Pulley swap on mtd

Has anyone ever done a pulley swap on an mtd? I was thinking about a 4 inch pulley on the engine and 4 on the back. Is it possible? What precautions should I take in order for it to work properly. It's just gonna be a trail rig not much of a mud romping rig

Id just go bigger on the front. someone on here did a 7" front and got roughly 35mph... So maybe 4-5" and go from there. Belt has to be perfect or it will have a hard time clutching

What size belt would I need to get? And what would be the best ratio for that cause 35 mph is a bit fast for me lol

Dipshaw87 wrote:

What size belt would I need to get? And what would be the best ratio for that cause 35 mph is a bit fast for me lol

I honestly have no clue... axle ratio is like 26:1 (thread called how do i lock a fnr i think has gearing calculations) and the vari drive thing screws it all up for my ratio and gearing calculations. Kinda a guessing game. And i think you might need a tentioner to MAKE a belt work, like i said you have to be spot on to my understanding

Oh ok. Well for now I was thinking about getting rid of the 12 inch pully on the transaxle and getting a 5 or 6 inch and a smaller belt with tensioner and go from there? I'm new to modding mtd vari drives lol

I also heard 1/2 inch belts suck. What would be better to use?

Dipshaw87 wrote:

I also heard 1/2 inch belts suck. What would be better to use?

I think mtd uses 5/8" belts, the front pulley isn't set up for 1/2" belts. Fearless front and Maine mud mower all use 1/2" belts, so their OK, I hear that 5/8" belts kinda stink in clutching depending on your configuration, I know people with tall gearing and lots of belt slip when you start off use 5/8" because they burned the belts. Mowron's I think.

Well I was thinking 1/2 inch vbelts

redlinemotorsportts wrote:

Id just go bigger on the front. someone on here did a 7" front and got roughly 35mph... So maybe 4-5" and go from there. Belt has to be perfect or it will have a hard time clutching

I ran 7 on the front and went 23mph. I had a 7.25 on the back.
Run 5:5 and you will be alright 5/8 front belt 1/2 rear belt.

I might do 7 on front and back. But should I get vbelts for the front and rear?

Go 5 front and rear. In my experience the 7 spun the vari drive way to fast. Yes you will need v belts but those can either be calculated or trial and errored at your local tsc lol

Ok well how'd you have yours did you put vbelts on both or just run the regular ones?

Dipshaw87 wrote:

Ok well how'd you have yours did you put vbelts on both or just run the regular ones?

the regular ones are v belts. Yes, you have to change out the sizes to accommodate the pulley swap.

Oh ok cause the belts on mine the front one is a standard flat belt and the rear looks like a v belt