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I have a Snapper 381450HBVE rear engine rider with 14 HP engine and hydro drive. I bought it used and am unsure of what year it was manufactured. After using it on my 1+ acre lot for a couple seasons it is in need of a new drive belt. I was able to find the belt at a dealer a year ago but now that I need to put it on I am uncertain of the best way to do it. It looks like I will have to either pull the engine up or drop the transaxle out of the bottom to get the clearance to get the old belt off and the new belt on. Has anyone ever done this on this mower? I have looked for days online to find a service manual or video showing how to do this and can't find anything.

Hello, sorry I didn't see this post sooner. Hopefully u got your belt on by now but if not maybe I can help. First, the year your unit was built is in it's serial number. The first digit of the s/n is the last digit in the year built...at least that's how it is on the walk-behinds and it seems to be the same on my rer and others I've seen. My rer starts with a 4 and, based on other visual markers on it, it was built in 2004. If u have a pic of yours I should be able to tell what decade it's from.

As for the belt, I've found raising the engine up to get clearance between the friction disc and the drive pulley is easiest. When I replaced my belt I unbolted it and lifted it up a couple inches and slid some wood pieces as shims under it to hold it up. Slid the belt in and then dropped the engine back down. It helps to have an extra set of hands to slide the wood while u hold up the engine but this is the easiest way to do this. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply Snapperfreak. No, I haven't even looked at the mower other than to put the back of it up on jack stands. My snow blower is getting more love these days.

I will attempt to raise that motor up and put on the belt pretty soon though. I took a couple pics of it but I haven't had time to get them on my computer yet. I'm guessing that the motor mount bolts are the ones with the rubber washers. At first glance it looks like that there are at least four,maybe more. Anything else I need to be careful not to break when I lift the motor up?

kcsnapper said:

Thanks for the reply Snapperfreak. No, I haven't even looked at the mower other than to put the back of it up on jack stands. My snow blower is getting more love these days.

I will attempt to raise that motor up and put on the belt pretty soon though. I took a couple pics of it but I haven't had time to get them on my computer yet. I'm guessing that the motor mount bolts are the ones with the rubber washers. At first glance it looks like that there are at least four,maybe more. Anything else I need to be careful not to break when I lift the motor up?

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does your mower have a little bar that you lift to put it in neutral,. Mine does and that lifts the motor enough to put the belt on,. all you need is something to hold it up piece of wood or a spanner wrench,. or a helper, good luck and happy riding

My model has 4 bolts attaching the engine to the frame. I don't have any rubber washers but that could just be because it's a different series, not sure. But as long as u only lift it up a couple inches, which is all it needs, u should be fine.

Hey everyone,

Grass is getting greener, won't be long before I need to mow it. I finally got the belt put on by removing 4 bolts and raising the motor. Was actually pretty easy. I rode around on it for awhile and parked it about a month ago. Now today I go to fire her up and she won't go fast anymore. After putzing around with it a bit I found that by pushing the brake/clutch about halfway down made the mower run like the wind. However that is not a suitable situation so I need help either figuring out if I put the belt on wrong (that would be pretty hard to do) or if I need to adjust the linkage. I have looked online for a service manual for it but so far no luck.