Craftsman mower deck belt. CRAFTSMAN Lawn Tractor Deck Belt 42-in

CRAFTSMAN Lawn Tractor Deck Drive Belt. 42-in

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Rated 4 out of 5 by Deerhunter from Good [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Be sure to check the belt against the part # on the sleeve or you’ll make 2 trips.

Rated 3 out of 5 by arthurda8 from Does not fit all Craftsman 42 mowers [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Bought this belt for my Craftsman 42 deck mower, come to find out that this belt was far to large. They shouldn’t advertise for 42 mowers if it doesn’t fit all 42 craftsman mowers at least in the past 5 years.

Rated 1 out of 5 by Phil from 42 belt for Craftsman [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] It is to big for my Craftsman 42 riding mower. My mower was built in 2008.

Rated 1 out of 5 by CHARLES from Deck Belt [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This belt was supposed to be for a Craftsman 42 inch mower deck, but it was too long for my Craftsman mower deck.

Rated 5 out of 5 by SKI069 from Sometimes name brand is best [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This was the third belt I bought this year as a replacement. I had purchased two others that were obviously not of the same quality. Sometimes paying more as the say goes is worth it.

Rated 1 out of 5 by Mike from Craftsman T130. Does not fit [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Listed as replacement belt for t130. It diedo not fit and is far too big

Rated 5 out of 5 by Don from Belt [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Last one was 5 years old and was still working. Only replaced it because the blade needed replaced so I replaced both.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Nonr from [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Purchased this when my belt broke. Quickly fixed and was able to finish mowing my yard.

• CRAFTSMAN Lawn Tractor Deck Drive Belt. 42-in Reviews. page 2

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How to tighten the drive belt on a craftsman lawnmower, step by step

Craftsman lawn mowers are among the better and faster machines you can purchase. They are efficient and do their job pretty well. The mower owes much of its skills to the blade engagement system. That is controlled by a drive belt system, running over a set of three pulleys. To keep your mower working effectively, you have to look after these individual parts. In your routine maintenance, you have to check that the drive belt is functioning correctly. With time, the belt gets stretched due to its fast speeds. This may cause the belt to sag between the pulleys causing issues like engagement delay, power disruption, and jerks. If you face such problems, you have to adjust the tension to the drive belt. You have to tighten all connections so that the belt is tight over the pulleys. This article will give you step-by-step instructions to tighten the drive belt on a craftsman lawnmower.

How to tighten the belt on a craftsman lawnmower, step by step:

• Step 1: Gather the necessary tools and remove the spark plug
• Step 2. Position your lawnmower on a leveled surface
• Step 3: Remove the mower deck
• Step 4: Tighten the belt bracket
• Step 5: Tighten all pulley connections
• Step 6: Double-check the blades

The drive belt is responsible for carrying the engine’s power to the blades. It connects the two systems ensuring a continuous motion without any jerks. With time, the rubber of the belt expands over repeated cycles due to fatigue and heat. This causes the blade to move loosely, which is an issue for a lawnmower’s performance. Much similar to adding a new belt, tightening the belt requires some of the same steps. For most craftsman lawnmowers, you will have to remove the mower deck, its connections, and some other components. While you are tightening it, you can also check the belt and the condition from some other components.

General Guide:

Use the following steps to tighten the drive belt on your craftsman lawnmower. If you think this job is beyond your skill level, ask a professional for help.

Step 1. Gather the necessary tools.

Using the right tools and guidance in any scenario makes the job much easier. The same is the case with tightening the drive belt. For the job you need the following tools:

• A pair of safety gloves.
• Set of Pliers.
• Screwdrivers.
• Adjustable wrench.
• Woodblocks.

Step 2. Position your lawnmower on a smooth surface.

Park the craftsman mower on a smooth and level surface before you start to work on it. Put the mower in gear so that can not move forward. Apply the mower’s parking brakes for the same reason. Disconnect the spark plug cables. This is a precautionary step to prevent the mower from accidentally starting up when you are working on it.

Set the mower deck to its lowest possible setting. In some craftsman models, you can directly access the belt from beneath without removing the mower deck. For some other models, this is not, or extremely difficult. For those, you need to remove the cutting deck. This makes your approach to the pulleys much easier, which are attached to the deck.

If you have a lawnmower lift you should use it. This makes it easier to access its base connections.

