1863 w/cc 317 mower deck
 

hi all, this is my first cub cadet..bought it off my neighbor 2 days ago... I noticed when turning the mower on today there is a ratling sound coming from the front of the deck,after further looking it is the idler ratchet,its very loose...from the looks of it they had something out of adjustment because the pulley on the right was pressed up against the metal and actually wore a groove in it,so i adjusted it following the owners manual but for some reason i cant figure out how to tighten up the idler ratchet.any help would be greatly appreciated

Pictures would help a lot here. There should be a bolt on one side, that, when tightened properly, will cause the belt to tension properly and keep the pulley on the spring-side away from the mule drive frame. This could also be due to excessive belt wear.

pictures of the problem
 

the part that is rattling alot is the one my finger is on, you can see from the other picture where the pulley on the right actually wore through the front bracket and was repaired before..the other day when i got it ..the pulley was actually into the replacement metal again so i adjusted it in pic 907 and the pulley on the right moved away from the metal in the front

thanks for the reply maddog

Here is an illustration of the belt geometry in the tech section. obviously the correct belt length is necessary to achieve this since there are no idlers to take up the slack.
Cannon
http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5

I tried to post a PDF copy of a page from my 317 owners manual showing how it should be adjusted. But it was to large. If you will PM me your email address I will try to send it to you.
Cannon

Email sent, let me know if you don't receive it. Both of my pulleys are just a little farther forward than shown in the illustration. I guess my belt has stretched some.
Cannon

Thanks alot for the email and the input

Make sure none of your pulleys are bent also.