swisher T40 finish mower Qs

dodge trucker

Tractorologist
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I have this mower that I got last year with a dead engine. I am doing an engine transplant on it as we speak.
I cant seem to find any good clear pictures of the belt routing. Everywhere i look via Google search I find the same exploded view contained with what I take as the original owners manual. It's sideways on the computer screen and a drawing not a picture.
The belt routing isn't quite what I am questioning.
It has a 2nd belt attached at one end to a long carriage bolt on the far right side, by a hose clamp. (as it would sit behind a tractor as you are seated and running along) I had to take the hose clamp off and remove this 2nd belt to get the old belt and then the new belt to pass thru onto the pulley.
This 2nd belt is cut, doesn't spin w/ the engine, and is connected on the other end (would be the left side of machine by what can be best described as a big staple about 2/3 of the way around the left blade pulley (judged by the amount of drive belt wrapped around left pulley) and I thought it was "jerry rigged" until I saw that parts breakdown and it shows exactly what I have, this 2nd belt is called out as a "brake belt" PN B370. It is used as a belt guide, belt "keeper" type of deal.

What I'm trying to figure out is how this 2nd belt is supposed to be orientated. Particularly on the left side. Does it go under the left drive pulley, just as an "attachment point" to hold the other end from flopping around, or does it go higher as in behind the drive belt? I can't see how this could be? as the only way I can wrap it in line with the belt, the 2 belts rub back to back, I can't see how that can be good for either one, the heat buildup and friction would destroy one or both belts. Page 5 of Swisher Lawn Mower T-40 User Guide | ManualsOnline.com
hopefully this page of the only manual I can find on pages and pages of Google shows what I mean....
I've found pictures of a whole unit as in an old sale ad, but none with covers off looking straight down.
 
if you look, you can see along the back of the routing, in that picture/ that there are 2 belts there. but the rest is as clear as mud.
 
IMG_20220505_204420820.jpghere is where the question lies. The green belt is the drive belt and the black belt behind that is the "brake" belt according to what little info the manual and parts breakdown gives. I have it behind those 2 little "finger's" coming off the post behind that. I stripped the old engine off last fall, and waited to put the new one on til now because of 2 reasons
This mower was of no use for anything over the winter
And I have no room right now under roof to keep it protected from winter.the new engine by itself takes up less space than the engine mounted on the machine, so I was able to keep that indoors. When I got back to finishing this up the other day the "brake belt" was under that pulley and it does nothing when positioned there. Except as a place holder, for that end. When set that way it still kept the belt on the other side from coming out of the groove. Maybe that's all it's supposed to do? I'd have thought they'd put a normal looking belt keeper with a metal rod bolted to the chassis and positioned near the pulley for that would have been sufficient without looking rigged.
 
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Wish it did. Same thing as I come up with. At the top of that picture (deck is shown sideways) where the 2nd belt goes behind the drive belt isn't very clear and that's where the issue/question is.
 
I edited the most relevant picture I have (so far) with a description of what don't make sense to me about the whole thing.
 
It looks like that bottom belt disappears at both ends at the top of the drawing.
 
Do your pulleys and idler pulley have room to run two belts together. I don’t understand why the only part of the double belt is that one section then it disappears.
 
Nope. Not room for 2 belts, on the pulleys.
The 2 nd belt is cut, and connected at each end to points on opposite sides of the machine. One end by a hose clamp and the other end by a staple. The end with the staple rotates as the belt is tightened to "engaged" position and back when disengaged. And also on this rotating part the one end is attached to is connected by a chain to the tensioner as well as a safety switch connected midway on chain by a spring, just a little plunger thing with 2 wires coming out of it, I think it makes contact when retracted (disengaged) and breaks contact when extended (engaged)
But that plunger thing somehow got "lost". Oops.
This 2nd belt may go the same way. Oops again, if it needs some kind of keeper to keep the belt from flying off that would be easy to make.
 
Well this kind of fizzled out.
I haven't had a chance to do much more than look at it as I walk by, since posting. Probably will be next week sometime before I can get back to it. But want to fix it right. Still looking for ideas here.
 
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