Belt too tight on Sears LT-1000. Smokes when idling

[cgmsys]

Hello

I just replaced the ground drive belt on my sears LT-1000 lawn tractor. The previous belt was well worn and loose. That caused slipping and the belt to slip off the pulleys.

I replaced it with a belt from sears. The new belt is fabric covered. When I let the tractor idle, the belt started smoking after less than a minute. I had the brake pedal locked in the down postiion. I shut it right down. The belt was threaded properly. The fabric covering had burned off.

It was pretty cold and I had not driven it much before idling.

Note - The old belt was extremely loose. When the clutch was out (drive engaged), the idler pulley was almost up against the frame. With the new belt, there is about 1" clearance between the idler pulley and the frame when engaged.

Questions.

1. Has this happened to anyone else?
2. are there any adjustments to the belt tension? I can't seem to find any instructions.
3. Will the belt 'break in" where this problem goes away?

I'm guessing that the situation might correct itself as the belt gets broken in. However I'm very hesitant to idle the tractor. This is a pain if I have to plow snow as I need to warm it up before plowing. I don't want to be flopping in wet snow at night when it's 20 degrees to replace a burnt through belt. (I guess I'm getting soft in my old age)

thanks

Chris

[Srgnt Billko]

An interesting dilemma. I don't have a Sears LT1000 but I have several other tractors. I have to admit I don't let them sit and warm-up like you do so I don't remember that happening to me. I do know a very little size variation can make a difference on some machines. I guess I'd check with Sears to make sure they gave me the correct belt (length, width, & angle). But, like you said, I would expect it to "wear in" fairly quick. I had one machine with a double belt sytem - 2 identical, side by side. I bought one belt in one store - the only one they had. And went to another store and got a belt with the same dimensions. Put them on but the machine never ran right after that.

[Chas Hurst]

Belts are marked with a mold number that should be the same for multiple belt drives.

[cgmsys]

UPDATE

I checked the belt layout and it was threaded correctly.

I ran the tractor around a bit, perhaps a half hour or so. It now appears that the belt is OK when idling although I am keeping an eye on it. I think it is possible that because the belt was in a box for a while, it had taken a set and needed some run time to 'break in".

Chris