some info wanted please

young budgie

hi everyone and i do hope this isnt a stupid question, but i have a rideonmower,
18.5 hp,
42'' vented deck size electric start 6 speed transaxle plus reverse and neutral.
Well thats what the manual says anyway. it has a briggs and stratton engine and all is going well,and the name on the side of the mover is LAWNMASTER, my problem is firstly im not that great when it comes to mechanical talk so ill try and make this simple but yet still undersatndable.my main problem is that im trying to find out what kind or size v belt i need for this machine, the one that is on the mower is working ok but it will soon need replacement and i thought the size would be on the side of the belt but it is not, so if anyone can tell me if all belts are the same or different lengths for a 42'' mower, or are they all different for different makes of mowers, i tried googleing but to no avail, i cant even find LAWNMASTER site for parts or anything like that, any info would be gratfully recieved.what i was thinking of doing was to take the belt off and meausre it but i do not know if this works for getting the size of a belt,and if it does is there any special ways of measuring it, or i even thought of going to a machinery shop with it in my hand and asking for something similiar,i truly have no idea if any of these would work,but all info will be taken,thank you

Design_Dude

Simply bring the old belt into a store and theyll get you a new one.

young budgie

thanks for the info, i was afraid to ask this as i thought it couldnt be as simple as that, also would it be a car store or a would any machinery store have a belt, thanks

quietsailor

A proper lawnmower store would be your best bet for getting a replacement belt once you show them the original belt. Next would be a motor or agri factor store.

The Woodies; B&Q's et al may not stock them and I doubt if there staff would have the mechanical knowledge to know how to check the belt

- the old belt will have loosened and stretched slightly so it will appear fractionally longer than the new one.
-Is the cross sectional shape of the belt a V-shape or a square/rectangular?
-Is the inside face of the belt ribbed or flat. Note - its better to look at the pulley the belt runs on to get this info, if the pulley is ribbed so is the belt, if the pulley is smooth it's a smooth belt

blackbox

young budgie wrote: »

thanks for the info, i was afraid to ask this as i thought it couldnt be as simple as that, also would it be a car store or a would any machinery store have a belt, thanks

You are unlikely to get one at a car store - they are usually a heavier gauge than car fan belts, and tougher.

You have a fair chance of getting one at a farm machinery store if there is no lawnmower specialist nearby - might also be cheaper.

Be prepared for it to be a lot more expensive than a car's fan belt!

young budgie

cool thanks for the info guys all appreciated