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I pulled my Bolen mower out of the woods after sitting there for several yrs. It cranked up perfectly after I changed the spark plug. The old belt was broken so I bought another one and put it on. Everything worked great for about a minute then the belt slipped off and almost completely shredded. I noticed my deck pan was not lowering evenly and causing the pulleys to be misaligned. I tightened the long rod that attaches the pan to the front chassis. This seems to lower it level now. Just bought a new belt and put it on. My question is...Since these belts are so expensive I don't want to ruin another one. Should I be able to put the new belt on by hand without moving the tension pulley. It slips right on and hangs loosely around the pulleys. When I engage the blades it tightens up and runs great while sitting still. Once it dries up I will test it in motion. Just wanting to know if the belt should be this loose before I risk damaging another one. Sorry for the long post

marinechamp said:

..................... My question is...Since these belts are so expensive I don't want to ruin another one. Should I be able to put the new belt on by hand without moving the tension pulley. It slips right on and hangs loosely around the pulleys. When I engage the blades it tightens up and runs great while sitting still. Once it dries up I will test it in motion. Just wanting to know if the belt should be this loose before I risk damaging another one...............

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Since no one else has replied to this I will take a stab at it. Do you have an owner's manual? Belt tension should be covered in there. For instance on my mower, it says "1/2" of movement of belt on longest span between blade pulleys with 10 lbs pressure." I cannot imagine a belt being as loose as you describe. Some manuals are available on the internet.

I Googled "38" Bolens belt tension" and quiet a bit of info came up.

graydog said:

Since no one else has replied to this I will take a stab at it. Do you have an owner's manual? Belt tension should be covered in there. For instance on my mower, it says "1/2" of movement of belt on longest span between blade pulleys with 10 lbs pressure." I cannot imagine a belt being as loose as you describe. Some manuals are available on the internet.

I Googled "38" Bolens belt tension" and quiet a bit of info came up.

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Thanks. I put a new belt on it and have cut the yard 3 times without any problems. Hopefully everything will continue to be good. Thanks again

Yeah, well Bolens is a meaningless brand, they went out of business in the 1990s...

The only way to get any helpful info is to post the tractor's model numbers...

When the blades are not engaged the belt will be loose.

If its manual engage turn machine off and engage blade. It should be tight but able to move it a bit. If its clutch engage it should always be tight with a little movement