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The mower deck drive belt keeps coming off the rear (or power) pulley of the motor, because a small stick has gotten between the belt and the pulley. Each time it requires me to have it taken to a shop, fixed and returned for $150. This has happened twice now. I'm 75 and too old and creaky to get down on the garage floor to attempt to replace it.

The pulley seems very exposed. Surely there is an after market guard that can be installed to keep sticks out of the pulley ?

No idea about the guard but congratulations for still being out there doing it at 75.
Putting the belt back on is a handy man job, 15 mnutes work tops if you do it right, remove the belt check it, and the pulleys plus pop some grease in the required places.
The local shop owner is illiterate & immoral and does not know the difference between "old" & "demented ".
If you can not find a guard,have a look in your local paper / phone book for an independant handyman.
There are probably few other little jobs around the place you are having difficulty with as well so use it as an excuse for trying them out .

My oldest customer is 84 and lives on 10 no longer immaculately maintained acres.
His Honda R/o doubles as a personal mobility vehicle he uses to go to the front gate, collect the mail, put out the trash, etc, etc.
I get called out about 6 times a year to do a jumped belt / flat tyre / pull it out of a ditch , etc & charge him $ 20.00.
Rates down here are $ 60 to $ 120 per hour.

It's not so much the fee for doing it. He has to come get it, fix it, and bring it back. A total of maybe 50 miles. Only repair shop around here I'd trust. But while he has it, the grass keeps on growing.

The idea that Troybuilt doesn't make or supply a belt guard is the worst thing about an otherwise good mower. It doesn't take much of a stick to take the belt off the pulley. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to design one, just too much for me. I mow 3 acres, with many, many trees and just can't pick up every small stick. A stick 1/4" in diameter will remove the belt if it gets in the right place.

jimwest said:

It's not so much the fee for doing it. He has to come get it, fix it, and bring it back. A total of maybe 50 miles. Only repair shop around here I'd trust. But while he has it, the grass keeps on growing.

The idea that Troybuilt doesn't make or supply a belt guard is the worst thing about an otherwise good mower. It doesn't take much of a stick to take the belt off the pulley. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to design one, just too much for me. I mow 3 acres, with many, many trees and just can't pick up every small stick. A stick 1/4" in diameter will remove the belt if it gets in the right place.

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Why ?

I go replace belts then leave several time a week.
No need to take a popped belt back to the shop it is a 5 minute on site job.
Pop up the foot board, take the tension off the belt, slip it back on the pulleys release the tension.
On ZTR's if I am by myself I pop the engine belt on the engine pully first and use a clamp to hold it there while I go to sort out the deck