Step 3: Remove the mower deck

If you need to remove the craftsman mower deck, move the deck height adjuster to lower the deck to the lowest possible point. A bolt is present on the deck’s rear section near the tire, and bow clips are present above this bolt. Remove these bow clips. After that, disengage the cutting blades. You can do this by pulling the log lever towards you, which is present on the side of the steering wheel. Now, release the drive belt from belt keepers by rolling the blade belt off the engine. Detaching the support from the deck is very necessary from both sides. In this case, you need to remove the pin and washer support for the drag links and suspension arms on both sides. Remove the left suspension arm retaining clip, washer and detach it.

Now, release the bracket from the deck by removing the left rear deck bracket clip. Similarly, the right suspension arm and right rear bracket can be removed by repeating the same process. After removing right and left suspensions, arms, and rear brackets, pull the deck out and access the blade cable attached to the deck.

Step 4: Tighten the belt bracket

Before starting with the tightening, you need to check the current drive belt condition. You must have your mower on a raised platform to make the task easy. Look at your belt and make sure that there are no cracks. If you see some cracks and chunks at this time, replace the belt. Next, inspect that the spring arm is working correctly. Ensure that it moves back and forth correctly. Beneath the deck, check by hand that the spring attached to that spring arm is a bit slack, and the belt is easily stretched by hand. Also, check the slackness of the belt as it passes over pulleys. If it is sagging below, it needs tightening.

Now you can start with the adjustment. The drive cable comes from the craftsman drive control panel down to the transmission panel. At the point where the cable attaches to the pulleys, there’s a small bracket. This same bracket is used to adjust the tension in the drive belt. As the deck and blades are cut off, everything beneath the deck is in a slack position. Now, using an adjustable wrench, loosen the bolt fastening the bracket. Pull it away from its position so that it stretches the cable attachment. At this position, tighten the nut. Now, check the belt by feeling its tension and stretch over the pulleys.

Step 5: Tighten all pulley connections

This step is additional if adjusting the bracket doesn’t solve your problem. Now that you have opened the mower deck, you need to check the idler and mandrel pulleys over the deck. Check if they move freely and tighten their screws if they wobble. Repeat the same with the driver pulley present beneath the engine’s crankshaft. Now that the pulleys are adjusted, check various connections over which the belt moves. Lubricate the pulleys and the belt. Check the connections of spring arms and tighten all bolts with washers and seals. Now, adjust the craftsman mower deck back in place. Reconnect the suspension arms and similarly the drag links.

When you are done adjusting the blade belt, push the log lever away from the steering wheel to engage the mower deck and blades. Check that the spring is fully stretched. From beneath, check the sag in the drive belt.

Step 6: Double-check the Blades.

Check if the belt and pulley system is working correctly. Use a pair of heavy safety gloves, twist the mower blades and check if the belt moves over pulleys without lagging or sagging. Reconnect the spark plug, and start the mower engine. Now you can see if the belt and pulleys are driven correctly. If they are, your blades should be continually moving and instantly start rotating as you engage them.

Some precautionary measures

Following are some preventive measures that should use while performing the above task:

• Use hand gloves: For some of the tasks, it is good to wear sturdy hand gloves to protect your hands.
• Remove the spark plug cable: Ensure to unplug the spark plug cable. You do not want to have the mower starting unintentionally when working on the belt and near the blade.

Frequently asked questions:

What are the reasons that cause the mower belt to break?

The mower belt may break if it is older and has seen some wear and tear. Dry and thick grass requires more power, hence increasing the load on blades and belts. This and other events suddenly put more strain on the belt and causing it to break suddenly.

How do I know which belt I need?

The craftsman lawnmower always comes with a certified and detailed user manual. It has all of the engine specifications and parameters. In the transmission section, you can find information about your blade engagement system. There, the exact belt requirement and brand will also be mentioned. Always make sure you use a belt that has the correct length and shape.

Why do I need to tighten my lawnmower mower belt?

The power transfer from the engine to the blades is through the belt, so your belt must be suitably tight. If it is loose, the lawnmowers face lagging issues; there is a time difference between engaging the blades and their actual engagement. The mower may jerk while cutting grass. A loose belt may eventually affect the other components like pulleys.

Final remarks:

A craftsman riding lawnmower is known for its fast and robust performance. This feature owes much to the drive belt mechanism controlled by the three pulleys on the mower. With time, the belt gets loose due to high-speed operation. Hence, tightening the belt is essential, and every passionate gardener should know about it. This article has provided you with a simple, efficient way to tighten the mower belt while checking the related components for error. If you follow all the steps in order, your issue will be fixed.

The Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mowers in 2023 for Making Your Yard Work Easier

These lawn mowers drive themselves, taking the load off you in the process.

By Roy Berendsohn Published: Mar 21, 2023

One of the perks of the warm-weather season is getting to spend time outside. If you own your own home and have a yard, it’s very likely that in order to enjoy your outdoor space, you need to mow the lawn. The larger the yard, the more work it will be to maintain. If you have a lot of grass to cut, you’d be wise to consider a self-propelled lawn mower especially now that there are a ton of sales just in time for Memorial Day.

The primary difference between a standard push mower and a self-propelled mower is that the former moves when you push it, and the latter essentially moves itself with only your guidance. Once the engine is running, all you have to do is squeeze a handle or push a lever and the mower will start moving forward with you as you walk.

Turning the mower around is your job, but once you have your heading, just keep the drive handle squeezed and escort the mower down the path, no pushing necessary.

Self-propelled law mowers take power off the engine and route it via a belt to a pulley on the transmission and axle. When you move the drive control lever on the mower handle, you tension the belt, causing the pulley to turn, and this drives the transmission, moving the mower forward.

Move the drive control lever back and the tension is released, the pulley stops turning, and the mower stops moving forward. The belt-driven transmission is a time-tested design to power the mower and take the load off you in the process.

What to Consider

A mower is like many consumer products in that the more features a manufacturer adds, the more expensive it becomes. But a longer or more eye-catching list of features isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes less is more. Here are the most important to keep in mind.

Front-wheel drive mowers tend to be less expensive than rear-wheel drive units. They can be easier to turn because you don’t have to disengage the drive wheels to do so. Simply push down on the handlebar to raise the front wheels off the ground. However, their traction isn’t as strong on hills or when the bag is full, as there isn’t as much weight over the drive wheels.

Rear-wheel drive mowers do cost more and aren’t as easy to turn, as you do need to disengage the drive—but this isn’t too much of a hassle. Rear-wheel drive mowers shine on hills and inclines, and when the grass bag is full. In either scenario, weight is shifted rearward and over the drive wheels, which enables superior traction, thus making the self-propel more effective.

An engine as small as 125 cc can power a mower, but most are somewhere in the 140 cc to 190 cc range. A large engine helps when powering through tall, lush grass or in extreme conditions, such as with a side discharge chute in place and mowing tall weeds in a border area. Also, the extra torque provided by a larger engine can improve bagging when the going gets tough (tall, leaf-covered grass in the fall). But if you mow sensibly and pay attention to deck height—and especially if you don’t let your lawn get out of control—an engine between 140 and 160 cc has more than enough power to get the job done.

A mower can have all four wheels the same diameter (7 to 8 inches), or it may have rear wheels that range from 9.5 inches to 12 inches in diameter. Larger rear wheels help the mower roll more easily over bumpy ground.

With some mowers you can start the engine with the twist of a key or the press of a button. It’s a great option, but a luxury. Keep the mower engine tuned and use fresh fuel with stabilizer added to it, and you’ll never have trouble starting.

Any number of mechanisms can control a mower’s ground speed—a squeeze handle, a drive bar that you press forward, even a dial. There’s no single right answer here. Look at the design and think about how you like to work. For example, if more than one person will be using the mower (and not all of them are right-handed), a drive control like that on a Toro Personal Pace mower might be the answer. Just push down on the bar to make it go faster. Let up on the bar to slow down.

A mower that can bag, mulch, and side discharge is known as a three-function mower, the most versatile kind. Two-function mowers bag and mulch or mulch and side discharge.

Mowers will typically have one, two, or four levers to control the deck height. Single-lever adjustment is the easiest to use, but it requires more linkage, which adds weight and complexity. If, for some reason, you find yourself varying deck height frequently, it’s a good option. Otherwise, two or four levers work just fine.

Only Honda makes a gas-engine mower with a high-impact plastic deck (there are battery mowers that have plastic decks). Otherwise, mowers generally have a steel deck, and a few manufacturers—Toro, for one—offer a corrosion-resistant aluminum deck. An aluminum deck won’t rot the way a steel deck will, but you still need to keep it clean.

This is a hose fitting mounted on top of the mower’s deck. When you’re done mowing, hook up a hose and run the mower to power wash the underside of the deck. We’ve had mixed results with these, but they’re better than just letting a mass of dried grass clippings accumulate.

expensive mowers come with a more durable bag with more dust-blocking capability. If you bag a lot, especially leaves or other lawn debris in the fall, then you need a mower with a higher quality dust-blocking bag. Having said that, if you rarely bag, the standard one that comes with a mower will last you the life of the mower.

