yth22v46 bent pulleys/destroyed belt

[Auto Doc's]

Hello R.,

From this picture, I think the belt retainer tab is clocked in the wrong position for the larger idler pulley. Loosen the pulley partially and see if the retainer tab will align at about the 4 o'clock position. That and the tab should tab be closer to the pulley. They are spring steel, so the pulley may have to fully removed and then the tab bent and test fitted. Most of the belt retainer tabs on a stationary idler have an alignment tit that fits in the hole of the deck mount welded bracket.

 

[red rider]

this is a pic i got off the web. it's hard to tell because that idler arm swings around when it's not under tension and so i dont know what his would look like when it is in final position





, but it does seem that mine may be different, or installed wrong? I checked manual and service manual and couldn't get a good sense of how it is even supposed to be, so maybe the kids at lowe's who put mine together didnt put it on correct?

 

[ILENGINE]

The first and third pictures in your post are for the electric clutch version were you have the manual engagement.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

No way to accurately assess the deck pulleys and spindles condition, angles, and correct alignment from this one pitiful little picture.

250 hrs. I have a video but it's not very helpful, as the angles are hard to capture and are deceiving. And there is no reference. the deck itself is sloping, and husqvarna provides no specs on what the ideal spindle angles should be. They should have something that specs that X spindle's should all be in same plane, and the

mower has 250 hours. all pulleys are original and seem to spin freely and dont look particularly worn to my untrained eyes. i have a kit of new pulleys i could put on but at this point, it doesn't seem like they are sticky and responsible for the broken belt. here is pic of the furthest left pulley you are mentioning and next to it the idler pulley and its arm. this one i need to bend back up a touch.....regarding that tensioner pulley. the taughtness of the belt is from the bolt on other side of deck. I had previously been unable to get the belt to engage and determined it was due to the belt being too loose. I then bought a new belt and was not much better. I assume belt manufacturering specs are not perfect and was a touch too big, so i drilled and added a backup bolt behind it so i can pull the tensioner another quarter inch or so, and after that , was able to get the blades to engage. I used it that way for few months and then the belt broke. I dont think it was overtight, but perhaps it was. But i had to tighten it a touch to get the blades to even engage so I dont know how else to have resolved that issue. In any case, sounds like i may just have to relevel the idler pulley, and try a new belt and see what happens

Belt tension is important for longevity of belt and cut quality. If you had to adjust the engagement cable position or slightly move a spring to get the belt to engage the blades, it was obviously way too loose. There should be about a half inch or so of belt deflection when you push belt, at the longest point between two spindles.

 

[StarTech]

I have found that the el cheapo idler arm needs replacing most of the time along the step. It is a flimsy piece of metal which why it sold for less than $10. Matter of fact I got three of in stock that cost me $2.40 a piece from my last distributor. Now of course they are going to cost $3.60 from my current distributor.

It mostly thin metal that bends easily and the round pivot hole wears oval and also the sides where the step washer goes wears thinner allowing the arm to tilt more over time. So for $20 plus shipping it is well worth it to replace it no matter what.