Repaired a PTO flat belt pulley

[Alcap]

I belong to the Blue Mountain Gas&Steam Engine Association ( Jacktown ) some of guys are working on a Cletrac crawler , the PTO pulley has fallen apart , it was some kind of laminate material with a cast steel hub I offered to make a wooden one . I cut 4 pieces of pine for each half used a 4” hole saw to get the center hole ,then glued together . holes were drilled for the 4 cast lugs in each half . Used a router to remove the mating sides for clearance of center of the hub . Drilled through holes and bolted them together. I made a tapered shaft with a 3/8-16 threaded hole to hold the hub/pulley assembly. It was too big to clear the carriage of my Clausing 5914 lathe so I used my homemade boring bar and holder to cut the OD . This will only be used as a display but I believe it would hold up to limited show use

 

[Jake M]

That's kind of cool looking. It was probably a paper pulley. The layered paper offered way better "traction" on the belt than a cast pulley, which would have been the other option at the time. Many cast PTO pulleys got set aside for the paper ones. (Allegedly. I wasn't around back then).

Not really helpful, unless the term "paper pulley" is new to you. I don't know if that's the proper name, but that's how Google knows them.

 

[Alcap]

Yes the material that was still left did seem like paper . The Farmalls had what looked like dark material laminated, possibly belting ?

 

[Alcap]

Here’s the pulley mounted on the crawler . They decided to put clear finish on it .

 

[Bi11Hudson]

What you are calling a "paper pulley" would likely be replaced with "micarta" or some similar electrical board. Micarta is a linen and epoxy like compound under pressure that is quite strong. At one time, it was available in sheets several inches thick. In modern times it has been replaced with a plastic, that doesn't really last as long.

I have made several from wood for a friend with a Farmall "H". And a few rollers for Wife's garden tractor mower deck. I made small ones from a single pine 6X6 and larger ones from a piece of 12X12 dunnage (swipedreallocated) from a steel mill. I'm not sure of the species of the latter, but it was fairly soft. May have been pine, may have been oil soaked oak. In any case, a properly glued up laminated pulley would actually be usable to transmit power, if for a limited time. If it was built balanced (round) and had proper taper, it would work.

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[Alcap]

The pulley is just going as to show there was one on the machine . From what the fellows are thinking next will be a pull behind grader that will be displayed with it . I haven’t driven it but there saying it wouldn’t have pulled a grader because of the high gearing more likely for farm use .

 

[K30]

You can still get micarta if you do some digging. Something has to hold up bus bars. Downside: good god does that stuff reek when it's fresh.

 

[wayback machine]

I'd bet that a pulley like that, if made from white or live oak, would probably hold up pretty well for extended use.

 

[jcloucek]

Interesting thread! I am facing the same issue having to make flat belt pulleys for my Van Norman 0 (built in 1896). While I have just started to look at leather belt pulleys, I have learned friction is a problem. Canvas was sometimes used on the pulley to provide friction. I would like to see more on paper pulleys.