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Hello Everyone!

My Snapper's engine finally blew up and my MTD was recently stolen. Therefore, I just bought a used Poulan Pro 300 EX. I liked its 18.5 hp Briggs engine and steel deck. It is in great condition and cutts level. I do not have the owner manuals. The existing deck belt does not slip while in use, but is so loose it is making a slapping noise and fell off once when the blades were not engaged. I need to install a new deck belt. However, according to the Poulan Pro website, Lowes, Home Depot and Sears, the correct deck belt part number is 144959.

I tried a 144959 deck belt and it is too tight. I had to put the non moving idler pulley in the other bolt hole just to get it on and the engine will not turn over unless the belt is removed. According to the Poulan Pro website the belt part no. 144959 will fit a Poulan Pro Model no. PB18542LT. However, my product no. is different from the numbers on the website. Here is my mowers complete info: Poulan Pro 300 EX Riding Mower with a 18.5 hp Briggs, 42" deck, Model No. PB18542LT Product No. 960420088. Does anyone know the correct belt part no. for my mower? Thanks.:smile:

The correct belt that you are looking for is a 197253. It is not on the poulan.com site, or didn't even find it by google searching. I found it on my poulan distributor dealer only website.

Thank you ILENGINE, for taking the time and making the effort to provide me with the correct part no. for the deck belt. This morning I also called poulan pro just to see what a live person would find from the manufacturer. It appears that the key to finding the correct belt number is providing the product no. as well as the model no. They provided the same number that you provided.

Sears had the belt. The Sears part no. is 33153 and it replaces 197253 as well as 429636. On the belt was the no. 429636. The new belt seemed just as long as my old belt. The only difference appeared to be that the new belt was thicker, wider and a light color. I just installed it tonight. It seemed just as easy (too easy?) to install the new belt as the old belt and is loose, but not quite as loose as my old belt. Mower started up fine. With the blades engaged, there still still seemed to be quite alot of the belt moving back and forth between the blade pullies. Yet, I no longer have the loud belt slap noise that my old belt was making.

Our home was hit by a tornado over a year ago and the insurance did not cover a complete home renovation. It is still a work in progress. However, one of the few things we can do to keep our place looking "normal" is cutting the lawn. Thanks again for helping us to continue to do so.

....I keep this riding mower in the garage locked up when not in use. HAHA!

FYI,

Was cleaning the mower when I found a decal with replacement part numbers for belts, blades, etc. It was under the hood. :biggrin:

Hey guys, my head is about to explode. I have been trying to find the length of this belt so I can buy replacement from tractor supply. No where in the manual, or the website, does it give you the dimensions of this belt. I am guessing it is 1/2 x 95 or so. I took the broken belt in and tried to buy one close to it but it ended up being way short. Realized then I was in trouble.

I know one of these generic 1/2 belts will work because that was what I was running, lol. I just can' find the nice pretty notebook manual I made when I did the last one, lol. This time has been a real pain and I hope you guys can end my misery as I am about ready to pound it into a ball of metal, lol.

Would not be such a big deal but my son also broke the shaft on my large tractor so I am in trouble for cutting the grass, lol.

Anyway, hope you can help... you can email me the info, dlbott@hotmail.com This is the belt that cuts the grass, not the belt that makes the mower move, it still moves but the grass cutting belt melted in two, lol.

thanks a million for easing the temperature on my brain....

don

Take the mower with you to napa or what ever parts store you use and try a belt you think is close if it's wrong walk back in and try the next one.
You can also go do this at tractor supply if you want the $50 belt

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sorry, small country town, no napa here.... I thought they were always higher anyway?

No one knows the length???????

Come on folks, tell me I don't have to try one after another, surely someone has this answer, lol....

thanks ahead of time

and thanks too for the napa info... i did not know they sold them and at a good price....

I went a d looked at what I ran on mine last year and it calls for a 1/2 x 97.5. A 98 will work but if you cutting tall thick grass go with a 97

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I had the same issue last year with my Poulan 300ex and it took me some trial and error before I got the 97.5" belt. That's definitely the one you want to go with. I am now needing to replace the drive belt and hoping I don't have the same issue.

Jason1169 said:

I had the same issue last year with my Poulan 300ex and it took me some trial and error before I got the 97.5" belt. That's definitely the one you want to go with. I am now needing to replace the drive belt and hoping I don't have the same issue.

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The problem is that the 300EX is a PB19H42LT(96012004700) and the OP mower is a PB18542LT (96042008800). Yours uses a 1/2 x 95.5 and the OPs uses a 1/2 x 100.25" deck belt.

Jason1169 said:

I had the same issue last year with my Poulan 300ex and it took me some trial and error before I got the 97.5" belt. That's definitely the one you want to go with. I am now needing to replace the drive belt and hoping I don't have the same issue.

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Jason,
Welcome to the forum & thank you for sharing
However the thread you have revived is from 2012 .

Mine calls for a 95.5 but I had the same issue. I barely got it on and it wouldn't turn over because it was too tight. I put on the 97.5 and it was perfect.

The only issue I had with belts is the aftermarket ones being shorter than the labeled specs. I had to throw out nearly a $1000 in belt last year because all were one to two inches short (1/2") and the 5/8 were even worst about being short by up to three inches.

I now only use OEM whenever possible and that saves a lot of headaches as I can't trust the after markets to be what they say they are. It cost me nearly $200 for measurer but that was well worth it as I check even the OEM belts when I have a fitment problem.

StarTech said:

The only issue I had with belts is the aftermarket ones being shorter than the labeled specs. I had to throw out nearly a $1000 in belt last year because all were one to two inches short (1/2") and the 5/8 were even worst about being short by up to three inches.

I now only use OEM whenever possible and that saves a lot of headaches as I can't trust the after markets to be what they say they are. It cost me nearly $200 for measurer but that was well worth it as I check even the OEM belts when I have a fitment problem.

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Ouch!

Just think I need order another 30" extension for the measurer now that I running into belts over 170". Now that is another $50 but that will the tool to 200" but I will to add a stiffer to it and find a place to put it away when not needed.

bertsmobile1 said:

Jason,
Welcome to the forum & thank you for sharing
However the thread you have revived is from 2012 .

Click to expand...

LOL. Yeah. I noticed thi

I noticed the date after I replied. I was on Google searching for the drive belt size and found this forum and a post about the deck belt and thought I would give my 2 cents.