DMB41 5 #1 Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Hi Friends, First off, A huge thank you to all our Vets! A second thank you to all those who help all of us newbies. I have just changed the drive belt on my 312-8. Online and on the forum I was instructed to go with a 5/8x82 belt the size I pulled off looks like a 1/2x82. After making the change and installing the 5/8x82 drive belt, my tractor will not shift into gear when on. I can shift perfectly fine if the mower is off but as soon as I start it up and try and shift, I get some funky noises and I am unable to get into gear. The belt seems to be spinning fine. It was working perfectly fine before I changed the belt. What could I have done wrong? Thank you in advance! Edited May 13, 2020 by DMB41 Title change Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,868 #2 Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Make sure the belt is sitting on top of the lower edge of the belt guard which must be installed. No belt guard no shift.... Edited May 13, 2020 by pfrederi 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DMB41 5 #3 Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, pfrederi said: Make sure the belt is sitting on top of the lower edge of the belt guard which must be installed. No belt guard no shift.... Should it be touching? It looks like it’s running based off the blue shavings I see Edited May 13, 2020 by DMB41 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DMB41 5 #4 Posted May 13, 2020 Figured it out. The correct belt size is 1/2x82, not 5/8x82. I put the old belt back on for now and it’s working! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,405 #5 Posted May 13, 2020 So the correct drive belt from Toro/Wheel Horse is a 7473 and it’s a 5/8x82” belt. Your blue belt looked fairly tight in the pics. Being aftermarket did you measure it? It might be a bit shorter than advertised. Also the angle of the side of the belt needs to be correct. If your blue belt has the wrong angle it might not be dropping all the way into the pulleys and that would lead to it feeling to tight or short. I tend to shy away from non Toro belts because of this. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,405 #6 Posted May 13, 2020 2 hours ago, DMB41 said: In both of these pics the side of the belt looks to be only partially touching, the entire side of the belt should show “wear” Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squonk 41,328 #7 Posted May 13, 2020 Those blue belts are also sticky. I have had to "break in the belt" on several tractors with those. After about an hour they are fine. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lee1977 6,777 #8 Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Belts by different manufacturer are not all the same length even if they are sized the same. Wheel Horses will work with a 1/2" belt but that is not what it was designed for. The reason the 1/2" belt by that manufacture will work is it goes further down in the pulley. Some of those belts the back side is not glued down like a Wheel Horse belt and the belt brake built into clutch idler will tear the back side of the belt. Edited May 13, 2020 by Lee1977 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,868 #9 Posted May 13, 2020 I use gates belts on Hydros, Snow blowers , mower decks and etc... but for 8 speeds i get Toro 7473.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chevydave 25 #10 Posted May 14, 2020 I’ve had that problem, get the original Toro belt and your problem will disappear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
