I think other people have complained about this before me, but tightening the screws for the steppers on the large plates was difficult today because of the hole locations in the current large plate design. Here is a picture explaining the problem, and my suggestion for a (hopefully) simple solution to it.
They are a pain. Moving the wheels outward would increase the span of the belt and reduce the amount of wrap on the pulley. Both are not desirable. It might be OK for smaller, light duty machines but I don’t think it would be for me.
Countersinking the bottom slot would solve this right? A small pocket operation…
I just tightened my steppers off the machine. And tension the belt by pulling on the belt prior to clamping down. Just as effective
Done!!! You just solved a problem sir, hats off to you! Wouldn’t work for the X though, the gaps too tight I think. But we can change the 81 plates.
So are you adjusting belt tension by the bolts?
By the way, this solves accessibility to the screws but also reduces the amount of belt wrap on the pulley, making it easier for the belt to skip. I actually considered moving the wheels inward for greater belt engagement. Just something to keep in mind. A skipped belt could cause alot more lost time than saving 5 min on install.
@Clockwerk_Mech the amount of belt wrap difference would be very small. The motors could be moved up a little bit higher, too, somewhat reducing any belt coverage loss. The difference should be negligible.
And yes, in hindsight, it would be easier to do if the motors were secured to the plates prior to adding the wheels, but this enables tightening them afterwards, as well as allowing for putting the motors on afterwards.
You could also rotate the motor 45 degrees and only use 3 bolts to secure it. Then you’d get access to all 3 screws. Make one be a pivot
@dhylands I considered that, too, but there might be a cascading change issue because of the top stepper mount hole might be too close to the X axis rails. Maybe/maybe not (I have not checked it against the Sketchup model), but I was trying to come up with a solution that required only minimal changes.
Exists another workarroud and is to move wheels up and change those by idler pulleys.
Becasue 2 ontop and 3 bottom will give as good support. move the wheel outside will change the belt tension and can make undesirible results.
@Clockwerk_Mech On the Shapeoko there is a Makers Slide Belt Clamp -> https://www.inventables.com/technologies/makerslide-belt-clip it has slots like a camera strap has. This bracket allows the belt to be tightened with ease, and it cant slip like a single M5 and T-nut might. Just thought I would share this just in case you haven’t seen one like it before.
Ok let me.explain my point. This is a pral dilema Bolt. External upper And all lower ones. Mount motor, belts do an initial tension adjust without made thriller final cut. Later output the internals. That was muy solution. Is not a breakdeal issue
No I didn’t think it was any sort or make or break issue. I was just trying to share a cool clip that makes tensioning of the belts easy. This is all 
I just fix my Issue. I wish not bugging you with my comments
So intesting bit I will use normal clamping with dual belts