Tell me how to free pinched drive belt

[dalycity]

Drive belt caught under 4 teeth of control sheaves. When I put the belt back on, I was not careful. Now I cannot rotate the pulleys to try to free the belt. It's just stuck. I have tried using a slotted screwdriver, but it's very difficult. Does someone know how to free the belt without cutting it?

[RobertTaylor]

you will need to remove the speed dial and then remove the speed control assembly to move the control sheave for more clearance.

[farley]

if you haven't remove the speed dial and sheave, it's not that bad.

I was real spooky to do it my first time, found out all the worry was for naught

[dalycity]

Thank you. I finally removed the motor pan and loosen the belt this way. It's good to know that you can also do it by removing the speed dial unit.

[billmayo]

I have been successful by rotating the motor belt off of the motor sheaves, turn the control dial to SLOW as far as possible (will actually go more without the drive belt on the motor sheaves). Then lifting the belt from inside the sheaves tips and holding the drive belt away from the sheave vane tips, turn the speed dial slightly to around 2 and rotate the drive belt back on the motor sheaves.