Leather link belt

[rusty pete]

Hi All. Does anyone know who or where still makes the leather chain link drive belts. Any help appreciated. Thanks. Pete.

[rusty pete]

Whoops, Maybe I should have just asked "Are they still available". Cheers. Pete.

[jelbart]

Hi,
I do not know of a source of new link belt, But I have been lucky enough to get enough bits to make a belt for static use on my no6 Jelbart, repairing and rivetting took over a week, but it was worth it.  I think the original punching machine still exists in Winchelsea, I am also told that H. V. McKay used this type of belt on some of the early headers, I can only suggest do as I have done, and keep a look out for some.        Cheers Francis.

[Eric Schulz]

What I have heard is that those link belts were made by prisoners, as were car number plates.
There is nothing to stop anyone making brand new belts themselves - apart from patience.
If I remember correctly, it was the Robinson Big E harvester that used a link belt. It was likely to have been later in the harvester’s life when the company was in the hands of Baltic Simplex.

Eric

[jelbart]

Yes Eric,
You would need to be doing lots of time.  My belt is 138" long at 1" pitch which adds up to 138 5" pins, carrying 2070 segments, and mine is the smallest Jelbart. I would not like to make one without some specialist machinery.   
Cheers, Francis.

[Richard]

Yes. Link vee belts are certainly still available. But unfortunately, I'm not allowed to tell you where you can get them. Or give you a link or a brand name.
Richard

[Combustor]

Hello RustyPete,
               Many farm machinery suppliers, and industrial power transmission firms
should still be able to get link or "Brammer" belt, in at least A and B sections.
It's awful stuff,stretches badly, grips poorly, but is a last resort where a continuous belt
can't be fitted, or no adjustment is possible. Good luck with it,  Regards,  Combustor.

[Eric Schulz]

The belt that Pete is asking about is the flat type, not V section.
To get some ideas on its construction, have a look at:
http://www.achestofbooks.com/crafts/scientific-american/sup5/Link-Belting.html
If your bought your leather already cut to the width you want and make up some dies to cut the round ends and punch the holes, you could make a lot of belting in a day.

Eric

[rusty pete]

Thank you All . I was talking to Dale , the original owner / Builder of my tractor the other day and he has the original leather press for punching out the leather links. And yes he is in Winchelsea. The belt on my tractor at the moment was made up out of old belting purchased from an old saw mill clearance sale. So you could say it's already in its second life.
 The belt on my tractor is 12 links wide 4" ,95mm and 3.4 metres long or 136". Each links is approximately 1 inch long. 25mm. So, that would mean I would need to punch out one thousand six hundred and thirty two links (1632 links) for a belt of that length. Then pin and rivet it together and then hope the leather is of a quality that would hold together.
I think I will be purchasing a new style flat belt to drive the tractor with and keeping the link belt for static display before it disintegrates all together.
See you all at Goldsmith. Cheers . Pete.

[jelbart]

 Hi,
Thats exactly what I have done, the original for show, and a new modern for go.

[jelbart]

Pete,
I knew I had seen some where of how to dress a Jelbart belt, and I found it over the weekend, in an instruction book. It states to use castor oil, but I had already done mine with neatsfoot oil, and I am very surprised how leather I had written off as unuseable has softened up, It might be worth a try. I might even be game to give it a run!!!!  Don't use canola oil, as it will ruin the belt, I KNOW. See you at Lake Goldsmith.    Cheers Francis.

[Eric Schulz]

On the farm we used castor oil on leather as well as rubber canvas belts. This was for grip rather that conditioning. We didn't like that messy black stuff like Neverslip. Apologies to the manafacturers of Neverslip. Castor oil is certainly safe to use on leather, but you can't get better than neatsfoot oil for softening and rejuvenating purposes. This stuff is extracted from the shin and food bones of cattle, so I suppose there is a leather connection there!
Perhaps there are new synthetic products for leather conditioning, something I have not looked into.

Eric

[cobbadog]

Have a talk to the people in the horse industry like show horses. I know that they use a product to soften up old leather bridles etc. I have not used it but my mate used it to recondition a 6' set of blacksmiths bellows and it worked a treat. It may be the neatsfoot oil mentioned before.

[brnmrtin]

Bramah belt used to be made by J.J.Ludowici, now known as Ludowici Australia. google them, they have a web site.

[jopeter]

As a dressing I tried a block of Lard ...cheaper than the horse products ,I used a heat gun and it works well .