Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Can the engine pulley be unbolted?

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Shuman
10-11-08, 02:51 PM
Still trying to get the ground drive belt onto my Craftsman 917.275760 lawn tractor.

Can I unbolt the engine pulley? There is an upper part the belt goes around. And a lower part that is below that is much bigger.
I can't stretch the belt over this lower large pulley. But I think if I can unbolt from the engine I can then slide the belt over and get it on the upper pulley.
If I unbolt the engine pulley will this mess anything up?

Any help would be much appreciated.

30yearTech
10-11-08, 05:53 PM
Yes, there is a bolt in the bottom of the pulley that attaches it to the engine crankshaft. You can remove the bolt and drop the pulley off of the engine.

I usually find that it's much easier to install the belt on the front engine pulley first and work your way back and install the belt on the transmission pulley last.

Best of Luck...
bontai Joe
10-12-08, 07:42 PM
Every mower I have ever worked on has a way to release tension on the belt to allow installation. The parts diagram on Sears' website shows 2 idler pulleys and one appears to be on a swing bracket (part number 47 on the diagram). My guess is that pulley either swings against a spring or a bolt can be removed to allow it to swing. You can see this diagram here:
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/displaySubComponentFullSize.action?imageUrl=http%3a%2f%2fcontent.searspartsdirect.com%2flis_png%2fPLDM%2fP0409114-00003.png