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I'm trying to replace the drive belt on my Horse XP. I have the battery out and can see the inout shaft nut I need to remove so I can get the pulley out and ultimately the belt (I hope...) but the pulley turns freely and I can't get the nut loose.

What's the trick?

Thanks in advance!

http://service.mtdproducts.com/Training_Education/769_06667_700_series_riders.pdf

Check drive belt idler pulley bearings for wear so you can eliminate them as a possible problem in the near future.

Thanks Mark! My Horse looks different underneath as it has a cooling fan type of deal on top of the input shaft pulley. The nut that sits on top of that fan is the one I'm having difficulty getting off. I can take a picture of it tomorrow and post.

mark's response was assuming you had a varidrive.
If you have a fan then you have a hydro drive
Put the brake on then slip the belt off the engine pully followed by the tranny pulley.
You may need to remove the engine pulley or engine pulley belt keepers and on some models you need to remove a keeper on tranny.

Take pictures first.

bertsmobile1 said:

mark's response was assuming you had a varidrive.
If you have a fan then you have a hydro drive
Put the brake on then slip the belt off the engine pully followed by the tranny pulley.
You may need to remove the engine pulley or engine pulley belt keepers and on some models you need to remove a keeper on tranny.

Click to expand...

Exactly - thank you! Is there a service PDF for the Hydro Drive as there is the one above in Mark's post for the Vari Drive?

I set the parking brake but the input shaft pulley still spins and I unfortunately still can;t get the nut loose to get the pulley off and ultimately free the belt.

OK.
I stand the mowers up on their bums after dropping the deck, draining the tank & removing the battery.
It makes things a lot easier when you can see everything in front of your face without geting a face full of dead grass.
Set the parking brake and slip the belt off the drive pulley.
you can leave it between the drive & Deck pulleys for the time being.
This will give you enpugh slack to slip the belt off the tranny.
I generally slip the belt between two fan blades and rotate the input pulley the remove the belt.

You can now release the brake to take spring pressure off the clutch pulleys as you will have to remove them to get the belt past the belt keeper.
There will now be enough slack to remove the belt from the engine pulley completely.
Check the two idler pulleys for wear, particularly for thinning of the flange and of course the bearings for smooth & quiet rotation.
On some Troy builts you will also have to remove the gear from the bottom of the steering stem and push it up if the belt runs either side of it.
These modls typically hav a snap ring holding the gear on.
While it is out lubricate the bush.

Hey Berts - Great information. I've attached a picture of my setup. The issue I'm having is getting the belt past the belt support bracket (#57). Should I be able to use your method to do this? Seems too tight and not enough space without removing the fan and pulley but I'll be glad to give your method another try if you've used it on this setup before.

Sorry to be so much trouble and greatly appreciate the help!

As per the diagram slip the belt through a pair of blades on the right hand side then rotate the fan counter clockwise

Bert - I wish it was that simple. Tries and there is almost zero clearance between the pulley and the 3 sided housing the pulley sits in. No way the belt is coming out that way.

Only way I see it coming out is to remove the fan/pulley and to do that, I have to remove the 3 sided lock around the nut that holds it all down. Any idea how I can remove that lock washer so the nut will come off?

They couldn't have made it too much harder!

bucknbass said:

Bert - I wish it was that simple. Tries and there is almost zero clearance between the pulley and the 3 sided housing the pulley sits in. No way the belt is coming out that way.

Only way I see it coming out is to remove the fan/pulley and to do that, I have to remove the 3 sided lock around the nut that holds it all down. Any idea how I can remove that lock washer so the nut will come off?

They couldn't have made it too much harder!

Click to expand...

Remove idler pulleys first so you will have slack in belt to rotate off engine pulley first.

I personally would bend them down enough to remove belt then bend back when replaced.

Good source of info for replacing belt especially diagram.
The question I have is this: I cannot find ANYWHERE, the transmission belt size and number.
If it makes any difference, my Horse is a 2012 hydrostatic model.
Any info would be helpful.
Thanks

model number?

fixitdad said:

Good source of info for replacing belt especially diagram.
The question I have is this: I cannot find ANYWHERE, the transmission belt size and number.
If it makes any difference, my Horse is a 2012 hydrostatic model.
Any info would be helpful.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Fixitdad.
Please do not hyjack some one else's thread it makes things very confusing :confused2:
your mower will be somewhere in this list:shocked:
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/jacks-parts-lookup/manufacturer/toro/riding-products

As you can see there are a lot of mowers listed here. :shocked:
Now if you think we are going to sift through that entire list, pull out all the 2011, 2012 & 2013 models , go to the transmission diagram, find all the hydros , write down the belt size then go to a cross refference chart to find out what the belt size then you are in for a dissapointment. :thumbdown:
There is a reason why we are are always begging and pleading for owners to post their mower numbers and now you can see why.
If you had done the most cursory search of this site alone, forgetting about the rest of the web you would have noticed every second post the owner was asked for their model numbers.
This is not because we are some sort of NAZI organization compiling a massive data base of every one's possesions, you have plenty of government departments dong exactly that.
It is because in order to give you the correct information we need to be able to identify your exact mower.
With the serial number we can go to at least a dozen different sites to pull down the information you need or show you how & where to look ( teach a man to fish )

bucknbass said:

Bert - I wish it was that simple. Tries and there is almost zero clearance between the pulley and the 3 sided housing the pulley sits in. No way the belt is coming out that way.

Only way I see it coming out is to remove the fan/pulley and to do that, I have to remove the 3 sided lock around the nut that holds it all down. Any idea how I can remove that lock washer so the nut will come off?

They couldn't have made it too much harder!

Click to expand...

Usually the belt will squeeze past the keeper.
If not you can access the top of the fan by removing the battery box, it just slips out.
If you have stood the mower up then you should have removed the battery so it is just a matter of slipping the box out.
I use a rattle gun to remove that nut and a tension wrench to replace it as the shaft tends to snap off if you overtighten the nut.
Occasionally I get a monster that gives me grief so it is a case of removing both clutch idlers, then the drive pulley by rolling the belt above the drive pulley then pulling the pulley off.
Then tap some wedges between the belt & keeper at the back to hold the input shaft still while I undo the nut.
However if that are rusted on that solid then the input shaft gets replaced as I have to guarantee my work & I would not trust that shaft.