Grain elevator belt tensioning

[Wigeon]

I need to slacken the belt on an old carier elevator which has broken a belt joiner, so I can replace the bolt. Any ideas on how to do it? No adjustment on the shaft at either end.

Thanks!

 

[chaffcutter]

This is a proper ball ache of a job and really needs two people. Open the hatch part way up the elevator, you have only this space to work through. The belt shouldn’t be joined like that, it’s a bodge, the ends of the belt should overlap each other by several holes and be bolted through a couple of cups ideally, and to pull the two halves of the belt together is very difficult. If you decide to do it properly, tie a cord to both halves of the belt or you will lose it when it spins off the top sprocket!
If you can get away with replacing that bolt you are a lucky man, as the full Monty job is such a sod to do.

 

[Wigeon]

Thanks, I did wonder if this was a bodge. Is there any way to slacken the belt though?

As you say, this has ballache written all over it. A whole afternoon just gone, for precisely zero progress...

 

[PostHarvest]

Carier used to supply a tensioning tool which was a piece of steel rod threaded LH at one end and RH the other with angle brackets that you bolted to the belt either side of the joint. You can probably make something similar with a piece of threaded bar. a couple of pieces of angle iron and a couple of nuts. As chaffcutter says, make sure you tie a cord or rope to the ends before so you don't lose them and be careful of the edges of those buckets, they can be very sharp!!

 

[chaffcutter]

There’s no way to slacken the belt, the joiner is the tensioner (on our Scandia elevators anyway) that’s why it’s such a horrible two handed job.

 

[Goweresque]

The only way I did it many years ago was using ratchet straps as tensioners to pull the two ends together.

 

[chickens and wheat]

we had the belt tool , as said it was two threaded rods, with a socket set type ratchet handle in the middle. made it a fairly simple job

 

[Auckland Blue]

As above Carrier made a belt tensioner with a ratchet handle on a threaded rod between to angle irons. You removed a couple of cups either side of the join and bolted the angle irons through the cup holes and removed the joiner itself once you have tensioned the belt and got the pressure of the joiner.

I believe carrier fitted an angle iron with a round bar a similar length that laid flat on the angle and bolted through it at both ends, the belt was then sandwiched between the two pieces of metal to act as the joiner and you did the nuts up once you had the desired tension. we always tightened the belts up so that you could comfortable push the front of the belt midway between its resting position and the back of the belt. I hope this makes sense! We run several Carrier elevators in an old bin store and have tightened the belts several times. The original joiners have been replaced with the bodge and we have found them to be perfectly adequate. As Chaffcutter says you should be able to remove a front panel to work on the belt. Provided you can get access to the belt its not too bad a job and as Postharvest says watch the cups as they are sharp. Make sure you isolate the motor before you get your hands in there. Don't want some helpful soul turning the motor on with your fingers in there

 

[Wigeon]

Great, many thanks. Will see if we can knock up a tool with some angle and threaded bar, and have a crack.

 

[Fish]

That so called bodge is how our two carrier elevators have had their belts joined from the get go. As said above with the correct tool it's an easy job, we have 2.
Changed the entire belt on one a few years ago, cups off, attach new belt to old, split, old out new in, re join new belt, cups back on. It took two of us about 3 hours.

 

[db9go]

Great, many thanks. Will see if we can knock up a tool with some angle and threaded bar, and have a crack.

Were about are you there could be some near you with a tool
Have you turned the belt all the way round as i have seen them with a ratchet adjuster all so in the same belt as well as the joiner
have you none this elevator since new

 

[chaffcutter]

It seems Carrier have used this rather than the Scandia system, so ignore most of what I posted!

 

[JD6920s]

Is there not a ratchet tensioner in the belt somewhere? Ours have them.

 

[Two Tone]

If you have the Carrier RH/LH threaded Tensioning tool, the job is really quite easy to do.

 

[Wigeon]

Is there not a ratchet tensioner in the belt somewhere? Ours have them.

Not sure- will have a look, thanks

 

[DanniAgro]

Is there not a ratchet tensioner in the belt somewhere? Ours have them.

That's it all my elevators have this joiner. Frankly it's impossible without it.

 

[Pilatus]

If you have the Carrier RH/LH threaded Tensioning tool, the job is really quite easy to do.

Perhaps @grainboy has the tool above. If so a picture of it would be very useful , so one could see the tool some of you have kindly mentioned, and that may help someone to make one.
Please ,please and please again make sure you type a rope or ratchet strap to both ends, IF the belt and cups accidentally go up
and over OR down and jam under or over the top/ bottom sprocket you will be glad it’s raining , cause your not going to be using that elevator for many hours.
One only needs to experience the sound of belt and cups / chain and cups zoom up or down in to a wedged heap, once in one’s farming career, once is once to often as it is such a barsteward of a job to sort out!!!!!!!!!
You’ve been warned.

 

[Pilatus]

If you know of a really good grain handling
equipment engineer, I would certainly consider getting them to fix the problem.
On the other hand you may like tinkering with machinery however long it takes, not so bad if one can’t go combining due to the weather etc. Or understandably you may not wish to pay an engineer to do the job for you. Everyman to his own business.

 

[Two Tone]

It’s not that difficult with that right carrier tool.
But I’d follow your ratchet strap or a rope advice to additionally prevent the upper belt going over the top pulley.

If it breaks and does the the same thing, in can be a right bugger to unravel!
I’d say that the clamp joint (Rather than an overlap joint) as shown in the picture of post 1 is correct but needs two bolts.

 

[grainboy]

Is there not a ratchet tensioner in the belt somewhere? Ours have them.

Think you find that is a Bentall belt Tensioner ssy