How to change a belt, the right way, in under a minute . . . without a knife or a naughty word. This might be old hat to some, but I have helped many along the trail that did not know the simple technique.

Please don't mind the illistrations. They will in time be replaced with pictures. The magic in this technique lies in how the secondary clutch works. Under a high torque load( like starting from a dead stop or going up a hill), the sheaves of the clutch spread to permit the belt to slide down and reduce the effective gear ratio of the clutch system. This is acomplished by a series of ramps and springs. The spring pushes the sheaves of the clutch together, the pull of the belt spreads them. The balance, hopefully, sets the right gear ratio for the load. As the engine pulls the belt down in the sheaves, the left sheave rotates backwards and out, as guided by the ramps.

The result is a spread sheave, and the easy way to change the belt.

By grabbing the left sheave, and rotating it backwards at the same time you push it open, you can open the clutch wide. As you hold it open, the spread clutch gives you extra slack, and you can just peel the belt right off (left picture).

So, here it is again. Grab the inside sheave, and rotate it backwards at the same time you push it open. This gives you plenty of slack to just peel the belt right off.

Using this simple technique, you can change a belt in under 20 or 30 seconds, no cussing, no knife. Once you get it, it really is quite simple.