Just did this. Found it easier to remove the PTO, steering wheel, retaining clip on the stem, and both steering stem bushings. Stem dropped straight out the bottom, no need to pull the rest.
This also appears to apply to the snapper SPX models, mine a 2018 and I’m going to tackle it this evening. Thank you for the video, only one that is of any real help
Got the belt off my 2009 Simplicity Regent. TheDillio187 did a fine job going over the procedure in his (your) video. I altered the process just a bit. Instead of taking the steering wheel off, removing the retainer clip, and dropping the entire pinion shaft I removed all of the bolts securing the steering column to the pan so the assembly could wobble around. It was enough to slide the belt over the pinion mounting plate flange underneath. Also, to get the belt off the engine pulley (belt keeper pressed in pan, not enough clearance to get belt off pulley) I removed the engine mount bolts and slid engine to the side.
Getting ready to change out the belt. Taking old one off then new one (1728008sm) gets here in a couple days. Appreciate you sharing your pain for this should be easy job. Advice to mower buyers, don't get a Regent (they may have changed the design but I doubt it). Cannot believe the design. The mower (2009) has been a good one after I stopped using the power blower for grass attachment, it was tearing up the deck pulleys and spindles. Zero help from dealer. I digress, back to the belt. I was seriously considering cutting old one off and installing new one on right side of steering shaft and letting it rub the post.
Grabbed a Regent at an estate sale/ mower scrapyard. Got the engine running good but after seeing this I think I'm gone shelf the engine for a better machine later on, thanks for the vid
Thankyou for the video. Doing this stupid project now in the middle of my yard because I thought hey its just a belt. Should take 10 minutes. Horrible design!!!
Thanks for your time helping the rest of us figure this out. We have a Snapper SPX that is basically the same design. Man! A couple more man hours spent on designing this mower better could have saved the rest of us thousands of man hours labor!
Had the loose steering issue on my 5 year old Regent. Couldn’t find any info on my model. But after looking at fixes for other manufacturers, thought this would be similar fix. WRONG, no easy way. Considering the steering rack, the belt, the wire, the pto. What a dumb design. Wish I saw your video first. Thanks.
Thanks for posting. You are a better man than I because my frustration level could never handle it. I have a Snapper LT200 lawn tractor but it is more or less a Simplicity. I have gotten 13-14 years out of it until the belt started slipping. I'm sure it still has a few years in it but I can't see me replacing the belt. Probably just haul it off.
I feel your pain - I had to go through the same troubles removing half of my Snapper to replace drive belt. I suppose, this should be left to pro mechanic, but in my area there are none so I had to do it myself. At least my belt pulleys are made out of metal not plastic. On same day I had to replace all belts on my tractor (drive belt + deck belts), so my wife kept well away from the garage for half a day because of bad language....
I replaced an idler pulley and thought it would be a good time to to replace the belt. I abandoned that idea when I discovered that the electronic clutch cable required removal. I replaced the idler and just replaced the used belt. What a stupid design.
I wish I had the option to do that. I am just about to finish season #2 with the belt that I replaced in this video, so far, so good. Now the engine smokes profusely upon startup, so that will need a rebuild soon. It's always something!
I had the same issue. What a dumb design for sure. The video I made of it is titled "Snapper lt200 drive belt replacement". I could not find a video of this as well. I just stumbled on this one of yours. The rest of the Snapper is great to work on but to change this belt is more work than it should ever be. I also had some comments saying how it should be done but none had any video showing what they were explaining, plus some were just wrong. That frozen pulley is what probably wore out the belt. Stay well, Joe Z
Not 5 or 6 of us, but 1974 of us! You are one of the few on RU-vid that I found with THIS belt on THIS model! Mine JUST broke and I came right in and started searching to get an idea what I’m in for. I worked in a small engine and mower repair shop for about a year and a half to two years, between working at Auto Repair shop and a Ford dealership. I thought it would be a BREEZE working on mowers, chainsaws, weed eaters and small engines after the nightmare of a major auto dealership,... HELL NO!! Crap like THIS had me kicking myself in the ass and back into cars and trucks as soon as I could!! I thought that I wanted to beat some engineer with a combination wrench when I was working on some of the crap they came up with on Ford car, I couldn’t believe the crap on many lawn tractors! Those engineers needed to be beat and the thrown off a damn cliff!! I think High School kids could engineer some of this stuff better!! Hell! Aside from the riding mowers and lawn tractors, everything else was basically DISPOSABLE! I cost more time in LABOR to fix most chainsaws and weed eaters than it would to FIX it! The shop I worried for also had FREE estimates, so I knew that 90% of them that came in was gonna be a waste of my time and I was NOT gonna get paid for it! AND I wasn’t allowed to TELL the customer that when they would bring them in! Commercial guys with more high end stuff would, but the average homeowner with his Ryobi weed eater was just gonna eat up my time! Oh well, just venting after watching your video and knowing what I’m in store for, flooded me with memories! LOL
I had no idea this video would be so popular, it was more so an attempt to help a few guys out and get my rant out there so that I could hopefully laugh at it later.
