pulling pully off riding mower

fishingman220

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Jun 13, 2008
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568
I am trying to change the drive belt on my troy bilt riding mower, well you have to pull the pully off the crank shaft, mine is rusted tight. tonight i tapped on the shaft, put alot of penetrating oil on it, and pryed on it, nothing. tomorrow night i am going to try some heat with a propane torch, any other ideas?
 

wcsd106

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Mar 27, 2010
Messages
182
Re: pulling pully off riding mower

A harmonic balancer pulley or something that can pull on the outer edge of the pulley while pushing in on the center should do the trick.
 

Splat

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Jul 20, 2008
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1,366
Re: pulling pully off riding mower

In all the years of repairing them, I've never come across one that had to be pulled to change a drive belt. Normally the belt guides can be manipulated to allow for R&R.

Be careful with heat. If you get too much heat you can damage the lower crank seal and create a real problem. Try to get a puller,put some tension on it, and give it a good rap with a hammer.

Bill
 

fishingman220

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Jun 13, 2008
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Re: pulling pully off riding mower

the guides are about an 1/8 an inch away from the pulley
 

fishingman220

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Re: pulling pully off riding mower

the manual says you need to lower the pulley away from guides to take belt off, just dont drop the key
 

BuzzStPoint

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May 27, 2009
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Re: pulling pully off riding mower

If you dont have one.

Run down to a rental store. OR if you have an Autozone or Advance Auto and rent a pully puller.

Put that on and tighten it.. It will pop off. If the pulley starts to flex, hit the shaft by the pully with a propane torch for a minute or two. Tap with a hammer. It'll pop off.
 

dwco5051

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Sep 14, 2008
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2,452
Re: pulling pully off riding mower

Have a MTD mower that you are supposed to drop the pulley to change the belt. After I had it about 6 years I needed to change the belt and the pulley would not come off. After looking it over I realized that it was easier to unbolt the engine from the frame and by lifting it a bit and sliding it back it was easy to get the belt on. I have changed it once since then and it takes only about five minutes to remove the bolts. Yours may be similar.
 

fishingman220

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Jun 13, 2008
Messages
568
Re: pulling pully off riding mower

now that i think about it, it might be easier to unbolt the motor and lift it, thanks for the idea, i will try that tomorrow night, getting the new one on might be alittle tricky though
 

seaboo

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Sep 8, 2008
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Re: pulling pully off riding mower

now that i think about it, it might be easier to unbolt the motor and lift it, thanks for the idea, i will try that tomorrow night, getting the new one on might be alittle tricky though

Actually not as bad as you may think. I owned a small engine repair shop for 10 years and did it this way often (just have to think about how it will all fit together). Another trick....Sometimes you can bend the guards out of the way, replace the belt, then bend them back (depending on the mower and guard setup).

If you have to pull the pulley, soak it with penetrating oil, use a gear puller and a hammer (if necessary use heat)
 

tswiczko

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Feb 15, 2009
Messages
838
Re: pulling pully off riding mower

Have a MTD mower that you are supposed to drop the pulley to change the belt. After I had it about 6 years I needed to change the belt and the pulley would not come off. After looking it over I realized that it was easier to unbolt the engine from the frame and by lifting it a bit and sliding it back it was easy to get the belt on. I have changed it once since then and it takes only about five minutes to remove the bolts. Yours may be similar.

That sounds safer than heating it. I have had a few things that I had to assemble in the field( I know it is different than taking apart) without the help of tools like hydraulic press' I found dry ice can reduce the size of a pin that could not be put in without a press to a drop in instalation
 
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