Any WE261 experts? Rebuilt rear transmission but one new chain is still loose.

wh23g3g

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  • / Any WE261 experts? Rebuilt rear transmission but one new chain is still loose.
I know this seems to be one of the most hated mowers in the mower community. My model is the WE261 960240001-00. It's actually my favorite riding mower even over my Snapper 3312X6S. Actually trying to find more in my area but seems like most people trashed them. I got it for like $120. I put one of the $10 Chinese ebay carburetors on there and the engine runs so smooth. Fires right up. I probably got $60 in the mower now. I rebuilt the entire transmission, new chains, bearings, and friction disc. It was not a hard job. Took about 2 hours total. I believe the hardest part was figuring how to support the mower since the entire rear end had to come off. Bit tricky to get everything back flush and square. It drives, mows, and stops. It will sometimes lose reverse but I think the shaft the disc rides on is dry. It works in reverse and sometimes it doesn't. However, there is a lot of play in the left hand drive chain. It's a new chain. The numbers on it match to the original I took off but I can't figure out why there is so much slack. The other side where the primary chain and second drive chain are works fine with no slack. I can still use the mower fine but it's noisy because of the slack in the chain. I just ordered a correct chain off of ebay but I think it was packaged wrong. It's about 2 inches shorter than the other one and cannot be put on so I put the loose one back on. I still have the original one. There's not much reference for repair online except a couple youtube videos which inspired me to try a rebuild on it but you can't ask questions. Is the chain possibly wrong or could I have done something wrong?
 

Rivets

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  • / Any WE261 experts? Rebuilt rear transmission but one new chain is still loose.
Count the number of links on both chains. This will tell you if they are the same. If the new chain is shorter, a good repair shop should be able to add the needed links, but remember, chain do stretch, wear, over time.
 
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