@@TheDillio187 you are one of the few that are actually changing the DRIVE belt, and not the deck belt and titled as the “drive belt”! I have a Snapper LT125 that is just about the same as yours with a different name. From what I can see on the ground, I’m praying that maybe Snapper mad that rack plate removable! Otherwise I might drill some bolt hole, grind off the weld and make it removable myself! Looks like that would be faster! The the next time it breaks it won’t take as long!
I have the exact same mower… same issue. Came here to find a way that wasn’t THIS…. which was exactly what my original inspection said I had to do. Dammit. (sigh) Welp… gonna charge up the Bluetooth speakers and buy a bottle of whiskey for my date with Simplicity this weekend! Great video, bud… will toast you Saturday morning!
Love this video! I just took the belt off and will be putting a new one on there when I get it, hopefully this weekend. Your video made it about a 1.5 hour job to get it off (had issues with that stupid clip that holds the steering column in place). The mower got slower and slower and eventually just wouldn't move/go up a hill. The belt felt VERY stretched and was loose and floppy so I hope this was the issue.
I GOT TWO OF THESE FOR $50.00. They both looked new. I rented a trailer and got them home. One has no deck ? Both needs batteries. The one with the deck keeps throwing the belt off the pulley. Can someone please invent a belt that can be a straight line and can be threaded through all the pulleys. Then clipped, bolted, or velcrode in place. Thereby eliminating all this nightmarish disassembly ! Please let me know, you will be a hero many times over ! Get to work on it now ! PLEASE! Now I know why they were so cheap !
Thank you! Thank you! For this video. I agree whole heartedly that this design is horrible. So I managed to get new belt installed. I still have an issue with it slipping off the transmission pulley under driver seat. Tested before I reattached mowing deck. So frustrated. The belt slips underneath the white fan blades under the pulley????? Any tips?
Thanks buddy. I'm in this situation now. WOW! UNBELIEVABLE!!. I'm going to try and find the belt number and put it back together and make sure I can get it before I disassemble this travesty...
i just put one on my express and what a pain in the ass had to rip everything apart i put mine up on the rear wheels yes the steering stem i had to take the motor pulleys off what a pain the engineer of these a was a moron
I have a simplicity regent not sure how old but you have to drop the blade clutch to take off the belt. Doesn't have a bolt to simply remove out the way
YOU DON'T HAVE TO remove the steering stem, lift it real high or disassemble the gears . Just remove the steering wheel and circlip, put the nut back on to keep the shaft from dropping all the way out . Remove the 4 bolts on the bracket and let the bracket drop enough to lift the sides of the belt over the sides of the bracket instead of over the top of the shaft. 😅
@@TheDillio187 The circlip that you remove is at the top of the shaft underneath the steering wheel cover. So the entire shaft, gear and bracket assembly can then lower about 1/2" and give you enough clearance to get the belt inside the bracket.
I don't remember now to be honest. A couple of the other replies here said it's not necessary, but you definitely need to get the belt around the steering stem.
Somebody tell me how to move that black pin that is going through pulley ,out of the way,it’s a conquest , 2002-04 , it’s like it’s part of the frame without no bolts holding it
I just did this job and it wasn't easy because I made a few mistakes by doing some things I didn't have to do. I removed the steering wheel (nut and keeper ring) and hosted the front end. Wiggled a front tire and the steering stem fell out. No need to take the rack and pinion and everything associated with it out. Battery does not need to come out. The biggest problem was that I had to cut the wires to the PTO to get the belt off because there was no quick connect. Have not finished and may add one for next time Tip: while you are doing this check your tension pulleys, one of mine was worn so while I had everything apart I took them off and replaced them.
I had to pound mine off. Another guy suggested using a flywheel/balancer puller, which is probably the better way to go as I destroyed my wheel trying to get it off, it was really stuck.
THIS WAS THE STUPIDEST DESIGN EVER! Thanks for the video, it saved me thinking too much. At least I know what Im in for! One question though, what did you use to bend that tab made into the main frame?
Can you take the electronic clutch off and support it so you don't have to unplug the connector to get the belt on the front? And will the steering shaft pull out through the bottom without taking off anything else? Thanks.
I didn't try. I didn't see any way to just take off the clutch, it seemed pressed onto the output shaft. No on the steering shaft, you at least have to take the wheel off. It might just drop out of there, then. It's been some time now and I don't recall for sure.
@@TheDillio187 Thanks for responding. I ended up hoisting the front end so the tractor was vertical. My steering wheel came off fairly easily and just pulled steering shaft out without removing anything else underneath. The clutch has a bolt to remove on the bottom and the clutch also came off easily. I just tied it to the brake pedal with wire so I could get the belt on the front pulley. It was finished in half-hour or less thanks to some of your info in the video. Hoisting the front end made a big difference also, but still a ridiculous design for belt placement.
First of all, son, after removing the mower deck, stand the mower up on it's rear end. Then you can work on it. By the way, drain the engine oil end place a plastic bad over the threaded gas cap for anti- spillage. about an half hour job or you're snoozing.
@@TheDillio187 yes, dads right 😄 Its the best way to work on these damn things. Also if you have a sturdy tree branch or a open beam in your garage go to HF n buy the $45 crane. Worth every penny. No lifting
Timely video for me. I got to the removal of the dang steering wheel and I cannot get it off the shaft after removing the nut. Did you have any trouble with that?
