White/MTD LT 13 mower drive belt adjustment????

I am working on a friend's White LT 13 lawn mower. It is a supper clean one for its age. She has a small yard and it has never set out.

She locked a blade up on a piece of wood and burnt a spot on the deck drive belt. I am a Sten's dealer so I cross matched the belt and ordered it. The belt I got was just a little wider. It would not disengage when the deck lever was pulled back. So I went and got a MTD belt that is the exact same part number as the belt it came with. The MTD belt is just the same as the Sten's belt. It still will not disengage the deck.

I have looked at the linkage and all I can see that would adjust the deck belt is a pin towards the rear of the deck. It goes through two arms and they have three holes in them. It is currently in the very bottom one. I think moving the pin up a hole would make the belt be looser when disengaged.

Now the problem. There is spring that pulls back on the deck. It is hooked on the pin/rod and then goes back to a bracket under the left side of the drive axle. I can not pull hard enough to release this spring. I even had my son try it and he can't get it off either.

So am I correct in that the pin is how you adjust the belt tension??? IF so how do you get the spring off???

I would try and mow for a hour or so BEFORE I adj. anything. The worst Thing about a MTD mower is the deck adj.

LT 13 does not tell us which mower you have.
The real model number is (or was) on a tag under the seat.

by your mention of the 'big spring' at the rear of the deck, it sounds like you have one of the models where the lift lever also engages the deck.

If so: (And I am assuming you have a 2 blade deck)

Do you have both the spindle pulley shields in place? Do you have the belt guides (usually 5/16 dia rods) around the engine pulley? It is absolutely imperitive that all those be on there. Otherwise the belt will drag enough on the engine pulley that the blades will continue to turn. And no other amount of monkeying with it will change anything.

Now about what you asked: That spring is a real bugger and I use a loop of deck engage cable with a pipe handle to pull it.

As far as how far the deck can move when engaged/disengaged, There is an adjustment on the lift handle shaft inside the tunnel directly below the steering shaft. If its the mower with the high hump between the footrests. Its somewhere else if the mower has a low step-through area between the footrests, but I forget where. I would mess with it only as a last resort. Like I said, if you are trying to make it work without the belt covers and guides, you are probably wasting your time.

TRK: YOU nailed it. It is the mower that the height/lift level engages and disengages the deck. When you lift the deck it slides/moves it forward to disengage the deck.

I have all the shields and guides in place. I have also adjusted/bent the pulley stops that are under the steps pads.

The new belt is just not worn like the old belt. The deck needs to move towards the motor more to get the belt drag low enough so the brakes can stop the spindles from turning.

The Gas tank is blocking me from seeing under the steering wheel. I will remove it and see if I can find the adjustment.