Miedema Structural pm20 belt replacement

[ted1060]

Hi all ,
I have a Miedema Structural Pm20 planter which require new belts which the seed potatoes run on, believe there is 24 each side. What is the best method to replace these. Iv heard you can glue lengths together to make new belts ( looks very difficult and will they stay glued) or buy complete belts and have to take pullies off to slide them over. Also where is the best place to buy? Any other points for me to keep my eye on, I know the H frames are susceptible to cracking mine is ok atm.

Many thanks
ted

 

[Ruston3w]

Just buy a roll and clue new ones on as they fail. They eventually perish to hell but have used them on or off since the early '80s and never heard of anyone replacing the lot in one go. Buy the right glue, Loctite make one, be fussy about cutting ends square and don't touch the cut ends....also worth buying the right belts, sometimes we had to source belt from else where and it doesn't always glue as it should. Sometimes at the start of the season I bother to shorten the loose belts, particularly the four in the tray and the outside one which is important as it drives the roller backwards to control the gate. Best only take one off at a time as easy to cross them somewhere and have to cut the freshly glued ends off. Worth making sure the rollers and gets are free and oiled so they are nice and lively controlling feed.
Have fun.
Richard.

 

[ted1060]

Thanks for the reply, with glueing them how do you keep the tension on while the glue sticks or is it contact glue? How long does it take to set ? How tight do I go ? What did you use to cut the ends of the belt. Sorry for all the questions

 

[AndrewB]

This is how I do the grimme ones, clamp with two vice grips and glue. Like said above get a good straight clean cut and I think it’s loctite 406.View attachment 931448View attachment 931448View attachment 931448

 

[Lincs Lass]

Sounds like the same design planter Hoekstra used to make ,,contra rotating round rubber bands ,,we just used locktite and cut clean with a Stanley blade ,,the belts seemed to fall apart when it wasnt used

 

[Ruston3w]

Very fast contact, get organised (comfortable--haha) under there so you can hold either end straight and press together....never timed it but +- 1 min I guess. Quicker with warm day/humidity, not so good with near freezing wind in mid Feb . Sharp stanley knife fine, find a bit of frame to cut against to get it square. The four tray belts are obviously longer and therefore have more stretch, I'm going to guess cut an ordinary belt about 3 inches short and stretch it, the outer and tray belts a little tighter. If they glue properly they certainly won't break anywhere else.
If it sits out in the rain I think the wet gets to the glue over time, others may disagree.
Some of the belts on our old structural must have been originals, they were full of cracks and had stretched so much they were about 30% smaller diameter than new but not really so much more trouble than newer ones. The electrics will likely give you more grief than the belts

 

[TripleSix]

I've a roll of belt on the shelf from when we had a structural 2000 if it's any good to you

 

[Fdenes]

Hi, Is there anyone who can help me with our Miedema Structural PM40? First off all we dn't have an operational manual, so we don't really understand everything well(symbols etc).
The problem is with the variator, on tha control unit I can not switch the variator positions. It seems locked. Do you have any idea hor to unlock it?

 

[jon9000]

Yes you need to adjust it with a button to get it to unlock.

 

[Fdenes]

Thanks for the info, then it’s not a hardware issue I guess. Can you explain how to unlock that?

 

[Fdenes]

The 3rd button from the top right doing nothing just beeping. With the top 2 buttons I can’t move the variator from 0 position.

 

[tractorted]

The 3rd button from the top right doing nothing just beeping. With the top 2 buttons I can’t move the variator from 0 position.

Have you used the machine yet or are you just getting set up? You need to be moving for the variator to move

 

[Fdenes]

Just bought it and trying to set up correctly. Ok I see, we will try it when tre tractor is moving.

 

[tractorted]

Just bought it and trying to set up correctly. Ok I see, we will try it when tre tractor is moving.

You'll also need to be planting potatoes as well as moving to get the variator to work correctly. Don't try to unlock the variator until you're sure that all count sensors are working