Belt Changing Nightmare

I own an LT2000, Model 917.273764. About three weeks ago the original drive belt shredded (10 years old). I looked in my owner manual and at a data plate that's under the hood of my mower. Both listed part numbers for the drive belt and deck belt. I promptly ordered one of each from Amazon. After trying for over four hours to install the drive belt I finally found out it was four inches to short, it was the correct part number according to my owners manual and the mower data plate. I went to my local auto parts store and bought a 86 inch belt to try it. Still two inches too short. Took belt back for a refund and went to my local Sears store. They had the owners manual listed belt in stock. Bought it thinking Amazon had sent me the wrong belt. This one was also four inches too short. Went back to auto parts store and bought an 88 inch belt. YAY, The forth belt worked. Then started on the deck belt from Amazon. It was extremely hard to install and after installation it was so tight that the started wouldn't spin the blades. After a couple of hours of trying finally installed the old deck belt and everything worked great. I called Sears Parts Direct and they told me the correct drive belt length was 87.5 inches and where on earth did I get the part number for the belt I ordered (P/N40294). When I said out of my owners manual and the mower data plate, we lost the connection (really).
Part two: After lots of research I found that the part number in my owners manual and off the mower data plate (P/N 144959) is for a 95 inch deck belt. Some places list it at 95 inches and some at 95.5 inches. I read a lot of reviews and found that a lot of people have experienced the same problem I did. P/N 144959 is often too short and locks up the engine because its too tight. A neighbor and I put in around 12 hours on this mess and he generally knows what he's doing. Still haven't changed out the mower deck belt, but at least I know the correct length. Anyone else had this joyful experience?

belts are my biggest nightmare.
I keep over 200 different belt sizes in stock and still find myself ordering in sizes I do not have.
The Gates web site has been an absolute Godsend http://www.gates.com/all-search-tools/automotive-interchange-search-results
It has never been wrong and your part number codes out at 95.375".
OEM belts are never standard sizes ( even inches ) which means they are small production runs and thus very expensive.
Repo parts companies generally list the nearest std belt which in this case would be 95" and over that length the 3/8" is pretty much irrelivant .
The mower designers simply plug in the distance between the pulley centres & the pulley diameters and the equation spits out stupid sizes like 201 & 25/32". ( a $ 350 belt ) which they fit rather than a 202" ( a $ 120 belt )
Mowers get designed with a specific engine & tranny then at some point in time they get changed but no one remembers to change the data in the printed material which is oft printed well before the mowers are made.
Of all the mower makers, AYP are by far the worst at doing this which is very frustrating as Sears get them to put a plaque under the hood with belt & blade numbers on it and then it is wrong.
SO it is not uncommon to look up belt sizes by OEM part number from the parts book and then by model number from suppliers catalogues and come up with 8 different sizes .

Thank you very much for reply. I bought a 1/2" X 88" from Discount Auto and its working great as the drive belt. I don't know what brand it is and threw away the container. I read somewhere that mower belts have to be wrapped. I don't really know what that means, so hope the belt I bought holds up. I had no idea that belt length was so critical. A 95" belt is too tight for the deck belt and won't even let the mower engine turn over and I read some reviews and found that a 96" belt keeps coming off. Bottom line for my mower is its 95.5" only. Again reading reviews I found that lots of LT2000 owners had trouble with the 95" belt being too tight for the mower to function. My aggravation with this whole issue it the amount of time and effort that went into what should have been a simple 90 minute job. I'm sure that lots of Lt2000 owners ordered the P/N 140294 drive belt listed in the owners manual and on the mower data plate and found it to be an 84 inch belt rather that the 87.5" needed. FLCoyote

the two part numbers I can up with for your model number are 532178138 which is 87 5/8 length for the drive belt and 144959 which is 95 3/8 for the deck belt.

Have a customer with an older Craftsman that has the incorrect part number listed on parts direct for the deck drive belt. The problem is the incorrect belt is the correct length, but is too narrow and will only work about 1 season before slipping. The incorrect part is a 1/2 belt but requires a 5/8 belt that is about 2 inches longer than the 1/2 belt listed in the IPL.

FLCoyote said:

Thank you very much for reply. I bought a 1/2" X 88" from Discount Auto and its working great as the drive belt. I don't know what brand it is and threw away the container. I read somewhere that mower belts have to be wrapped. I don't really know what that means, so hope the belt I bought holds up. I had no idea that belt length was so critical. A 95" belt is too tight for the deck belt and won't even let the mower engine turn over and I read some reviews and found that a 96" belt keeps coming off. Bottom line for my mower is its 95.5" only. Again reading reviews I found that lots of LT2000 owners had trouble with the 95" belt being too tight for the mower to function. My aggravation with this whole issue it the amount of time and effort that went into what should have been a simple 90 minute job. I'm sure that lots of Lt2000 owners ordered the P/N 140294 drive belt listed in the owners manual and on the mower data plate and found it to be an 84 inch belt rather that the 87.5" needed. FLCoyote

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Standard belts have several problems when used on mowers
1) they are designed to be tensioned and work at that tension and not get shock loads as happens in mower belts
That is why mower belts use Kevlar reinforcing strands.
2) they are designed to drive all the time and not slip so when they get warm they get sticky somewhat like your car tyres.
Mower belts are designed to slip when you clutch and do not get sticky when hot and are wrapped to aid clutching when hot.
3) Std V belts are not designed to run a serpentine path and will tend to crack when made to run backwards around a pulley.
All the after market mower parts companies do lines of after market belts both in exact OEM specs and standard sizes.
Most of them work well enough with the exception of MTD made machines with variable speed pulleys where only the MTD belts work properly.

As for your particular belt, how long it lasts will depend totally on you, how you use the mower & what you mow.
Just be aware that it might not clutch properly when hot.
When the clutch pedal starts to pulsate then the belt is on its way out so some time in the near future you should get your hands on the appropriate type of belt
Gates also do a line of mower belts sold as Green Power and some of the belts resold by the after market companies are sourced from Gates.
Usually the after market belt will be 1/2 to 2/3 the price of a mower branded belt ( down here it is 1/3 due to franchise gouging ) .

Belts have always been the biggest headache in the lawn and garden business for me. When you purchase an original OEM belt, that belt is probably unique to your particular application only. When I worked at Yazoo Mfg. when ever we had a new design or a change in design that involved a belt drive, A production prototype mower was sent to the belt manufacturer in our case it was usually Dayco and they came up with the belt that met what they and our engineers were satisfied with. For ease of manufacturing, most belts are based on an "A" or "B" format. Meaning an A type belt is close to 1/2" and a B type belt is close to 5/8" in width. But that is not always the case as the width and depth of the belt and the groove angle can vary somewhat. Also the type of pulleys used can determine the type of weave of the fabric used in the belt. In some cases, stamped steel pulleys will use a different weave pattern than a machined pulley. Lawnmower belts like has been stated, have to endure a lot of static load changes due to operating conditions. They also have to be able to stay in place whenever they are disengaged. If you go to a parts house and buy a will fit belt that has close to the same width and length, you are probably buying a belt that was designed for an automotive application that has a constant static load or some other application like a big fan. So although it's a lot cheeper, you probably won't get the service life of the original belt out of it and if it's got the wrong width or depth or the groove angle is wrong, you could also cause permanent damage to your pulleys.