Recommend Quality V Belts

[intrepid]

I need to change the V belts on my 20" drill press. The last ones were just cheap ones I bought on line a few years ago. I'm thinking cog belts this time but would like to get quality belts if there is any longer such a thing. What have you found to be best gripping and long lasting? My old stand by has been Gates. Are they still good? Then there is Dayton, Goodyear, Dayco, D&D, and many more. I know nothing of them.

 

[GT-6 Racer]

I like gates and continental

 

[Jake M]

I need to change the V belts on my 20" drill press. The last ones were just cheap ones I bought on line a few years ago. I'm thinking cog belts this time but would like to get quality belts if there is any longer such a thing. What have you found to be best gripping and long lasting? My old stand by has been Gates. Are they still good? Then there is Dayton, Goodyear, Dayco, D&D, and many more. I know nothing of them.

It's not the brand so much (usually) as the type. Make sure you get out of the 4L, 5L, whatever belts and into industrial ones. Name brands with a legend don't "necessarily" live up to that reputation, although they most always have "some" variant that's good, and a lot of other offerings that are not so much. Continental is pretty good these days for a good wrapped industrial V belt. If you can match them... The Kevlar lawn tractor belts at Tractor supply work well too. They're under priced crap, but they're under priced crap for WAY more horsepower than you're playing with.

Cogs won't get you anything in a drill press. They won't hurt on the right belt, but they won't help on the right belt either, and they wont' fix a wrong belt. Don't use that as a deciding factor.

 

[tailstock4]

I like Gates, Continental, Browning and a Japanese brand that I can’t remember at the moment. These days I tend to pay more attention to where the belts are made. I recently bought a Continental that was made in Germany which was really good, but USA and Japan are good too. If you are using a multi-belt setup such as on a 10EE or a Pace Maker (which has six), McMaster-Carr has a matching service that they use with Browning. I know belt manufactures say this isn’t necessary these days, but I’ve had better luck going this route.

It is amazing how many problems (vibrations, noises, etc.) a cheap belt can cause.

 

[intrepid]

It's not the brand so much (usually) as the type. Make sure you get out of the 4L, 5L, whatever belts and into industrial ones. Name brands with a legend don't "necessarily" live up to that reputation, although they most always have "some" variant that's good, and a lot of other offerings that are not so much. Continental is pretty good these days for a good wrapped industrial V belt. If you can match them... The Kevlar lawn tractor belts at Tractor supply work well too. They're under priced crap, but they're under priced crap for WAY more horsepower than you're playing with.

Cogs won't get you anything in a drill press. They won't hurt on the right belt, but they won't help on the right belt either, and they wont' fix a wrong belt. Don't use that as a deciding factor.

Thanks. I have a tractor supply just a mile away. In the morning I'll check out the kevlar belts and give them a try.

 

[coolidge]

I did this whole dance recently on new COGGED V belts for my lathe. I shopped Goodyear, Continental etc. The winner was BESTORQ which I rate quite Excellent. First V belt I have purchased that didn't have a molded in bend at each end, they are quite flexible and round. This after I discovered that linked belt quality has gone to hell after they started making them in China vs Eastern Europe.

 

[mksj]

I have been using Gates Tri-power and Quad Power 4 notched belts as well as Continental, they have all been quite good. Much better than the typical belts that come with many machines. Sizing is a bit of a problem so one needs to measure the current belt and compare to the factory specifications. Some of the metric sizes also fall between the inch increment sizes. Gates are more easily sourced than the Continental.

 

[markba633csi]

Carlisle belts by Timken- my personal fave:
Gold ribbon cog belts
Super blue ribbon V belts