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OldDuffus, back after a few years to check in on Lawn Mower Forum. I guess "dufuss" should be spelled like that but my double-F rendering reminds me of Winnie the Pooh spelling, reminiscent of easier days.

Can anyone provide some advice to safely remove the idler spring tension to remove/replace the deck blade belt? I know from the owner's manual that Exmark Quest provides a part, P/N 92-5771 which looks like a rod with 90 degree bent lever or handle at one end and a small hook at the other end, but I'm too cheap to get one. I should just bite the bullet and make one out of a rod of soft steel, I could probably fabricate in less than an hour then could hang it on a nail near the mower when not in use. The diagrams show the tool inserted hook-first through the spring hollow body from the "deck hook" end and then "catching" the rod's small hook on the idler arm end of the spring. Don't know about you, but I can hear my fingers screaming while trying to pull back on the "L-shaped" end of the tool. Some redesign of the tool is in order to save the hands.

Taking the belt off is usually no problem because I go ahead and loosen the front bolts/nuts from the "deck pivot pan" which removes belt tension from the drive pulley back at the engine. The "deck pivot pan" is a stamped plate resembling a channel with 6 triangular punch-outs, I assume done to reduce weight.

But the real trick is re-attaching the idler spring when reinstalling the blade belt. On my Gravely Zero Turn, I could grab the two V-belt extents coming off of the outboard blade pulley towards the outside of the deck and coax the belt off the pulley, freeing the belt looped at that end. But the belt tension on the Exmark is really strong, preventing that operation.

This last time of blade sharpening, I slipped a very long screwdriver through the spring hook at the idler arm end and levered off of the idler pulley until the spring hook engaged the idler arm hole when replacing the belt.

The darndest thing is, I reinvent a new way of reattaching the idler spring every time I sharpen the blades or clean the deck. Like humanity, I am doomed to repeat forgotten history.

Spring hook tools are easy to make; although, I perfer a T handle style myself. These are the large ones I made here and I got smaller ones that are push/pull types that I install carb springs with.

Thanks for the ideas, Star Tech! Those look more substantial than the tool that eXmark offers. Of course, I'm only looking at the owner's parts manual and their sketches are not always to accurate proportions.

2 years ago, I had oil leakage problems at the base of the engine mount, the mower was under warranty. It took two service calls on the dealership's nickel to fix the leak, apparently some gasket that had been torn or mis-seated during manufacture. I lost I think 3 weeks of mowing service waiting for the repair. Then, the last time they returned the mower (I opted to pick it up as they charge to transport the mower, even on warranty), they had installed the blade v-belt with a twist that I did not notice.

The mower started and I smelled rubber too late, the belt, weeks old, was shredded. Because the belt was not included in warranted parts, I had to pay for a new one. I could 'of squawked but bit the bullet and I bought a new one. I figured it would be my word against theirs who mounted the belt wrong and didn't feel like fighting it. Very sad.