I changed the drive belt on my JD riding mower, now the clutch and brake wont work

whitewing

New member
I hope somebody can help me figure this out. I have an old John Deere 170 riding mower, and I just changed the drive belt. I was careful to hook everything up just like it was before.

With the old belt that was worn out, it was too loose and the mower would jerk as it went along - the higher the gear, the worse it would jerk, like the belt was slipping. So the new belt seems good and tight, but now pressing the clutch and/or brake will not slow down or stop the mower, it just keeps on going. I checked to make sure the clutch is hooked up right, and is releasing tension to the belt, and it does release tension to the belt, but it's like it doesn't release enough tension to affect it. What could be wrong?

Then on top of that, when the mower is going, it still jerks a little bit, especially in 4th and 5th gear - as if the belt is still not quite tight enough and it is still slipping. But yet, the belt seems to be as tight as I can get it. Any ideas on why the clutch/brake is not working, and maybe why there is still a jerk in the mower?

Thanks in advance,

Anthony
 

bordercollie

Gold Site Supporter
Gold Site Supporter
Hi Whitewing and welcome, Are you sure that you were sold the right belt? I had a JD185 hydro years ago. A bad bearing in the tension pulley caused me a lot of trouble till I replaced it. I had bad bushings cause trouble before too. This was in the mowing deck but also had a bearing go out in the tall pulley that meets the drive belt. Sorry I can't remember much else. Good Luck with it. Someone else will chime in sooner or later. Bordercollie
 

WFH

New member
Whitewing, I am not to familiar with the john deere models so is your unit manual or hydro? If it's hydro the problem may not even be the belt. But say it is the best thing to do is get a diagram of how the belt should be routed. I do this stuff for a living and still I have moments where I have a bit of a brain fart and don't get the belt just right. Also as mentioned by one of the other guys be especially sure you where given the right belt. With more info of how your tractor is equipped the better I or someone else may be able to assist you.
 

whitewing

New member
Update on the clutch issue

Thank you WHF and Bordercollie for your replies. I figured out part of my problem. I did have the correct belt, but I had it too tight. After I loosened up the belt a little bit, the clutch worked fine. However, I still have a jerk especially when running in 5th gear. I spoke with someone else about this and they said it sounded like a problem in the transaxle....way over my little amateur head.

Hopefully I can run it for a while without the need to address that issue, and I'll just let someone that knows what they are doing handle that if it comes down to it.

Thanks again for the replies.

Best regards,

Anthony
 
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