How to Put a Deck Belt & Pulley on a Murray Riding Mower

Often when a pulley on a Murray mower deck seizes up and fails to spin, it causes the mower deck belt to overheat. Overheating can cause fraying on the belt or even cause the belt to break. If a bearing inside one of the deck pulleys did seize up, replace the pulley and the belt at the same time to avoid further complication and down time later.

Wrench set
Gear puller
Rubber mallet

Instructions

- 1
  Drive the Murray mower onto level ground, disengage the mower deck and turn the mower's engine off. Lower the mower deck to its lowest position. When you disengage the mower deck, it places slack in the mower belt. This makes the belt easier to remove.
- 2
  Find the PTO pulley under the engine and then pull the mower belt off the pulley.
- 3
  Take note of the belt routing around the pulley system on the mower deck and then pull the belt off the pulleys on the deck.
- 4
  Place the tangs on each of the three arms mounted to the gear puller under the pulley. Place the threaded shaft of the gear puller directly over the center of the pulley.
- 5
  Remove the bolt from the center of the pulley with a wrench.
- 6
  Place a wrench onto the square end of the threaded shaft and turn it clockwise to pull the pulley off the spindle shaft.
- 7
  Place the pulley on the spindle shaft and tap it into place with a mallet. Secure the pulley to the spindle shaft with the original bolt.
- 8
  Route the mower deck belt around the pulley system and then pull the belt forward until you can place the belt around the PTO pulley.

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