Belt tension

Hey guys this is my first build. I put a 5-inch pulley on the motor, and left the stock pulley on the transaxle. When I measure for a belt, should I leave the clutch at half 3/4 or let it out all the way?

I usually measure it at 5/8 clutch, that way you get great belt tension and won't have to replace the belt when it gets stretched out.  I also find that it keeps it from coming off. On my riding mower, the stock length is 96" and the belt would fall off every 600 feet or so.  So then I put a 95.5" belt on and it never fell off again.

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

I usually do 5/8, that way you get great belt tension and won't have to replace the belt when it gets stretched out.  I also find that it keeps it from coming off. On my riding mower, the stock length is 96" and the belt would fall off every 600 feet or so.  So then I put a 95.5" belt on and it never fell off again.

I don't think he's referring to belt width. I like to test fit a belt with the clutch disengaged all the way and then spin the engine pulley by hand the correct way, that usually gives me an idea whether the belt will actually disengage when I put the clutch in. Then, provided you have decent clutch throw, the tesion should be fine when the clutch is engaged.

AllisKidD21 wrote:

Double W Cross Ranch wrote:

I usually do 5/8, that way you get great belt tension and won't have to replace the belt when it gets stretched out.  I also find that it keeps it from coming off. On my riding mower, the stock length is 96" and the belt would fall off every 600 feet or so.  So then I put a 95.5" belt on and it never fell off again.

I don't think he's referring to belt width.

Neither was I, I measure it at 5/8 clutch because I prefer my clutch to be 3/4 of the way closed when my foot is off of it, and since the measuring tape doesn't fit in the pulley it makes a tiny difference.

^ the belts also stretch out after awhile. I measure the length tight with no partial clutching then add around 2 or more inches , depending on pulley size( like if you have a 7 inch on the front and a 7 inch on the rear you will need more length to fit up in the groove as the string is in the center) works for me pretty well but I also have my custom clutches where they have a very large amount of travel.

Thanks guys!

Off topic but could I make shift my transaxle on the move if it's not meant to be?

You mean like upshifting automotive style? Yes it's what we all do , but on some models like 633a or 2300s they do not shift while driving. Just do not down shift as that is harder on them . I use msts ,930s, spicers, and they all do well with shifting while driving.

I'm not sure what I have lol it a mid 90s noma if that helps lol

All wheel steer?  Doesn't really make a difference but I'm just curious, lol.
What I would do is cut the old belt, put it back on, and let the clutch out about 3/4 and measure the difference.  The clutch not out all the way will compensate for the belt not being stretched perfectly tight, and leave enough for the belt to be tight to reduce belt slip, wear, and to keep the belt on.

No not all the steer.

Thanks you

Your welcome! Hope it goes well for you man!

Shane87 wrote:

Thanks guys!

Off topic but could I make shift my transaxle on the move if it's not meant  to be?

You can shift any trans on the move, just need to know how to do it. The transaxles where the pulley is on top and are box shaped are pretty easy to shift because they are made like a motorcycle gearbox with how forks slide into the gears centers to engage them (MST, Peerless, Foote, and Spicer's). The transaxles that have the more rounded cases, usually 3 speeds with H patterns and sometimes high/low with mainly side input pulleys are the trans where the gear meshes with the gear to be in the gear, LOL. These trans you can shift using what is called speed shifting. Drag racers use this technique and don't even use the clutch. The idea is to release the pressure on the gears by letting off the throttle halfway to pull it out of gear, then all the way off the throttle to put it into the next higher gear. If you do it right then it will such the shifter into the higher gear and can be done when upshifting only. This technique would need a gas pedal though. You can use this technique on the motorcycle style transaxles too for easier and smoother shifting, like the MST's, Peerless, Foote, and Spicer's too.

Yeah Peerless 600's are semi sliding-gear transaxles and they shift super smooth, even without use of the clutch.

The 633 in my simplicity works a lot better now with the shaft brake deal on it. The input was spinning way too fast and needs to be slowed down before selecting high gear. Otherwise it wouldn't mesh. If I didn't have such huge pulleys flying around it wouldn't act like a flywheel though, so mostly it's my own fault because of the design I have.

All manual transmission cars used to be non syncromesh until around the 40's or 50's. I guess by the late 40's most went to syncromesh. Anyway, there was a bit of gear grinding involved with those early cars unless you were really good at shifting at just the right time.

mr.modified wrote:

All manual transmission cars used to be non syncromesh until around the 40's or 50's. I guess by the late 40's most went to syncromesh. Anyway, there was a bit of gear grinding involved with those early cars unless you were really good at shifting at just the right time.

Yeah that's a good point, every trans was all sliding gear back then. There's a reason they called them crash boxes, haha.

The old big rigs didn't have the syncros in them, which is why they double clutch the pedal. I think they finally got wise and recently started putting in the syncros. They left them out so long because it was one more thing to go wrong.

Yeah in the Peerless instruction manual, it said you can upshift into any gear without using the clutch. It said for downshifting, use the clutch, and for putting it in reverse, come to a complete halt.
I still am not going to, lol. It makes a noise that cannot possibly be good for it, so I always use the clutch.