Thanks To Dutch

[BenB]

Each Fall for the past ten years I connect the vacuum collector to the Landlord and do battle with the leaves. Each Fall the mower PTO belt tends to jump off, sometimes wedging itself between the pulley and belt guard. Numerous attempts to readjust the PTO and belt guard failed to stop the problem. One problem would lead to another, and soon the inlet tube would be clogged, the mower blades would still rotate after the PTO was disengaged, or the belt would disintegrate. Over the years I have been forced to label many of these items with names that cannot be found in the parts manual. The neighbors began to issue earplugs to their children before letting them outdoors. Some years leaf collecting would extend into day three. This year started out much the same way. One trip around the yard and one PTO belt no longer doing its job. On the way back to the garage I suddenly remembered having read Dutch’s excellent presentation about belt stops. http://www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10333 After investigating the situation I found the belt stop was missing. When it left, where it went, I do not know. Down in the bottom of my box of old parts I found another belt stop. Although it was not the proper one, with a little reforming it was made work. I was able to finish the entire yard in 6 hours which until now would have been impossible. It is amazing how one little item can make such a difference. So Dutch.... my hat is off to you. Do you by chance have a design for a cart containing a propane burner, and a smoke stack with a spark arrester? With that rig I would only have to leave the tractor seat to refuel and leaves would almost be a fun job. Thanks Ben