply put a shorter belt on, it may result in the hydro not disengaging when the brake is depressed which would probably shorten the hydro's lifespan.

[twinblade 0]

Redstang was right. I did find a belt guard by the hydrostat pulley (on the idler side only) which was obviously not doing its job since it had never stopped me from putting the belt on by hand before. It was close, but when I went to loosen it up, it turned right away and got closer to the belt. However, it was only about 1/2 way up the belt so I decided to bend it upward a bit so it would cover the entire side of the belt.

Started it up and looked through the deck level adjustment slot and saw the belt slide off from the tensioner side (opposite the belt guard) and work its way around to the guard until the belt stopped turning. Put the belt back on and had the wife come out to start it up so I could have a look. For her, the belt stayed on and even let her take the brake off.

At this point I had her gently push the drive pedal forward to which the tractor started to move!... and then run out of gas. That gave me hope! Of course, my gas can was already empty from the prior startups on this (didn't have much left before that anyway) so I was out to get some gas and try again.

This time, I put maybe a half gallon in as to not waste the gas if this did not turn out well. Started it up myself and the belt flopped off again. The wife must have had the right touch (or considerably less weight) to have the belt stay on the last time. I put the belt back on and started it and immediately let the brake off as to apply tension to the belt. Yup, stayed on now.

Upped the throttle and pushed the drive pedal and I WAS GOING ACROSS THE LAWN! Awesome, it drives... well, forward. In reverse, the reverse light indicator does not turn on but it did creep a tiny bit backward so that is promising too. I took a look at the linkage when pushing the pedal backward and it is not moving very much at all. I moved the linkage a good inch further by hand. I'll have to adjust that linkage so it can actually drive backward.

All this said, I think I'll try to get the shop to exchange the 82" belt for an 83" belt, assuming it is indeed smaller than my current generic 83" belt (will match it up in store first). I'll post back the results from that when done. Not today since the shop is closed already.

[twinblade 0]

Good news, got the 82" belt exchanged for an 84" belt. The OE belt should have been 83.9xx and they had one. I asked if that was the same size as the old one (brought it with me too) and he said the old one was an 85" (not an 83" like the guy yesterday told me).

Put the new belt on today and it fit nicely.

Is there any downside to the hydro always spinning even when the brake is applied? I think if I were to try and go the hydro would probably stop spinning since there's barely any tension on the belt.