Also called wide-area mowers, machines in this subgroup help homeowners better reconcile their need for more power and speed with the fact that they may not have enough storage for a tractor or zero-turn mower. A typical residential walk mower has a single-blade deck that cuts a swath from 20 to 22 inches wide. Wide-cut mowers (built for homeowner use) have either a single blade or, more typically, a pair of blades, cutting from 26 to 30 inches with each pass. Some of these are rated for light commercial use and have larger decks, in the 32-inch range, and engines that start at 223 cc and go up to about 337 cc.

Wide-cut mowers typically employ gear or hydrostatic drive transmissions, and they have top speeds of about 4 to 6 miles per hour. At their fastest, they move so quickly you have to trot to keep up with them. Needless to say, they’re overkill for small yards; only opt for one of these if you’ve got a significant plot of land that you need to keep tidy, but not one so large that you’d be better off going with a full-on riding mower.

How We Tested and Selected

We compiled this list based on Popular Mechanics mower testing and our knowledge of the lawn mower market at large. For our testing, we put mowers through the paces using our standard Popular Mechanics methodology: We cut turf grasses such as fescues and blue grass and rougher non-turf grasses like Timothy, clover, orchard grass, and wild oats, all in both normal and shin-deep heights. We mow uphill, downhill, and across the faces of hills. The maximum slope we cut is about 30 degrees.

That may not sound like much, but it’s about all you can do to stand on it, let alone push a mower up it or across it. We mow damp and wet grass to test general cutting performance and whether clippings accumulate on the tires. And we cut dry and dusty surfaces to see how well the bag filters under less-than-optimal conditions.

Honda HRN 216VKA

Key Specs

Honda mowers enjoy a sterling reputation. Having tested their walk and self-propelled mowers for the last 30 years, we feel confident that Honda’s entry level mower is a great choice for homeowners looking for power and durability. The HRN features a GCV 170 gas engine that’s built to withstand long hours of operation.

If you do your own maintenance (and most owners who buy this class of product do), you’ll appreciate the easily accessible spark plug and the fuel shutoff valve that enables better winter storage. Close the fuel shutoff and run the mower until it sputters to a halt. This will clear the carburetor of any gasoline, which will prevent the ethanol in it from disintegrating and causing running issues later on. Open the shutoff valve in the spring, add some fresh gasoline, and the mower should start easily.

All this maintenance stuff is great, but we can also tell you that our past test findings on other Hondas prove that their cut quality is outstanding for cleanliness. Sharp blades deliver a velvet-like finish. And their bagging ability is also quite good, in the same league with other well-bagging mowers from Toro.

In all, if you take mowing seriously, you should enjoy this Honda. If you have a little wiggle room in your budget, consider the Honda HRX, which features a mower powerful engine and a composite deck that won’t rust and is renowned for its durability.

One note is that Honda has announced that it will cease selling lawn mowers in the United States after this year—so if you’re considering buying one, best do it sooner rather than later.

Toro Recycler 60-Volt Max Lithium-Ion

Key Specs

Toro mowers have garnered more recommendations from us than any other brand for two reasons: build quality and cut quality. These were amply demonstrated in our testing as the Recycler turned in the best ratio of cut area per amp-hour of battery in the self-propelled category, while at the same time not skimping on cutting, mulching, or bagging quality.

We attribute this outstanding mower performance to three features, all upgrades to the previous version of this machine. First, the air vent at the front of the mower deck seems to improve mulching and bagging performance. Toro calls it Vortex technology, a design that increases air flow under the deck. This helps to stand the grass for a cleaner cut, which improves mulching performance, and also allows better airflow into the bag when collecting the clippings.

Next, the company’s redesigned “Atomic” blade configuration appears to assist the air flow and clipping movement. Finally, the three-phase, 60-volt motor is exceptionally efficient, resulting in a large cut area for a single battery.

Toro has maintained features that make this mower work: rear wheel drive, a one-piece deck that’s all steel (no plastic nose), 11-inch wheels to help it roll over roots and crevices, and the same fold-forward handle that was an industry breakthrough when it was introduced some years ago.

