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I reckon it would depend on how much torque is needed and how much force is going through the belt. That would tell you how robustly the idler needs to be mounted. Also, I would be inclined to add it to the side under least tension. That is if the top pulley is the drive pulley and it turns anticlockwise, then more tension will be on the right, so having the idler on the left would be less of a concern. Consider also that with that much slack to take up, the extreme angle that the belt is now leaving/approaching either pulley means that fewer teeth are engaged so there is more chance of the belt slipping. Even on my singlespeed, I needed to use a half link to shorten the chain ever so slightly as the chain tensioner was taking up too much slack and not giving enough wrap around the rear sprocket, so the chain slipped under load.
stevo_com-
Thanks, hadn't thought about the teeth engagement. It's an absolutely crap design that they rectified with the next model (different pulleys + they added a tensioner). Unfortunately I think it's going to take quite a lot of abuse, it's a deep scarifier with a 13hp motor. I guess I will try it, it's sat unused for so long now it can't hurt
nauls
Not a car but I know some of you are pretty savvy, mechanically. Do you think you could tension this from the inside with the teeth running over an idler pulley? Don't know if that's a faux pas but don't see how you could get tension otherwise
*I can't find an intermediate belt between way too tight to even fit and this one