When the blade drive belt on a Craftsman lawn mower wears, it loosens and starts to slip. Each the event the blades won’t rotate. Blade drive belts on Craftsman lawn mowers aren’t designed to be be corrected and there’s absolutely no mechanism for adjusting them. Instead, the manufacturer recommends replacing a loose belt having a new one. The procedure for replacing the blade drive belt may vary slightly for each Craftsman model, so consult with your mower’s owner’s manual. These instructions are for the Craftsman version 917.271030, that does not require any tools to replace a blade drive belt.
Park the mower on a level area. Turn off the engine, engage the parking brake, and get rid of the key for safety.
Ensure the lever for engaging the blades is in the “Off” position, and lower the mower deck to to the lowest position using the mower deck lift lever.
Find the motor pulley near the front of the tractor under the tractor’s engine. Remove the belt from the motor pulley by pulling it forwards, then rolling down it off of the pulley.
Eliminate the mower deck by pulling the retaining spring from each of the two front linking rods near the front of the deck. Remove the retaining spring in the clutch pole and pull the clutch rod from the clutch lever bracket. Remove the retaining spring from each of the two rear suspension arms near the middle of the deck. Remove the retaining spring in the end of the anti-sway bar connected to the tractor frame. The anti-sway bar is on the back of the deck.
Raise the mower deck lift lever to its greatest position so mounts are from the way. Position yourself to the grass discharge side of the mower deck. Pull the mower deck from under the tractor.
Eliminate the blade drive belt in the mower deck by unwrapping it from about each pulley.
Install the new belt at the same configuration as the belt was. The V-side of the belt should be facing toward each mandrel pulley and at the pulley’s groove. Mandrel pulleys would be the larger pulleys near the back of the deck and outermost on each side of the deck. The flat side of the belt will likely face each idler pulley, which will be the smaller, internal pulleys near the deck. Ensure the belt is inside all belt guides.
Re-install the mower deck in the inverse order in which you took it away. Roll the belt onto the motor drive pulley.