treemuncher
Senior Member
This is for all of the other tight-wads out there that hate dealing with the YBTC: (See Quick Dick McDick on YouTube for explanation of the You b*****d Tractor Company and why it's been named so)
My Menzi Muck has not been able to run a serpentine belt on the JD 4045 correctly since I put a new belt on some 200+ hours ago. Now that I had the engine out, again, I put a new belt on to replace the one that had eaten off the outer rib. Immediately, the new belt jumped a tooth on the flywheel sheave and was going to have itself another belt fed meal. Diagnosis led me to believe it is the lower idler between the AC and flywheel sheaves that has a less than perfect bearing causing the belt to jump over. It's a bear to get into this tight place so I might as well replace both idlers while I'm into it.
After determining my part numbers, RE505264 for the idlers and RE518097 for the tensioner, I started looking for the idlers only. They run $60-$100+ each on Ebay. So then I thought about the tensioner as its pully looked about the same size as the tensioner's. Sure enough, same exact pulley. I priced tensioners and they can be had at $35 and up. Makes a lot of sense - charge more for a singular part without the related bushings, springs and casting components? I don't mind removing a bolt to save another $25+ each. I do have some economic sense. It pays to pay attention and
Ok, so I did the easy thing and ordered complete tensioner units rather than individual pulleys. Might as well save what cash that I can because I paid attention to details. Maybe some of the other members here on the forum would like to do the same. I did not even bother to price these components from YBTC because they would have been a whole lot more than what I located them for. I don't need OEM for something so basic on a machine that I don't depend on daily. YMMV.
My Menzi Muck has not been able to run a serpentine belt on the JD 4045 correctly since I put a new belt on some 200+ hours ago. Now that I had the engine out, again, I put a new belt on to replace the one that had eaten off the outer rib. Immediately, the new belt jumped a tooth on the flywheel sheave and was going to have itself another belt fed meal. Diagnosis led me to believe it is the lower idler between the AC and flywheel sheaves that has a less than perfect bearing causing the belt to jump over. It's a bear to get into this tight place so I might as well replace both idlers while I'm into it.
After determining my part numbers, RE505264 for the idlers and RE518097 for the tensioner, I started looking for the idlers only. They run $60-$100+ each on Ebay. So then I thought about the tensioner as its pully looked about the same size as the tensioner's. Sure enough, same exact pulley. I priced tensioners and they can be had at $35 and up. Makes a lot of sense - charge more for a singular part without the related bushings, springs and casting components? I don't mind removing a bolt to save another $25+ each. I do have some economic sense. It pays to pay attention and
Ok, so I did the easy thing and ordered complete tensioner units rather than individual pulleys. Might as well save what cash that I can because I paid attention to details. Maybe some of the other members here on the forum would like to do the same. I did not even bother to price these components from YBTC because they would have been a whole lot more than what I located them for. I don't need OEM for something so basic on a machine that I don't depend on daily. YMMV.
