Is it possible to over tighten the belt on a QA42A?

[ol'George]

In your first post, you mentoned you tightened the belt, then tightened the 4 bolts.
The bolts are to always be tight.---

The plate that the gear box is bolted too, should slide freely up /down with the bolts tight, as there are spacers around the bolts that allow the plate to slide in the bolt slots .
That way when you are working the thrower, and have a need to tighten the belt, you need only to turn the adjustment.
Sometimes the spacers get lost or damaged and tightening the bolts binds the plate, if this is the case,inspect and repair.
And replace the belt with a quality belt, not a fractonal horsepower hardware belt, they are not designed for that kind of load.
they are a rubber-band @ best.
Yes, they will do in a pinch, to get you finished for the day, till you can get a good belt.

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by Yosemite Sam

I missed that part altogether...

The side of the belt that is shown in the last picture of post #3.

Alright, will do. I'll snap some pics as soon as I get home.

Originally Posted by ol'George

In your first post, you mentoned you tightened the belt, then tightened the 4 bolts.
The bolts are to always be tight.---

The plate that the gear box is bolted too, should slide freely up /down with the bolts tight, as there are spacers around the bolts that allow the plate to slide in the bolt slots .
That way when you are working the thrower, and have a need to tighten the belt, you need only to turn the adjustment.
Sometimes the spacers get lost or damaged and tightening the bolts binds the plate, if this is the case,inspect and repair.
And replace the belt with a quality belt, not a fractonal horsepower hardware belt, they are not designed for that kind of load.
they are a rubber-band @ best.
Yes, they will do in a pinch, to get you finished for the day, till you can get a good belt.

Ah, that's good to know. I was always under the understanding that you tighten the 4 bolts once you have tension on the belt. So, given that I replace the 4 spacers, I then tighten those 4 bolts and they always remain tight? And what then keeps the tension on the pulley so that the whole thing doesn't lose tension all the time and slip the belt all the time?

Edit: As for a quality belt, I've heard this truth 1000x over the spread of several forums and countless posts. I ordered a Napa Gates Industrial belt this morning that will be in tomorrow for a bind and I ordered a new IH belt that should hopefully be in next week. On that note, not that I'm trying to start a debate, but I've read mixed reviews from people about other-than-IH belts. The majority of people say steer clear of them if at all possible and I fully intend to. That being said, I've read many posts that speak to the contrary; guys that use smaller pulleys to speed up there blowers obviously cannot use the stock belt so they are forced to use an aftermarket belt, whether it be a Green Napa belt or whatever with obvious success. So, I'm hoping I'll get lucky and once I learn the "limits" of my machine and get it tuned right, I can at least have the Napa Industrial belt that won't shred in 20 feet for me

[ol'George]

Your adjustment slides the plate up/down tightening the belt or loosening it.
nothing more.
The bolts are to stay tight, You will have a little play where the plate slides on the QA Mule, that is normal.
If you are fuzzy on the operation look in our tech section under impliments, throwers, QA.

[DoubleO7]

Originally Posted by jimbob200521

And what then keeps the tension on the pulley so that the whole thing doesn't lose tension all the time and slip the belt all the time?
:

The big azz wing bolt.
Might want to safety wire it so that it does not loosen due to vibrations.
You can use a piece of solid copper wire or a rubber tie down strap, etc.

The four bolts with the spacer on them are there to keep the thrower side assembly lined up and from falling away from the tractor side assembly.

[ol'George]

I, For one, have to use a non stock belt on my mower deck so I row that boat.( no need for the reason here)
Goodyear Insta-power is one of the best AND designed for the twists /idlers of that type of usage.
They are about the same cost as factory belts, you get what you pay for.
I personally have just a little over 350 hours on one and see no reason to replace it.
I once used a TSC Kevlar belt, it lasted about 2 hours before it schredded.
TSC Gave me a full refund, Good ppl @ TSC just the belt was not up to the job.
A thrower, although it takes higher hp it isn't affected by the twists/idlers of a mower deck.
I personally use a DP brown blue ribbon ( industrial) left over from my working days, and so far it serves well, but I really don't have but maybe 20 hrs on it.

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by DoubleO7

The big azz wing bolt.
Might want to safety wire it so that it does not loosen due to vibrations.
You can use a piece of solid copper wire or a rubber tie down strap, etc.

The four bolts with the spacer on them are there to keep the thrower side assembly lined up and from falling away from the tractor side assembly.

Originally Posted by ol'George

Your adjustment slides the plate up/down tightening the belt or loosening it.
nothing more.
The bolts are to stay tight, You will have a little play where the plate slides on the QA Mule, that is normal.
If you are fuzzy on the operation look in our tech section under impliments, throwers, QA.

Alright, thank you guys! I'll have to go to the local hardware store and get some spacers. I've got to have one bolt that has a spacer still in it because it is tight and I could never break it loose so I'll have to work that one free and take the spacer out of it. If I can't get an perfectly exact match, is this a part that "close enough" will work on or do I need to be super picky about it?

[DoubleO7]

Spacers:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...hlight=spacers

[darkminion_17]

From the CPE book it shows the bolts being carriage bolts 3/8 " x 1 1/4

[jimbob200521]

Originally Posted by DoubleO7

Spacers:
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...hlight=spacers

Awesome, thank you!

I think I'll grab some 1/4" pipe nipple and cut me some 1/4" spacers unless they have something that'll work. Seems like anything 1/4" in length that'll fit should work.

But huh...a lot smaller than I would have thought them to be.

[Muzzy]

You should be able to get the spacers at a hardware store. They're about 3/8" long. The carriage bolts are hardened as well.