Belts Broke on my H, and it wont start

I have a 1950 H that I just bought over the weekend. It ran fine from the previous owners, onto the trailer, got it home, unloaded it and parked it. Yesterday I fired it up, moved it about 10 feet and it died. I pushed it back up by the garage, and noticed there was gas leaking out of the carb pretty heavily, so I thought maybe the float had stuck open and flooded it out. I also noticed while pulling the carb off, the fan belt (that turns the waterpump, which turns the generator) had let go, and broke. So I ran to my local Agri-parts store, and grabbed two new belts, and a carb gasket kit to put the carb back together. Well I rebuild the carb, put it back on, and decided to try to fire it up before putting the belts on, but it wont start. It just cranks over and over. The guy next door said he thinks the belt needs to be on it to spin the generator, but I have no idea, electrical system stuff isn't my strong point, but I didnt have time to put them on before having to come here to work, so I'm just curious if that could be the reason as to why it wont fire now.

Also, what's the easiest way to put the new belts on? Looks like a PITA!

Thanks!

If you tried cranking the tractor and it didn't start could explain the gas leaking from the carb - they will do that, especially if you use much choke. As for the belts you don't need a belt on anything to start the tractor - only to keep it running for very long. You have to remove the fan belt to put on a generator belt. The fan pulley has a flange on one side that screws in and out and tightens the fan belt by making the the belt run further out on the pulley. As for the tractor quitting after a few seconds, 2 things I would start with is make sure you have spark and a good continuous flow of gas. A partially plugged line, screen, etc will let you get started, but not enough flow to keep going. Old tractors can have a number of issues with corrosion in tanks and fuel lines.

If you have a distributor you need to check for battery voltage at the coil. With the ignition switch on and the points open you should have battery voltage on both small terminals. If you have voltage here pull off one of the plug wires and hold it near a good ground while someone makes an attempt to start the engine. If there's no fire from the plug wire, clean the points.

If there's no voltage at the coil with the ignition switch on, run a separate wire from the battery to the coil, then see if the engine will start. If it starts your switch is bad or there's no voltage being fed to the switch. You will need a volt meter to check it. Hal
PS: If your battery is fully charged your engine should start without the belts installed.

Pull the distributor cap or mag's cap and see if the rotor is turning when the engine is cranked over. You will need a helper. If you have a mag
it won't have battery voltage being fed to it unless it has been converted to a distributor. Hal

Changing the belts is a PITA but can be done without pulling the radiator. As noted you will need to spin the pulley to adjust it all the way out.
Be careful tapping on the pulley to loosen it, I would use a brass drift.
good luck.