[maxcarpets]

how often should you change the belts?

[Mike Halliday]

when they break

if you keep an eye on them until you see any cracks or splits they should last ages (2-3yrs)

I keep meaning to ask on the American forums why the don't use a singe belt to drive both, this would stop you having to take off the corresponding belt to change the snapped one

Mike

[PaulKing]

paul how long would it take to replace the blower & pump belts?

Mike

Took me a hour the first time i did it. Now it takes 1/2 hour to do now max, you only need a 10mm spanner or socket and a pair of leather gloves they just spin on, yes i know thats not the right way to do it but they still last about 8-16 months doing it that way, and you don't have to reset the blower and pump alingment, which would take another 1/2hour, and now I just change them every 6 mths because their cheap to replace.


Would say the drive belts are about the weakest part of the whole machine, but they are cheap and simple and easy fixed, know a few people have had nightmares with flexable drives, which make me wonder if theres a rigt way to do it at all.

Mike know your very handy with a spanner so would think you could do it in the same time easily. Best bit is you can take it off the van and inside and work in the warm and dry.

[PaulKing]

Steve, you should be doing it your self by now  :

Why keep a dog and bark yourself

woof!

[tony harrison]

Hi Mike,

I run a crossfire 4.7 and a belt change would take me approx half an hour for the pump and an hour for the blower/vac.

The first one to normally go is the Blower/Vac and I expect approx 1 years run from it.

Tony

[Mike Halliday]

tony if the blower belt goes do you have to take off the pump belt as well or visa-versa

Mike

[PaulKing]

"You'd be very lucky to find a used TM that has no problems, and if you have had no experiance maintaining them before, you soon will have!
Ask at the dealers as they are the ones getting the trade ins as people upgrade, and usually will give a shorth warrenty on a 2nd hand machine, and don't be scared to start small,"

I have to disagree-I've had TM's from prochem and Hydramaster since 2001 and had very few problems. As regards dealers Hydramaster are the only distributors who will take trade ins- that should tell you a lot and in addition they offer(I believe) a 12 month warranty on the used machines they sell, it's called confidence in the product. You wouldn't have to be lucky to buy a used TM you would have to buy the right product from a trustworthy person-in other words it's no different from buying anything else!

Dave i think you need to re-read my post I WAS recomending that he go to a dealers as well, and especially a dealer that will give a warrenty, I've bough 4 Tm's and seen many more 2 nd hand and a lot of people are seling old and shorth life kit, and though it best to make spiknspan aware of this.
 
Seams we both think the same but you have to disagree, I'm confused! Mind you it does'nt take much these days!
 

P.s Restormate take trade ins as well

[Mike Halliday]

my mate just bought the woodbridge Hercules that was for sale a few weeks ago on the boards & eBay he paid  £850 for the machine, tanks, hose reel... everything

IT WAS THE BARGAIN OF THE CENTURY!! just the tanks & reels were worth the money he paid

we spent the day changing the drive coupling ( woodbridge obviously fitted the original blindfolded it was so misaligned)  now its running a dream.

anyone who has one of these machines needs to check the silencer, this machine was fitted with a car silencer which only had a 1 inch exit port, so the blower was fitted with 3 inch piping that finished by trying to push all the air out of a 1 inch hole 

mike

[PaulKing]

that was cheap! how easy are those fenner couplings to line up? ( got a picture of one would be great)

[Mike Halliday]

http://www.fptgroup.com/products/HRC_Coupling.asp top left corner, this is the size of an orange which will take 13hp


we used  one the size of a small melon, which which will take50hp (cost £60)

very easy to align as you can sight down the joint from the top & side. it will take a small amount of misalignment

[tony harrison]

Hi Mike,

Yes if the blower belt goes then you have to remove pump as well.

regards tony

[*paul_moss]

Paul is changing the belts on a panther a bit of a sore point for Panther owners? : :

I was genuinely interested how the belts were configured on the Panther, I've never had a chance to look inside one.

obviously its not a 5 minute job  or you would have answered with a smidgen of politeness

Mike

Mike my answer was short as I knew you already knew the answer to the question you were asking

[prodry]

anyone who has one of these machines needs to check the silencer, this machine was fitted with a car silencer which only had a 1 inch exit port, so the blower was fitted with 3 inch piping that finished by trying to push all the air out of a 1 inch hole 

Mike did you find a solution to this. I have the same setup on my Hercules and wondered if it was effecting performance. Is the silencer neccesary? Could I just have a 3' hose venting from tjhe blower.

[Mike Halliday]

yea if you don't want eardrums!! it is very loud without a silencer

he cut his off and is fitting another. one off a tractor which is a straight blow-through, it has less air restrictions

Mike

[richie]

prodry,
you could try taking the silencer off & replacing it with a cherry bomb car silencer.  Ive used these on a HM Crossfire 4.2 and it worked a treat.

Richie.

[Chris R]

I dont think the panther uses a belt for the blower ?

I was told by woodbridge the only belt is the one for the water pump ?

But,,,,,,,,,,i am still learning 

Truckmounts are scary things until you get to know them. 

But the amount of vac motors and pumps that i had to replace on my portables 

My panther just runs and runs ( i hope) 

Next step is LPG, get the the running costs down from £40 per week to £25.

regards

Chris

[Jason Hedges]

I dont think the panther uses a belt for the blower ?

I was told by woodbridge the only belt is the one for the water pump ?

Correct Chris,

The only belt on the panther is for the water pump. The blower is directly driven from the engine, so the faster you run the engine the more vacuum you get.

I'm also upgrading to lpg asap. My running costs on unleaded are between £10-£20 a day, can be halved using lpg. Woodbridge quoted me £300 for the conversion so should recoup costs in a couple of months!

Kind regards,
Jason.

[gwrightson]

Mike,

the Exaust is now fitted, big difference cant hear it now

Infact it was suggested to wrap with insulation to muffle a little more ,and it does take a little more noise out, it also stops any vibration  noise.so pleased so far, thanks for the exaust which i believe was of a M/F  35    so i was informed 

Geoff

[*paul_moss]

Jas give us an update after a few months , as I am also thinking of changing to gas.

[prodry]

believe was of a M/F  35    so i was informed 

Do you mean off a MF35 Ferguson Tractor.

Michael