Replacing 72" MMM belt

[techwrtr2]

Is there a trick to dealing with the tension of the idler pulley? I ended up snaking a cable for my come-along under to the spring and cranking it back. There's got to be a better way since now that I've put the new belt on I see that I need to replace the bushing in the idler arm if I don't want to be buying another belt ($114) again all too soon.

 

[zzvyb6]

Presuming that you have it routed correctly (making sure all the blades turn in the proper direction), get it started on all the pulleys except for one with a blade. Place the belt on this pulley's edge and give the blade below it 1/2 a turn. The tensioner will move to accomodate the final belt position. You can check the belt routing on the JD parts website if your routing sticker is gone. Look carefully at the decals part listing and enlarge the screen shot until you see the belt position.

 

[techwrtr2]

Routing is easy... Even though I don't have the decals (weren't there when I bought it), I was able to match it up to decal image on the parts site... the problem is that tension spring on the idler pulley. I'm just not strong enough to be able to stretch it out to connect it and trying to lever the pulley over didn't work either.