GTH52XLS drive belt won't fit between pulley bolt and fuel tank

[GTH52XLSMD]

Hi all, the drive belt on my GTH52XLS snapped, so I was able to just pull it out as a single line. I'm trying to put the new one in, but the belt won't fit between the fan pulley bolt and the fuel tank. The manual just says to slip it over and around, and all the videos I've found show different models where there seems to be plenty of space above the fan. I think the belt might be able to be forced past if it's lying flat (belt thickness seems slightly less than width), but I can't get the belt flat due to its stiffness and the bar above the cross member in the way. Anyone know the best solution? Is it necessary to take the rear end apart to lift the tank? or alternatively lower the transmission?

 

[bertsmobile1]

I am yet to get under one of these but for this style tractor the process goes like this .
With the brake applied to give the most slack in the belt run
1) place the belt on top of the fan
2) slide the belt between 2 fan blades on the left side ( as you sit on the mower )
3) rotate the fan backwards which will drop the belt under the fan & above the pulley
4) again roll the belt over the pulley on the left side then rotate the fan / pulley again to seat the belt.
Some times you can do this with the belt on the engine pulley and some times you have to slip the belt off so it sits between the drive pulley & the PTO which gives you another 2" to 3" to play with .
In extreme cases I have needed to loosen the 4 mounting bolts under the axels then remove the stabilizer bracket which will allow the whole transmission to be canted forward which will increase the space between the pulley & the fuel tank
The fuel tank should sit on some pads so at a rough guess yours might have been a Monday Morning Special .
Although I can not see them listed on the IPL .
So it could be some twit redesigned the tank to hold more fuel & forgot that the transmission belt might need to be replaced .
I have been warning customers against buying Husqvarna mowers ( apart from the articulated Rider Pro ) for ages .
The quality of them both design & manufacture has been dropping like a stone to the point they are now on par with MTD .
Sales must be suffering because their advertising budget down here has become massive .
Sort of reminds me of BSA Motorcycles
The bikes were so out of date when compared to what the Japanese were offering so they upped the advertising to turn them into something sexy rather than fix the problems & upgrade the motorcycles .

 

[StarTech]

Just loosen the hydro transaxle mounting bolts and remove the belt retainer bolts holding the front of the transaxle. Of you going to need a floor jack to raise the rear of the mower but this should give you enough clearance. Some these tanks sag over time from the fuel weight and heat from the hydro.

As Bert said quality of all mowers have dropped over the last few years in general. But of course I use to working on pain in the rear equipment designs as I work on ATVs where you got take most parts off just to get what should be easy to get to.

 

[GTH52XLSMD]

thanks for the tips. I was able to get back to it today, and it wasn't very difficult to get the transmission tilted forward. Just removed the 2 front transmission bolts and loosened the pair under each axle. This video was helpful as well.

So now the belt is in place, but I'm questioning whether the parking brake is ok. It seems very loose, lots of wobble where the brake rod and drive clutch link meet the brake shaft assembly. The pin and the end of the brake rod can touch the belt when the brake is released, and I'm concerned it might rub and cause some issues. 3 or 4 years ago, the brake stopped locking, and I found the brake rod pin missing. I thought the diagram was showing a cotter pin, so I just replaced it with a hitch pin i had on hand and figured it'd be fine. It was quite wobbly then too but didn't think to check whether it could hit the belt. Now I'm looking at the diagram again and it actually shows an m-shape retained clip there... the cotter pin is for the other side on the clutch link. The hitch pin I used is still there, so it held, but wondering if it was rubbing the belt. I checked the belt condition a year ago when I replaced the engine, and it looked ok... original belt from the 2016 factory build. Should i spend the $10+ to get a retainer clip shipped? Is that much lateral movement on the brake shaft assembly normal?

thanks again.