Noisy Lawn Tractor Idler Pulley Replacement

Noisy drive belt pulley replacement.
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[@jbc1042]

James, you're videos are so helpful. I appreciate your knowledge and expertise plus the quality of your communication skills. Thank you!

[@tuneophilegym]

Have a Craftsman rider with the same condition. Will check the drive pulleys, and replace the noisy culprit. Thanks for the inside info. I did suspect that might be the issue, though. Jim from Southeast Texas

[@shalleclark8347]

Thankyou so much for this video. I am a woman fixing my own things. I Watch several videos and could not figure it out your video was perfect thank you again.

[@jcondon1]

Glad to hear.

[@StuffIHeard]

I'm having the same sound (much louder on mine) with my YTH20K46 I noticed it mid mow yesterday. I'm going to climb under it today and see if it's the same pulley.

[@Rebel9668]

My ten year old Poulan pro 500ex started doing this about a week ago. I fortunately still have all the manuals for it so I just looked up the part #'s and got all 3 of those pulleys because I figure if one has gone bad the other two probably aren't far behind and since I'll have the deck off anyhow, why not just change all three. Update: It's ten times harder to do this on a Poulan Pro 500EX 46" cut. You cannot get to the top of that carriage nut to hold it down with your fingers unless you 1) Remove the steering wheel 2) Remove the upper dash 3) Remove the gas tank and 4) Remove the lower dash. I still haven't gotten the lower dash off as I can't get enough torque in my arms to turn the bolts. Guess I'll get out my Impact wrench and see if I can find enough extensions to reach down that far. God knows what else I'll have to take off afterwards. After it's fixed I'll be shopping for a new mower and sell this cantankerous thing. Update #2) It's changed but my God what a pain in the wazoo, lol.

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

Great fix, sounds.much better. My Husqvarna lgt2554 is making a rattling sound when I engage the blades. It just started doing it, and it's only when I engage the blades. I'm thinking maybe a pulley, or bearing, in which ever pulley is under load when the blades are engaged. Thanks

[@bernardlee.sheppeard3118]

Thank you so much , Now I know how to fix mine it has the same problem !

[@albertlarson5485]

Thank you very much!

[@SusanHayes-vx2dq]

Helped me tremendously! Wow!! Thank no so much. 😁 😁

[@richardkoon5544]

Yep, very helpful.

[@bosshogg6]

Good job on the video.

[@jcondon1]

Thanks

[@jamesa4566]

Thanks. Pretty sure this is my problem also.

[@andyhamilton8940]

I had a bear of a time lining up the pulley in the eyelet without the top part attatched to the tensioner arm popping back out while I was pushing the washer and new pulley on. The bolt kept getting yanked to one side too where the square head would pop out of it seat. No room up top to grab it. Ended up disconnecting the tensioner spring to get it done. James yours didnt move at all😵

[@Serpico1152]

I know the pain that you went through because that's exactly what happened to me as I had to disconnect the tensioner spring also, then came the next aggravating issue of trying to re-attach the spring along the frame which brought be close to having a nervous breakdown while reciting the forbidden 4 letter vocabulary which was heard from inside my detached garage to inside the house 50 feet away. I needed a couple beers afterwards and it took a day or two to recover from all the muscle pains from failing to hook the stretched spring about 20X's. The Repair Clinic pulley replacement video on KZbin makes it look so easy with them wedging a large screwdriver in place somewhere above the pulley to keep everything lined up in place but their view of where to exactly put it is so obstructed and not so much understandable.

[@williemurray2523]

@@Serpico1152 ...sigh ... This is the trouble I'm having trying to get the stupid thing off... nut got right to the end of the bolt .. and now the whole thing just spins :/ ... I'll try the spring thing too... but I'm not looking forward to it. Thanks guys!

[@Serpico1152]

@@williemurray2523 I believe that I finally used a thin cord or steel cable hooked around the frame end of the spring going out through the frame hole to be able to have the strength and leverage to put it back on from the side of the mower, if you get a chance check out the Repair Clinic Craftsman YT-3000 video and maybe you could understand where he wedges a large screwdriver over top of the bolt head to keep it together and from turning from under the hood down near the center of the frame area. Good luck Buddy, hope you succeed!

[@richardfry5325]

I am having this same issue no one addresses this at all!

[@coolshadow78]

Same thing happened to my craftsman GT6000 last year at same time as yours. it was front idler pulley(flat one) for drive belt. i replaced both the pulleys and the belt.

[@stevenmarkeveys864]

Your craftsman is actually a husqvarna.

[@coolshadow78]

Steven Markeveys I know. Craftsman gt6000 is hasqvarna with price on steroid! But got it used only 45hrs, for 800$

[@jaytodd5809]

I can tell those getting ready to do this that these "locking pins" you have to remove to remove the deck are a pita..There could be a video on just those

[@anthonywalker3553]

Meant to say thank you

[@cottonfiber6480]

My mower has been in my shed for the last five years... I said no more push mowing and decided to fix mine, first was a fuse, then a gas line and this pully and a bent blade.... cant believe i push mowed for 5 years instead of fixing my tractor.... Great vid though man

[@jcondon1]

Thanks! Glad to hear you are up and running again.

[@fishstock2007]

Thanks. Same here! But bigger question is my mowers got 10 hours on it and I’ve had to do several repairs already. I thought HQ was supposed to be excellent quality. My 10 yo MTD had less to deal w.

