OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Walk Behind Lawn Mower Frames Two Stroke Lawn Mower Frames Victa 550 Pro - How to replace drive belt?

The brand new M36 belts (one standard rubber and the other kevlar) did fit on both mowers. The fit was identical but it was so tight on both of them that you could not move the tensioner arm effectively to engage the drive (the arm struggled to move even a few mm, even when you adjusted the cable for maximum force).

Both mowers came with old and torn up standard rubber belts on them.

Is there an M or Z (as I believe thats the other compatible belt class) thats effectively a 36.5? Anyway I think your advice of going and asking a vbelt specialist is a good idea and is something I'd planned to do next I'm in town.

Late postscript to this saga - as mentioned the M36 belts didn't fit, as they were far too tight and when you engaged the drive you couldn't get the tensioner arm to move, as the belt was so taunt already.

Anyway, 4 mths or so ago, knowing I had the winter break (slight reprieve from the kikuyu monster!) I cut a strip of rubber from a thick section I had - about 10cm long x under 1cm wide - maybe 4mm thick. I carefully threaded this inbetween the belt and the rear drive pulley, effectively trying to stretch the belt by having it pushed out a tad further for several months.

I was pessimistic about how this would go - but surprisingly it achieved enough to allow the drive to be engaged & mow effectively - although I still had to have the tensioner arm in the incorrect spot (applying pressure closer to the middle of the belt rather than the rear. But working is fine by me.

We'll see how long these last - but worked well the first time around.