belt-tension on mower deck

[pterodroma]

Hello. I'm new here so please excuse me if my question should be posted in another area of your forum. Also, I am not really an old tractor fancier per se, more that I just happen to use one several times a week to mow my lawn. The machine in question is a 1980/81 16 hp Briggs & Stratton Simplicity Broadmoor (6116) with a 42" mowing deck. Recently, during a mow, I noticed the front left of the mower deck was smoking a bit. I immediately shut it down and called for my husband; maybe not such a great idea as he was no help. He found that the belt tension (disengaged) was so tight, that the mower kept right on mowing; not good. He tried removing the mowing deck (engine off!) but as the belts were so tight, he couldn't get it off the main pulley. We then gave it a kick. -Seemed to work, in fact! While we could not release the deck, we were able to start and stop the mowing blades. The tension when disengaged is still rather tight and the belt tension adjustment "thingey" was set at least at an inch, if not a bit more (1/2" recommended). Any ideas of how I screwed this thing up? I'd hate to do any lasting damage. We do have the owner's manual, btw. Thanks for any insight. Also, if this is not the place for problems, perhaps you could suggest another group for me to post to?

[BLT]

If everthing rotates okay now, the belt had a reason to start smoking, say a piece of wood got lodged somehere causing the belt to smoke. I could also cause the belt to get the belt tight. For starts, I would say take off deck, clean it good, install the deck and adjust the PTO per you manual. The most damage I can think of right now is maybe the belt, nothing more based on your explanation.

[pterodroma]

Thanks so much! That is exactly what my husband suspected (could he be right for once? LOL!) As you can probably tell, we are more of the "turn the key and go" kind of people. In the 12 years we've had this thing we've never yet removed the deck! Thankfully, it is built like a tank. This looks to be a great site. I really do like the older moldels and would be heart-broken to lose my old machine.

[2burning]

Dear pterodroma, You might want to check any linkage and pins that hold the deck on to make sure they are in place and not bent, etc. If the linkage was loose or bent I could see that causing belt problems. Kicking it may have knocked it back in place? I am not familiar with the 6116 though.