[@jcondon1]

My mower has over 1500 hours and is 12 years old. I have only owned it the last couple of years, but it has run well since I initially fixed it up. With that said, when I got it someone really messed it up. They had disconnected the governor causing the engine to race out of control, connected the throttle cable to the choke lever, choke cable to the throttle lever, someone jerry rigged the idle governor spring, wheel alignment was way off, idle pulley replacement and last the spindle replacement.

[@fishstock2007]

@@jcondon1 Daaammnn! I thought my seller was negligent. He just left it out in the elements for over a year. Everything rust. 10 hours on it and I could barely turn the wheel!

[@metrork1]

If your going to spin the pulleys to listen for noise, you need to remove the belt from each pulley than spin.

[@robertvalentino7906]

Pro tip : watch series on flixzone. Been using them for watching lots of of movies recently.

[@matiasedward507]

@Robert Valentino Yea, been watching on flixzone for since december myself :)

[@TerryDufrene]

When I took the same pulley off the bushing came out were bolt goes through ,had to take string off ,is that normal?

[@djratino]

A lot of Husqvarna belts are too loose. Get another one, that one's fine. They vary a little in length. My mower was raising hell on hills cutting to the right. I greased the spindles. Made no difference. Belt dressing helps about every other cut. I changed it out. Belts can vary in length, even though they're factory parts. 🐀🐾

[@jewermank8536]

Good trouble shooting man, my Deere is doing that same thing

[@kennethdurbin3385]

Just replaced the belts, battery and solenoid on my Huskee. Pretty sure I routed the rear belt which is the drive belt correctly and now it makes a VERY LOUD screeching noise only when in gear. Looks like the idler pulley is against the drive pulley with metal shavings below it now. Dunno how to get space again between those 2 pulleys.

[@jcondon1]

Unfortunately I do not have that mower anymore to take a look at for you. Are you sure the new belt was the correct size? Also can double check the routing by looking at the pulleys. If the pulley surface is flat then the back of the belt should be on that pulley and if the pulley has a grove, then the V part of the belt goes around those ones. If you have a model number send it along. Will see if I can find any info on the belt routing.

[@kennethdurbin3385]

@@jcondon1 the belt seems like it's on correctly but maybe it's not. The idler pulley looks like it's rubbing against the drive pulley behind it with metal shavings below it now. I never removed the pulleys.

[@manofculture4945]

@@kennethdurbin3385 did you fix it?

[@kennethdurbin3385]

@@manofculture4945 I think so. Been mowing fine with it. I have to use my jumper cables and my pickup to start it everytime though. 2 new batteries thinking the first one was just bad, starter seems fine, etc. No idea what's wrong with it.

[@manofculture4945]

@@kennethdurbin3385 most likely the alternator went out on it so the battery not getting charged

[@billmueller3251]

I have a issue with my tension bar keeps snapping my spring

[@rsmobley4685]

I'm trying to get that same pulley off my husqvarna yth18542 but the whole thing unscrews but not all the way out. How can I get the nut off with out cutting the bolt.

[@kevinpilkington6527]

Great information! noticed a torque wrench, what torque did you use for that bolt?..Thanks fer a great video man, Many Blessings

[@jcondon1]

I probably did not say in the video because I do not know the exact spec on this pulley. The lowest setting on that wrench is 20 ft lbs. I probably went with that. Would rather it fall off from being loose then strip out something.

[@kevinpilkington6527]

James Condon 10/4 on that...its a perty small bolt looks like so it had me kinda curious. Thanks for the reply! Stay safe, Many Blessings

[@francislang5075]

hi jim. can you tell me what the torque is on the pully

[@anthonywalker3553]

Rank you

[@enriquebravo9476]

I have a problem regarding that pulley, the nut and bolt both turn. I cant remove the pulley to replace it.

[@jcondon1]

You have to get a wrench on top of the pulley to hold it from turning. Otherwise an impact might help.

[@Viewer899]

I did this but when I removed the pulley I heard a spring come loose and now the clutch/brake pedal is hard and the mower won’t move any ideas?

[@jcondon1]

Do you have the same model tractor? That was probably the spring for the idler pulley which keep tension on the drive belt and holds the brake pedal up. I can sent you more detail on how my pedal is connected if that will help.

[@Viewer899]

James Condon I found out what it was, there’s a washer between the idler pulley plate and the frame, the washer came out and when I tightened the pulley back it wasn’t seated properly so the idler pulley bracket was crooked. I had to remove the spring to get it all back in place and it was a pain but I finally got it done.

[@cc123456789]

is this the same on a craftsman?

[@3613jeremy]

Yes the craftsman is identical and built on same line

[@40sUphillBothWays]

I did not hear any noise?

[@davidkirkham6497]

Nice job! However, it didn’t sound any different with new pulley!

[@_MOORE_1986]

You probably should go get your ears checked

[@davidkirkham6497]

@@_MOORE_1986 I listened to it, again! Sounds exactly the same! Oh well, it’s your money!

[@lancedunsmore3559]

Loo

[@uawsux]

I don't know why you didn't replace all three you know they're all worn equally you know they're all going bad you should clean underneath there too as well

[@8SecSleeper]

That's just wasteful, also they are on different loads based on belt layout.