hustler 980 wont climb

[cjlemay]

I just bought a hustler bigfoot 980 and im not happy with it the guy i bought it from said he just rebuilt everything on it. It wont go up a hill or cant climb out of the water the belt for the clutches has alot of slack how tight is it suppose to be its a brand new belt

[amphibious drew]

The belt should fit pretty tight. Anything over an inch of deflection when your pushing on it and its probably the wrong size belt or warn.

[cjlemay]

should it be tight without it running a video i saw had the groves of the belt up mine are down and when they reved it up the belt drew down into the clutch this is my first 6x6 and i know nothing about it

[thebuggyman1]

Dayco belt website: ATV and Snowmobile Belts - by Dayco
Are you pushing forward on the sticks? You have to when climbing etc. or the bands in the t-20 are just slipping.

[hydromike]

.... this is my first 6x6 and i know nothing about it

We'll get you fixed up. The grooves on the belt face inward, toward the clutches. The belt on the video you saw must have flipped over, which can happen when the clutches aren't aligned correctly.

With your Hustler in neutral, rev the engine up (don't put your head directly over the clutches; clutch and belt explosions are nasty). The belt should move to the top (outside) of the engine clutch as the clutch engages, and move downward into the clutch on the transmission. If the belt isn't moving all the way to the top of the clutch on the engine, something is stopping it from doing so (loose belt, sticking clutch, etc.). We'll do this as a first step, and see what it's doing.

~m

[micmac]

You may have seen a video with high performance snowmobile belt. They are slightly grooved on the outside for heat dissipation. Like Hydromike said on a normal belt smooth side out, grooved side in. Have no fear the people on this board will get you fixed up. How about some additional info about what the previous owner "fixed up". Also visit the how to on uploading picture. Videos and pictures are worth a thousand posts