Drive Belt

A few weeks ago the now seemingly persistent rainy weather had provided a few day break. Even though we had a couple inches of rain a few days before, the soil of two garden plots was sufficiently dry to rototill up where plants had been harvested and pulled. I was doing the garden in Sun Prairie, where potatoes, eggplant, beans, tomatoes and a few other crops had been pulled up, I was about 1/3 of the way through when, the drive belt on the Troy-Bilt Pony rototiller broke.  Many years ago, perhaps about twenty or more, I had replaced the same drive belt. 

Year built--1989

Quite frankly, it is probably easier getting into Fort Knox, than to find the right drive belt for a 35 year old machine. I took the belt home with me and stopped at the hardware store. The guy looked up the number on the belt Troy-Bilt 9201, and said it was an odd size, at 23.5". I then went to the internet and found that one site claimed it was an odd dimension of 23 5/16" and others had 24. I then called Troy-Bilt and they said it was some fraction. Is it measured inside or outside diameter?

I then called two dealers that sell Troy-Bilt (the dealer from which it was purchased is out of business) and they suggested I get the part number. One tried to find the parts manual online, but could not find it. The following week on my next trip to Sun Prairie, I find the owner manual and luckily with it was the part catalog. I find the part number by reference to the diagram. Why there is a number on the belt and a separate and different part number, I do not know. I think an engineer, desirous of making things as difficult to follow, wrote the parts catalog. Armed with this information, I again called one of the two dealers, and now they wanted the serial number of the machine. Luckily I had found the serial number the prior week, but one digit was not discernable. I provide the information I have on the serial number, and missing digit was not required. So, all of this to find out they cannot even get the drive belt. The machine is dated 1989, so I figure it was about 33 or 34 years old, which is not too old for such machinery in my mind. I wanted to get an original manufacturer part, as I thought it would probably have the best fit. That was not going to be. The parts guy suggested going to Farm and Fleet. 

Model Number, was of no use

Armed with belt 9201 and the part number from the catalog I went to F&F and they looked up the part number and gave me a belt from a secondary manufacturer. I am not sure if it is the right size or not. I did put in on the tiller, but the ground was too wet to rototill, and with current rains I will probably not get it rototilled this fall.  I am not sure if the tines will turn under load of ripping up soil. When I think about it, it is quite a load the tiller has for doing what it needs to do.

One on-line belt, the cost at the store was much higher
maybe a different belt manufacturer.

Maybe I can get my brother-in-law to bring down his tiller that goes behind a large garden tractor off a rear PTO. That would make quick work, but it may take more effort to get the tiller on and off than to do the Pony, provided it works right with the new drive belt. One never knows when parts go out of stock. Hopefully, the drive belt I purchased and installed is the correct one.