Ryobi 40-Volt Brushless Self-Propelled Mower

Key Specs

This is one of Ryobi’s top-of-the-line mowers, and it’s American-made construction is something we wish we saw more of. It delivers a tremendous cut area with its two 6-Ah batteries providing a total of 12-Ah of capacity, and its X-shaped blade leaves a pristine surface in its wake.

Ryobi estimates the design should provide 70 minutes of run time; we didn’t time our cut, but it strikes as plausible. Its rear-wheel drive and reasonably aggressive tire tread pattern provide good hill climbing and sidehill cutting performance, and its bagging on all surfaces (level, sidehill, and uphill) is also commendable.

Other ease-of-use features include an easily installed or removed bag that mounts and dismounts straight up and down through the handle; deck adjustment is quick and easy thanks to a single-level deck height adjustment. The straight edge deck is polypropylene; it will never rust and needs very little care other than basic cleaning.

Toro TimeMaster 30 in. Briggs Stratton Personal Pace

The Toro Timemaster 30-in. mower has been around for several years and has earned a reputation as a sturdy workhorse for homeowners who want to cut down on their mowing time. It’s also used by some professionals as well. A few years ago the Timemaster got a slightly more powerful Briggs and Stratton gas engine, so it should have no issues powering through most demanding mowing jobs.

The Timemaster is rear-wheel drive and features Toro’s Personal Pace drive system that’s used on many of its self-propelled mowers. This allows the mower to move at your speed by simply pushing down or releasing the handle, which is spring-tensioned.

With a 30-in. deck, Toro claims the Timemaster will help you reduce your mowing time by about 40% compared to using a standard-sized mower. You can mulch, back, or side discharge with the Timemaster, and the handlebar can be locked in a fully vertical position to reduce space consumption in storage.

If you have half an acre to a full acre of lawn to mow and prefer the experience of a walk-behind mower versus a tractor or zero-turn, the Timemaster is worth a look.

Craftsman M220

Key Specs

Craftsman mowers have been doing very well in our tests, so we can recommend this one because it’s so much like the many other of the brand’s models that we’ve tested. If you’re looking for a good blend of maneuverability and power, you’ll get it with this mower. Its front drive helps move it along and makes it easy to turn.

It’s important to note that front-drive mowers do lose some traction when running uphill, particularly with a full grass bag. But if your slope is less than 20 degrees, and you’re not bagging uphill, you’ll be fine. The side discharge will also help you handle tall grass. Adjust the two deck levers to bring the mower up to full height and have at the rough stuff.

The fact that this mower bags, mulches, and side discharges is a plus, enabling you to handle a wide range of mowing conditions, from early spring and late into the fall. Three-function mowers like this are our preference for that versatility.

Toro Super Recycler Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Key Specs

This is a beauty of a mower, with a cast-aluminum deck and a smooth-running Briggs Stratton 163-cc engine. We tested the Honda engine-equipped version, and it was effective at both bagging and mulching, even in moist grass.

Equipped with rear-wheel drive and the Personal Pace system (the farther you push the drive bar, the faster the mower goes), it’s an effective hill climber and moderately effective on sidehill cutting. It has relatively small 7.5-inch tires on all four corners, which causes this Toro to bump up and down a bit on washboard surfaces. But the good news is that it’s equipped with a far higher quality tire than we’re used to seeing these days. We didn’t notice them pick up any grass on moist surfaces.

Other features we like include its forward-fold handle that has a built-in shock absorber that Toro calls a Flex Handle Suspension, and a high-quality grass bag that loads through the handle, from the top.

QA

Are there special maintenance considerations with self-propelled mowers?

Yes. Both front- and rear-wheel drive mowers typically feature a drive belt, which can crack or wear out over time. Fortunately these belts are not difficult or particularly expensive to replace.

Secondly, you may have to replace the drive wheels occasionally. These wheels are driven with gears. there are typically teeth on the inside diameter of the drive wheel that line up with a gear on the axle. These teeth can wear out, especially if they are made of plastic. Higher-end mowers may feature drive wheels with a metal gear that meets the metal axle gear, which improves longevity of these components.

My lawnmower says I don’t ever have to change the oil, but just add oil when needed. Is this OK?

It’s not a good idea to never change the oil in your lawn mower. In a lawn mower, same as a car, oil degrades over time and is less effective at reducing heat and friction in metal components. Changing the oil in your lawn mower is easy to do and will significantly increase its service life. For most homeowners, changing the oil at the beginning or end of each mowing season should be sufficient, though there is certainly no harm in doing it more often.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.