This one is a first for me. Yesterday I figured I’d give my personal unit, Toro tractor 16-38XL, a good check over and fall maintenance. Tune-up, sharpen the blades, change the deck belt, clean everything, reassemble and level the deck. Everything runs good. Today went out to cut the lawn, everything looks good until I got into a section of the lawn that is twice as thick and grows four times faster than the rest of the yard. Made a pass, turned around to come back and noticed that where I’d just cut looks like crap. Recut that section, looked a little bit better, but not good. Made a new pass and it looks like I installed the blades upside down, can happen. Back to the garage, pulled the deck and checked the blades, installed correctly. Checked the pulleys, spindles, brake release, everything looks good. Installed, went out and made another pass, no change, looks bad. Realize this is my unit, bought in 1995 and never given me a problem. What could be wrong? Sat staring at it for an hour with a glass of tea in hand, trying to figure out what went wrong. Don’t ask why, but I decided to measure the new belt and found it was almost 7/8” longer than specs. I only use OEM belts and parts and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Toro belt that far off. Remember I’m a Toro guy and have worked on them at Toro dealerships since the ‘80’s. Installed the old belt and put the deck back on and checked for levelness again, all good. Went out and made a couple of passes, looks like it should. As I said I’ve been a Toro guy for way too long and have never seen this before, going to talk to my Toro guy Tuesday and get a new belt. I’ve always said use OEM belts, but this is the first time Toro has let me down. Guess I can’t use that line any more, hope this helps someone else in the future.