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Am I nuts? Starter Belt = Engine Removal? on 3012


henryw

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This is one for the wrench turners. I noticed last week that the starter/alt belt on my 3012 was just about to break. My local dealer had one - thank goodness - and I got around to looking at the job this morning. First obstacle that was obvious is that I have hydro, so there is another pully/belt keeping me from removing the belt. I figured that I might be able to just loosen the hydro pulley and remove the belt - no easy task since there isn't much room to work in there. . . but then I removed the side covers, gas tank and noticed that there was this drive shaft that ran clear back from the engine to the rear of the tractor. Obviously no way to get the belt over that. I noticed the shaft bolted to a flange but then I figured that if there was no way to move the shaft back once unbolted, then I still couldn't slip the belt between the flanges of the coupler. The only way to do that (I figured) was to unbolt the engine and move the engine forward!!! Am I completely out of my head?? I guess Simple Tractors do not equal simple engineering, or simple maintenance? HELP!
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You should be able to un-bolt the coupler and slide the belt through where the shaft meets the coupler. good luck. jh
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I am thinking that the hydro you are talking about is the hydro lift. If so you ahould be able to remove the pulley while unbolting the driveshaft from the engine with the side covers off. There may not be all that much room, but it can be done.I have done it with a long extension with a socket from the side covers area but you may have to do it from the right side of the tractor. Benjamin
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I've never pulled an engine myself, but I'm told it's not that big a deal. I'm going to have to pull my Briggs on my 3410 because it needs the screen and shrould cleaned. I have a suspicion that it's packed with grass and stuff. I can even see a feather sticking out of it. This tractor, which is a new one to me, apparently spent some time outdoors, and the mice like to nest in them. I've owned three different Simplicity tractors, and IMO they are pretty simple. Tacey
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Henry, Welcome to the site. The way I've changed S/G belts is to remove a set of bolts from the drive shaft at the engine end. I believe I usually remove the bolts that hold the disk to the engine, but the bolts that would hold the driveshaft to the disk would be ok also. I then unloosen the yoke at the BGB end of the drive shaft. You need an allen hex wrench to unloosen the set screw holding the yoke from moving (it's over the key). Once the set screw is loose, you can slide the driveshaft assembly to the rear to create clearance for the belt at the engine. Hope this makes sense to you. I don't have any experience with an extra hydro lift pulley on the engine, but I would think the same approach would work. Sometimes are are large spacers between the disk and engine, if that's the case, you don't have to loosen the yoke, just remove the spacers and pass the belt through the gap.
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Henry, As John and Benjamin say, this job can be done without removing the engine. First, do yourself a big favor and replace BOTH belts with genuine Simplicity belts. You only want to do this job once. If I recall correctly, I removed the bolts and spacers that connect the disk to the engine. I use a narrow jawed locking pliers clamped to the spacer before removing the bolt to prevent losing the spacer under the engine. A magnet will retrieve it, if you do drop it. This should give you room to wiggle the belts through the gap. If you do need to slide the drive shaft back, there is a hole in the bottem of the frame to access the set screw. Good luck, Jim
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Just to add something here, to make it easier, I would unbolt the engine. It's only 4 bolts, and tipping the engine will help a bit. Welcome to the club friend:D
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No need to un-bolt the engine. Just release the tension on both the S/G and hydro pump, then remove the 2 front drive shaft bolts. Slide the hydro pulley out of the way and you will have plenty of room to swap belts. Not a project I look forward to but there are worse things. Good luck, John
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Everyone is it seems on the same page ...But... what most have forgotten is there is a torque spec on those disk and bolts. find the manual for your tractor as they will be listed. http://www.simpletractors.com/parts/manuals.htm
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With the right torque wrench you can do it with the engine in the tractor, but most of the time I don't torque them to spec.
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I just did this and many, many pitfalls await you if it's your first time. A little advice, take a picture of the coupler or at least make a drawing of what you've got for future reference. Make sure you know where everything goes because you're going to have to get that collar type spacer in there and the hydro pulley has to be just right and so on. I'd pull the engine ahead a couple inches (4 bolts) and work on it where I have some room. Get the (new!! Stressed, you don't want to do this again) belts on their pulleys and put all your bolts in hand tight. Be careful the s/generator belt doesn't get wedged between the engine and frame. Make sure everything is lined up (pulleys, belts, brackets) and just tighten the bolts. Every bolt on the tractor I'm sure has a torque rating and in this case it would be recommended for the driveshaft bolts but if you know how to tighten a bolt without stripping it and so it's not going to loosen up then go for it. It can be done fairly quickly and painlessly (yeah right) in a couple hours but I'd double that for a first timer. If you have time left over you can check out how your going to tighten up your bottom steering sector. Good luck, Richard
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Hey Guys, WOW... Thanks for all the comments! I am a pretty handy guy so, I not really frightened by the job. I was just a bit suprised to find that in my mind was going to be a 15 minute job to be a several hour job... made even longer by the fact that I had to borrow a power washer to be able to see what was going on. Yikes! Now that it's clean, I think the Hyro-pump is held by 3 bolts, one of which acts like a pivot when the other two are loose... and that's how I would loosen and remove that belt. I think I'm going to take the front grill assy. off and shift the engine forward so that I have more clearance and attempt the job. I'll sit a pan under the shaft flange to catch flying collar spacers. I had a hydro-fluid leak last year which I had my dealer fix and he replaced THAT belt, so I know I'm ok there. Don't know why he didn't replace my near rotted S/G belt for another $12. When I asked him to check/adjust the clutch back then he replaced the clutch belt and pulley w/o asking me. I'll still go back there if I need to, he's a pretty reasonable guy. Anyway... wish me luck. Henry PS... hope no-one was put off by my simple-tractor comment... i love these old tractors. no other reason to be (spending hours) wrenching on this almost 40 year old piece of steel. HMW
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