Measuring Belts

Hi,
Looking to measure a belt for a riding mower. Checked Doc's thread, 'The Right Belt, Every Time' and noticed he used a belt gauge but can't seem to find where to buy one. I am looking for alternate ways to measure a belt. I'm going to get a longer built, cut it down and cable tie it up to the right size. Any ideas on how to measure that belt?

Well it may seem a bit unorthodox, but the way I did it was I clamped the shaft of a screwdriver in a bench vise, hooked the belt on the handle of the screwdriver, pulled on the belt as hard as I could and measure (or have someone do you for you) from the screw driver to the other end of the belt and that will give you the approximate length of each side, so you just gotta times it by two. This doesn't really sound like it would work, but it worked for me. Just a suggestion. Good luck!

That actually seems like a good idea. I will try that.

Cool, glad to be a help. Let me know how it goes!

Hardware stores like Tractor Supply Co. have them in their belt section mounted on the shelf. just bring in the old belt and use it to measure your new one. We couldn't find one that fit the CQ in our collection, so we brought one slightly big, measured it, and got one an inch shorter. Hope this helps!