Repairs New belt too tight! Why? How? Help!

Strat

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I own an Ariens A173K22 (Product # 961465) within the latest serial # batch. I ordered the proper part # for the belt. The dealer confirmed this and I cross-referenced with the Ariens website. However, they've confirmed that they changed/updated the part.

Unfortunately, the belt is *way* too tight! To the point where I can't even install it! I've followed the instruction manual's procedure to the letter and it's simply impossible to install. It is shorter than my previous belt which was frayed so I cut it and measured it. It measured 31.5" on the nose. The new belt measures a little less than 15.5" if flattened and stretched to its max point, so definitely less than 31".

Nobody in my area seems to carry belts so it looks like my only recourse is to bring it to have it repaired. I'm at a loss. I've even watched YouTube videos and I'm doing the same exact thing, the difference being that the belt easily slips into its home on both ends in the videos but mine cannot be forced even with a Herculean effort onto the 2nd spindle ridge. This is a basic easy 5-min job which has been incredibly frustrating for no good reason.

Is there anything else I can do?
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
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Nov 29, 2014
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In the USA belts are measured by their outside circumference.
Mower belts do not stretch they wear thin so sit deeper and thus go loose.
If the new belt is more than 1/2" shorter than the old belt, it is the wrong belt.
So take it back , along with the old belt & get the right belt.
You compare belts by holding them side by side and drawing a line across both of them.
Run then through your fingers till you come back to the mark which will still line up if they are the same length.
Short belts are difficult to fit because there is not much slack to work with even when you totally remove the tension spring.
 

Strat

Forum Newbie
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Threads
1
Messages
2
In the USA belts are measured by their outside circumference.
Mower belts do not stretch they wear thin so sit deeper and thus go loose.
If the new belt is more than 1/2" shorter than the old belt, it is the wrong belt.
So take it back , along with the old belt & get the right belt.
You compare belts by holding them side by side and drawing a line across both of them.
Run then through your fingers till you come back to the mark which will still line up if they are the same length.
Short belts are difficult to fit because there is not much slack to work with even when you totally remove the tension spring.
Unfortunately, I've thrown out the old belt as it was frayed and, in order to verify the amount of length I need it to be, I cut it so I could measure it easily, before disposing of it.

Ariens states it's the proper belt but even without the tension spring, it is impossible for me to put it on. The dealer is useless as they keep falling back onto Arien's recommendation and part numbers instead of acknowledging the fact that it just plainly isn't long enough to fit.

I was hoping for a miracle but at this point, I think I'll have to bite the bullet and bring to a reputable lawnmower repair shop and have them deal with it. However, I'm dreading hearing "This isn't the right belt!" from the man behind the counter. And after that, the conversation could go any number of ways.

This has been an incredibly frustrating couple of weeks as I've had to change the spark plug which was a huge saga of its own with it being quite difficult to thread in for some reason and its seemingly ambiguous availability. The old blade was almost useless as well. So counting the spark plug, the blade, and now the belt, I've spent a serious (to me) amount of money for the benefit of continuing to use what was previously working and I keep hitting walls all the way through.

But I'm a defeated man. I dread needing to eventually replace the belt again, however this saga ends. If I weren't between jobs, I'd seriously consider selling it at a loss and buying a different brand lawnmower. The amount of hours I've spent researching and driving to and from many many stores could have been better spent doing loads of other more interesting and fun things. Life's too short for this sort of nonsense. Rant over.

I thank you for your reply nevertheless.
 

bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
Joined
Nov 29, 2014
Threads
64
Messages
24,647
Unfortunately, I've thrown out the old belt as it was frayed and, in order to verify the amount of length I need it to be, I cut it so I could measure it easily, before disposing of it.

Ariens states it's the proper belt but even without the tension spring, it is impossible for me to put it on. The dealer is useless as they keep falling back onto Arien's recommendation and part numbers instead of acknowledging the fact that it just plainly isn't long enough to fit.

I was hoping for a miracle but at this point, I think I'll have to bite the bullet and bring to a reputable lawnmower repair shop and have them deal with it. However, I'm dreading hearing "This isn't the right belt!" from the man behind the counter. And after that, the conversation could go any number of ways.

This has been an incredibly frustrating couple of weeks as I've had to change the spark plug which was a huge saga of its own with it being quite difficult to thread in for some reason and its seemingly ambiguous availability. The old blade was almost useless as well. So counting the spark plug, the blade, and now the belt, I've spent a serious (to me) amount of money for the benefit of continuing to use what was previously working and I keep hitting walls all the way through.

But I'm a defeated man. I dread needing to eventually replace the belt again, however this saga ends. If I weren't between jobs, I'd seriously consider selling it at a loss and buying a different brand lawnmower. The amount of hours I've spent researching and driving to and from many many stores could have been better spent doing loads of other more interesting and fun things. Life's too short for this sort of nonsense. Rant over.

I thank you for your reply nevertheless.

Fall back method.
Take the spring off the tension arm and set it in its right place.
Get some 1/2" diameter rope ( lot easier in the USA than down here ) .
Run the rope around all of the pulleys, pull it tight then mark where it overlaps.
measure that any you have your belt length fairly close.
This is what used to do before I got a buggerd 210" belt on a mower so now I use the good bit of it to measure unknown belts.
When you find the correct belt length, take a leaf from Craftsman's book and write the size on the mower somewhere with a paint pen ( under the hood or seat are good places ).
OEM belts are usually silly sizes like 35 & 15/16" which makes then a special run and very expensive.
In most cases ( MTD excluded you can substitute the nearest length std belt ( whole inch sizes )
Let us know how you go because if this is an Ariens stuff up there will others with your problem
 
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