thank you all for your help! I was able to resolve the fuel leak. The float bowl was very dirty, and I assume that it had sediment in the float needle that prevented it from closing cleanly. The solenoid under there was also stuck from the sediment. There's sediment in the filter, so I assume its old and busted. I've ordered a new one! No more leaks !
I looked at the belts, and the routing looks OK from what I can tell in the diagram. I've ordered new belts, since I don't know the age of these ones. I'm still confused on the springs, though. The original configuration doesn't seem correct since it prevents the brake from being applied to the pulley, even when in a 'full rest' situation. the two springs oppose each other, and hold the brake open. Here is the picture.
The yellow spring seems wrong, and the red spring seems correct. You can see the green space where the brake is being held open.
I removed the yellow spring, and it seems to seat very well, and operates when I pull the pulley to 'engage' the PTO. Here's what it looks like with the yellow spring removed :
. I don't know where the yellow spring goes, though. Everything seems to work fine in this configuration, but it obviously came from somewhere!
Also... in the second image, I've circled a green area. In the manual, there seems to be a very small idler pulley there to hold the belt on the larger idler pulley. You can see a wear mark where something used to be there. I can't find this pulley in the manual's parts diagram or online ones. It shows a screw, a washer, and a spacer there, but no pulley. See here :
I'd like to order this, as it seems it will help keep the belt on the pulley when the deck is lowered, which I assume is very much needed !
thanks !!!