Belt Basics

The flat belt is key to operation of antique farm equipment, but is not always fully understood. In this column, Sam Moore shares important details that keep belts working as intended.

First, a belt can be defined as being a continuous strip of flexible material placed around two pulleys under a certain amount of tension to transmit power from one pulley to the other. This definition also describes chain, rope and V-belts, but we’ll stick to the flat belts used to power many farm machines, such as threshers, balers, hammer mills, husker-shredders and silo fillers. Belts were made of leather, canvas and rubber. Leather was considered