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.

I did that, it did help. Thanks, still not there yet. This does have the Xenoy deck, the edges are rather sharp! Should I take the throttle cable off that looks like the key. It is in the way of maneuvering the belt. I looked for a repair manual on line and all I found was one to buy from Honda itself.

well, lessee how this looks: "30.8. Slip the crankshaft pulley down far enough to get the belt off of the pulley, and remove the belt from the crankshaft. See Figure 30.8. NOTE: Belt keepers that are part of the tractor frame prevent the belt from being removed without lowering the pulley. NOTE: The pulley may be removed from the crankshaft at the discretion of the technician." That's right out of the 1000-1500 series serv manual.... and I don't really know if there is enuff room to lift thet engine straight up with the ground drive pulley in place to be able to wangle the ground drive belt off past those fixed keepers - which I fully agree are something of a PITA. just saying... MHO.

It can't be that hard to figure out. There is usually a diagram somewhere on the tractor. I assume it is either missing or too well hidden? At the most there should only be 5 pulleys under there for the transmission drive. The front drive pulley (@ the engine) and the driven pulley (@ the transmission) and both should be obvious. That only leaves three to deal with between the front and rear end pulleys. On one side between the drive and driven pulleys, (the return side where the belt goes towards the engine from the transmission also where the power is transmitted and the belt is tight when running) there should one solidly mounted guide pulley. On the other side between the drive and driven pulleys (where the pulley goes from the engine towards the transmission and has some slack that can be taken up with a tensioner), their should be the two tension pulleys. One pulley that is spring loaded creating the tension and one pulley near it that the tension is levered against. So all you have to do is find the one (or 2) pulley that are mobile, or spring loaded and can move. One will have the "V" grove and one will be flat for the back of the belt. Just pull the tension pulley, slide the belt between the two pulleys with the correct side facing the corresponding pulley face, and let the tension pulley pull the belt tight.