Sure! I enjoy ”engineer” jokes, and Aggie jokes(I are one). But building a machine that requires extensive disassembly to perform basic maintenance does not result in an enduring product (as this discontinued item demonstrates). My Super Recycler with its aluminum hull is beautiful and I’ve had it for many years. But I’m kinda unlikely to purchase another Toro because it is a time-hog to maintain. No offense, and I like Houzz comraderie, but Torx “fasteners” are not involved in belt/guard R&R. The fact that Toro use both Torx and square-drive screws on the same part is only the beginning. To R&R a Toro Super Recycler (TSR) drive belt requires removal of blade & wings, engine-pulley, engine-belt pulley, engine-belt-pulley guard, battery removal, battery-box removal, mower debris guard removal, molded plastic rear-bag adapter, pulley-tunnel guard, and transmission-belt pulley guard. With a SINGLE design change, two-thirds of those items would be unnecessary! It’s not a case of ”bad” design… just an example of the difference between “basic” design and “great” design. If this maintenance task had been examined before production, it would have been obvious that a very small shift in the aluminum mower deck mold (less than 0.2 inches) would allow the TSR transmission to rotate a full 180 degrees (actually 360 if you needed to). This one ”attention to maintainability” item would reduce blade change time to less than 15 minutes… simultaneously reducing maintenance-induced stress, wear, and failure on all of the components that were R&R’d for no reason other than accessing the belt. I didn’t start out as an engineer… I was an A&P mechanic on C-5A aircraft. In Vietnam over 250 lives were lost when a “Baby Lift” evacuation plane crashed when the rear cargo door locks failed. We found that the door locks had a 34-cent bushing within a 34-part assembly would fail ( 34 & 34) is how I remember it so many years later. Replacing the bushing required near-complete disassembly of all 7 locks (one side of the cargo ramp) and a three hour ”rigging” of the lock hooks. I learned many things in maintenance; but my C-5 experience convinced me that I needed to be an engineer. Have a great day and if you ever have the ”pleasure” of ACTUALLY changing the belt on a TSR… I wish you patience and agile fingers.

'Very similar mowers' Actually, not. The Platinum has the hi-dome deck, unique to the LB 'Insight' Series. The steel version on my LB 10684 has been a great mulcher. The LB uses a Tecumseh and the Toro a B&S with the same 6.75 torque rating. They both have 'Personal Pace' (LB calls it 'Sensa Speed'). Neither mower has a 'transmission' per se - the constantly-slipping drive belt and control mechanism is the 'transmission'. The box on the axle is a gear reduction and turns the axis of rotation to the axle, like the 'rear end' of a vehicle. The LB does use a different box than the Toro, and it doesn't have the greasable clutch housings at the rear wheels (these do not grease the wheels). In their advertising they claim it is a new-designed unit, so maybe it does eliminate the pull-back problems with Personal Pace. The hose port on the Toro is a gimmick. On mowers without it, you just direct the hose stream under the deck and it does the same thing. You have to tie down the bail to let it run while you hose it in either case unless you want to stand right behind it and get wet. I can't comment on the Toro's abilities, never having used one. Good luck on making your choice between these two fine premium mowers!

The engine is set up to come up off the deck without taking any controls or anything off. The problem is, the pulley is between the engine and the muffler plate. Remove the blade, mulch fan and blade driver. Remove the belt cover. You should now be able to see the pulley on the crankshaft. You have to raise the engine up out of the muffler plate so you can get the new belt over the end of the crank. I think this requires taking off the muffler cover and removing the muffler plate bolts, then the engine-to-deck bolts. Have somebody there to hold the engine up while you slip the belt on. Then you can put it on the trans pulley. You're going to get dirty, but should have no problems doing it. Mind the exhaust gasket and make sure it's positioned right before bolting on the muffler plate. This is an excellent opportunity to check the exhaust ports and lower crank seal as well as cleaning out the muffler. Maybe it's simpler than this but that's what I think you have to do.

I have had a lot of people asking this question. So this is for anyone needing help with it. The Belt Guide (part #7) in the diagram is held on by two of the engines mounting bolts. To remove the belt. Remove the two bolts holding it in place or loosen the engine mounting bolts enough to get the belt from around or onto the pulley. You can force the belt around the guide using a flat screw driver. But you run the risk of causing damage to the belt. You can press CTRL and + keys at the same time to increase the size of the image for a better look. Then CRTL and - to return it to normal size.