Belt pulley thoughts

I had originally planned on getting a new paper belt pulley from paperpulley.com. The last quote (a couple years old) was for $165 brand new (for my military rate). I'm a long ways off from purchasing, but I'm wondering a few things, like if a paper pulley is hard to maintain and keep looking good? What if it gets wet, for instance? If I have to protect it with something, will that hurt the look of it? Will it look new for a long time?

Then I saw a metal pulley on a tractor in a picture recently. I thought it looked pretty good! And once painted, I'm sure maintenance is a breeze. But what is the difference in performance? I don't know what I would use the pulley for, if anything. But if the case ever came up, like hooking it to a giant bubble machine for the kids, what would I want to use?

So what do you think? What should I get?

metal will look nicer longer. paper ones when used usually turn black from dirt. but what really matters is getting the right size for your model. the h had a smaller pulley than the m did.

The first obvious question, Mike, is what kind of shape is yours in?

I'll admit that when I started working on tractors instead of working on and around them was to learn that the core of the pulley on your tractor is paper. I'd seen the one on Grandpa's H and always thought it was a turned piece of wood. It was a shedded tractor, never left for more than a few days out in the weather but the shed idn't have doors either. By the time I came along, it was probably fifteen years since the tractor had been belted up to anything, but it still had a glaze and sheen to the surface of it. I know nothing of what goes into them, but expect that it's a mix of hard, tacky waxes or resins that will shine but be tacky as they warm up. Some of that may have been a residue from a belt dressing that worked its way into the fiber.

So the next question is whether you have some evidence of that and then what physical shape your pulley has. You've seen the metal pulleys. If your paper pulley still has something of the ridge/dome in the middle, you may not have to do anything. That's all you need to get a wide belt to ride properly on it.

If it's crumbling or no lnoger has a dome or, worse yet, is recessed inside the ends, then it would be time to see about having it redone or trading in the core, however those folks do things.

If it still has that dome/ridge shape, I'd suggest you develop some contacts with some of the guys at the tractor shows and see if you can't arrange to get to a show and belt up to something, a buzz saw, a hay press, or (my dream) a thresher . . . Bring your own can of belt dressing, but let the fellow who owns the belt apply it. If yours is at all dry, it will soak up any excess but, more importantly, with the heat of working, will seal up and glaze over to protect it from deteriorating.

If yours is

The first obvious question, Mike, is what kind of shape is yours in?

Click to expand...

You'd have to ask the current owner.
I sold it on Ebay. I wanted to get $40, which was pushing it, since it had had fire house nailed into it to increase the diameter! It was a mess! I pulled off the hose, got as many nails out as I could, and sanded it up. Like I said, I wanted $40, but only expected to get $30, so I started the bidding at $20. I sold it for $160! :lol: Some guys got into a bidding war. I didn't complain.

Anyway, long story short... I have no belt pulley.

The pulley should be the last thing you buy. It is
not in the "critical path", as they say in
construction. That means no further operations
are dependent on its installation. As for kids,
moving belts and children should not occupy the
same space. They might be safer in an
unsupervised swimming pool or chasing a bouncing
ball across the street.

Your "militrary rate" would appear to be the same
as my civilian rate even as a veteran who did not
disclose his prior service. I was quoted the same
price several years ago. Don't forget the shipping
both ways.

I have bought two NOS pulleys complete with
gearboxes in factory wooden crates. Yeah, no
cardboard packaging. Both were chocolate colored.
I don't know if that was due to ageing or whether
Paper Pulleys manufactures them differently. I
have seen newly manufactured pulleys and they are
much lighter in color. There is also a tactile
difference in that the NOS pulleys seem kinda
tacky. No, that doesn't mean cheap in this
context.

There is no maintenance on a good paper pulley.
There may be paint issues on a cast pulley if one
is inclined to follow an a museum grade
maintenance program.

If you are concerned about maintaining the
appearance of a new paper pulley, slide a plastic
grocery bag over it. But that is not really
necessary. Occaisonal water from a hose or from
the sky won't have any effect.

I had my pulley for the 300 re-done by them and it was like $110 after tax and shipping both ways. They did an excellent job. I just rubbed some linseed oil on it and it seems to shed the little water I get on it. It also darkened it a little.

Mike When my paper pulley need touching up, I turn the pulley on and hit it with some 80 grit sand paper. Does wonders. Bernie Steffen