Thank you for this excellent video on how to change the deck belt. I haven’t had to change mine until now and I have had mine for almost 12-years so it was due. Like yours my original belt broke during normal operations. I asked my Brother In-Law who has a farm and riding lawn mower about it and mentioned that I should be able to do it myself and verbally described how to do it, which matches your instructions and video. I am a Disabled Veteran so I wasn’t sure if would be able to do it myself because of my physical limitations, but after seeing your video I am confident I will be able to do it. Luckily my Brother In-Law lives 10-min away if I do need an extra hand. Again thanks for doing this excellent video, it helped greatly. I will update you once I actually change it on Friday. Thanks again.
Worked like a charm.. I just pulled the belt from the front to expand the spring to get onto the front pulley.. seemed much easier than your method. I greatly appreciate you made this video.. for a 1st timer, maybe 35-45 mins to complete the task.
I am very pleased that it helped you. I wish I had shown what you did to get the belt on the front pulley because that is much easier, just as you said. Happy mowing!
On the arm where the spring is attached is a 1/4 sq. hole. After you get the belt routed per the JD sticker... place a 1/4 in drive ratchet into this hole. Pull it toward back of mower and you will get 2-3 inches of slack in this deck belt. Makes it easy to put belt over motor pully.
Very helpful comment,...spot on. I wish I could embed a photo in this reply to pictorially show the arm and the direction you move it. Thanks for the help.
Thank you very much for the comment. I went back and re-reviewed 10:23 - 11:21 and didn't see that. Can you please point out the timeframe in the video that you noticed it. i would be most appreciative. Thanks again.
I’m looking a purchasing a used X304 that has approximately 305 hrs on it for 650 dollars. In your opinion would this be a good purchase? Also, where would I be able to buy the hood designed for the X304? Thanks.
It's hard to say if it's a good purchase without seeing the condition of the unit. However, $650 is a lot less money than they sell for new, and 305 hours isn't a lot of hours. How old is it? If it's 10 years old, than that's only 30 hours a year. It's not been run that hard if that's the case. If the condition is good, yeah, probably would be a good purchase. You can find replacement hoods on eBay or Amazon. They seem to be running about $350 to $400. in the search bar on Amazon simply type in "john deere x304 hood". Good luck.
Thank you for this excellent video on how to change the deck belt. I haven’t had to change mine until now and I have had mine for almost 12-years so it was due. Like yours my original belt broke during normal operations. I asked my Brother In-Law who has a farm and riding lawn mower about it and mentioned that I should be able to do it myself and verbally described how to do it, which matches your instructions and video. I am a Disabled Veteran so I wasn’t sure if would be able to do it myself because of my physical limitations, but after seeing your video I am confident I will be able to do it. Luckily my Brother In-Law lives 10-min away if I do need an extra hand. Again thanks for doing this excellent video, it helped greatly. I will update you once I actually change it on Friday. Thanks again.
Thank you for your service. I wish you much success in changing the belt. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.
You could not make this any clearer! Thank you. Got it done following your easy to understand and follow steps. God bless you Sir!
Thank you for the kind words and God Bless you as well !!
Thank you for this video sir! Did it step by step with you and got my belt changed easily! 👌🏼💯
Wow. Your comment means a lot to me. I'm glad it worked for you!!
I watched your video just to see how to take the deck off, then a week later, my belt went out. Thank you for the video!
My pleasure! So glad it helped.
Worked like a charm.. I just pulled the belt from the front to expand the spring to get onto the front pulley.. seemed much easier than your method. I greatly appreciate you made this video.. for a 1st timer, maybe 35-45 mins to complete the task.
I am very pleased that it helped you. I wish I had shown what you did to get the belt on the front pulley because that is much easier, just as you said. Happy mowing!
On the arm where the spring is attached is a 1/4 sq. hole. After you get the belt routed per the JD sticker... place a 1/4 in drive ratchet into this hole. Pull it toward back of mower and you will get 2-3 inches of slack in this deck belt. Makes it easy to put belt over motor pully.
Very helpful comment,...spot on. I wish I could embed a photo in this reply to pictorially show the arm and the direction you move it. Thanks for the help.
Thank you for the video. That belt design from JD seems overly engineered. But I guess that's what they do. Nice work.
"Overly Engineered" is a good description -- well done. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the video
Thanks for viewing!
I noticed at the end of your video the belt was not on the front pulley.
Thank you very much for the comment. I went back and re-reviewed 10:23 - 11:21 and didn't see that. Can you please point out the timeframe in the video that you noticed it. i would be most appreciative. Thanks again.
I’m looking a purchasing a used X304 that has approximately 305 hrs on it for 650 dollars. In your opinion would this be a good purchase? Also, where would I be able to buy the hood designed for the X304? Thanks.
It's hard to say if it's a good purchase without seeing the condition of the unit. However, $650 is a lot less money than they sell for new, and 305 hours isn't a lot of hours. How old is it? If it's 10 years old, than that's only 30 hours a year. It's not been run that hard if that's the case. If the condition is good, yeah, probably would be a good purchase. You can find replacement hoods on eBay or Amazon. They seem to be running about $350 to $400. in the search bar on Amazon simply type in "john deere x304 hood". Good luck.
Thanks bro helped me put my belt on today
Glad to hear it! Thanks for viewing.