Thanks Dieselboy. I have routed the belt as per the illustration in the owners manual.
I have noticed the belt tensions more the higher the deck is raised. I tried putting a wider B section belt on to see what would happen and the belt slipped when the deck was down low but when raised fully the belt was so tight it didn't disengage and overloaded the starter motor.
Yes the mulch plug is long gone
Thanks for the tip about loading the belt slowly. I'll have to check to see what he does.
There is rubber sprayed around the pulleys and the steel pulleys had a layer of rubber on them. I gather this means the belt has been slipping.
The old belt looks glazed and has been sliced through on an angle as though someone cut it. On the John Deere mowers, I find the black belts usually break up in chunks.
