Snowblower belt length issue

[Allisgrandson 0]

I have a 1 pulley snowblower for my B10 and B12 that finally ate the belt. I looked up the belt length info on here, which said it is 56.1", but when we measured it at the store, it comes out to 54.5". The old belt worked fine for the last 3 years on my B10, but I recently mounted on my B12 for a little extra oomph.

I took a belt of of the spare snowblower and it is about the same length.

I do not have the model number tag for the snowblower.

Any explanation for the discrepancy in length? Will a 56" belt give me better performance? What are you guys running?

Thanks!

[theniteowl 29]

I use the 56" belt on mine.

If your old belt is shorter it may be that you have a smaller diameter PTO pulley which would run the blower slower. Check your PTO pulley size.

[Allisgrandson 0]

Ok, good point. I measured them and they are 4.5". I'm not sure if I measured them correctly, the measurement is outside edge to outside edge. Are these correct?

[Allisgrandson 0]

Long story short, the guy at the hardware store didn't measure the belt correctly. I bought a 56" belt from Advanced Auto and brought it home to compare to the belt I removed. Lo and behold, they are the same size. I had a 56' belt on there, just wasn't measure correctly. Thanks for the help!

[DanD 9]

The length is often given as the outside length of the belt..in your case 56". When you take it in the store they often just measure the inside length. On an A section belt, the inside length is usually about 2" less than the outside length.

[Allisgrandson 0]

DanD, That is something I had not heard before. Shouldn't the guy measuring it know that? I'll have to keep that in mind for the future. That does explain a lot of the issues I've had sizing belts in the past. Thanks for the info!

[DanD 9]

quote:Originally posted by Allisgrandson

Shouldn't the guy measuring it know that?

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id="quote">

id="quote">Well, yes but sometimes the young guy working the parts counter didn't really receive a whole lot of training. I think if you read the fine print on the belt measuring tool, it explains everything, but who reads directions? How I do it is to take the old belt if it is still available and just have them measure it and get a new one that measures the same by the same guy and it should be good. For many of the garden tractor applications however, I recommend simplicity OEM belts especially where they go around 90 degree turns and twists and the like. You're money ahead with OEM. However on an application like the snowblower on a newer Sovereign that pretty much runs in one plane, then a good Napa or Gates belt is great. I have had a Napa A144 on my blower for several years and it still looks great. And it's $29 as opposed to $63. This is also how I learned about belt length vs. part numbers. An A144 belt is 146" long. Makes sense, right?Here is a link that leads to a discussion about belt length.http://www.vbelts4less.com/Measuring-Belts_ep_46.html

[theniteowl 29]

I have seen part numbers that show the length as 1" different than the actual length I am ordering it for, now I know why. No fixed standard on which length is used, insider or outside.