Junk Belt drive,Soon to be chain drive!

[FreddyGearDrive]

Tried two different drive systems in these conversions. But couldn't but the motor & trany in the front of the tractor like I wanted. So after many hrs at the hobby store,& looking through countless boxes of gears,I ran across a set of notched bulleys & a belt.
Hmm??? Well now! Never tried this before! Plus! I've heard Joe (Lil-Giants) talk aboot how much he likes these belts in a drive system.
So.....figured why not see what I can come up with useing one of these here belts.
First the axles.

Now some butchin & motor mount plate.



Now make it so trany can spin a belt.






Now the sexy little tensioner.



shift linkage

Drive shafts







This thing is unreal in the power department & smooth!
Will do a vid of this baby as soon as my butched rims are dry.Should be today!
Thanks for lookin!
FGD

[doodlebug]

Look's great Freddy, let us know how work's out. The bar has been raised again!
Cheer's, Neil#2 aka doodlebug.

[Brian in PA]

Cool Fred! That's a great idea.

Brian

[Smokin Joe]

Very nice! Any belt tracking issues?
Joe

[Snochaser]

Awesome Freddy. Quite innovate again. Another tractor or are you redoing the Ford?

Ben

[androiduk]

Excellant Freddy , I would never of thought of using a belt drive , pardon my stupidity but what axles are those ?

Andy

[Espeefan]

Great minds think alike, Fred. I was looking at doing the same exact thing. In fact, I just ordered my parts today, for such a set-up, and I have a double shafted Tamiya semi axle sitting right next to the computer as I type this. I wasn't sure if I should go with a belt or a chain drive, and in the end, I settled for a chain drive. Reason being, I figured it would be a more positive drive, with no chance of the belt slipping under a heavy load. I also figured a chain would allow me to run the tension a little looser, thus taking some of the strain off the Tamiya semi truck axle's input shaft and bearings/bushings. I figure the belt drive will be quieter though. I found miniature XL (extra light) cogged timing belts and pullies all over McMaster-Carr. I was hoping to be the first to pull this off, but you are smarter them me, and probably thought of it before I did. Tractor conversions are all new to me.

Nice work! I think another nice advantage to this set-up is that you can change the sprockets, a few teeth more or less, to change the gearing.

[9W Monighan]

Does this mean you'll be changing your name to: FREDDYBELTDRIVE?
I've thought about using cog belts for exactly what you've done. Easy way to change those center distances and very quiet operation.

[Smokin Joe]

As seems common on this forum, you are on the cutting edge of new ideas.
I have been using a similar drive system on trade show models.
I use broken ink jet printer stepper motor gears and toothed belts. Shortening the belts by cutting on a diagonal, tapering the ends for more surface area contact, glued ends left under pressure over night and not one failure to date.
Great build! Your skills are incredible. Joe

[Claus]

Nice work Fred.

[Ken Orme]

Belt drives do not need to be as tight as a drum.

You have flanges on both pulleys so there will not be a problem with the belt tracking.

If you want to change the ratio and use a different pulley size then the belt size must also be changed.

I do like your set up.

Ken

[Espeefan]

Any videos yet, Freddy? Can't wait to see the difference, with the new drivetrain. Also curious to see the new wheels and tires. You didn't make duals did you?

[Roadmasters]

Does the tractor articulate at the center, or is there no articulation (twisting)?

[FreddyGearDrive]

Thanks Guys!
Yea I kinda figured this build would get some attention.
Snochaser,that's not the same tractor.
R/M it does bend in the middle,that is how it turns.Or do you mean,can the two halves twist independent from each other? It does have some slop between the two halves which do act like a pivot point.
Espeefan,here's your vid.

The rims are nothing special,yet! This is just so it looks a little better than what I've been using.

Now I've got a little question for you'all.Which tires should I stick with?

This belt thing might be ok for r/c cars,but it's not the hottest set up in town.
She will out pull my first one in the dirt.But that's only because it has a lot of weight in er.Now get it on carpet for the max pullin,& the old belt just don't cut it! So now I'm lookin for a chain set up. It does work fine if you use it the way it should be,nice & smooth.But it isn't worth the time to use the belt. Hey,yu never know unless you try!
Thanks for lookin Guys & Gale's
FGD

[Espeefan]

Freddy,

Thanks for all the info. I am totally digging your tractor builds. You inspired me to try this myself, but my tractor will be red, if I can make it work half as good as yours. I wondered about belt slip myself. Another reason I went with the chain drive. My only real concern now is will the torque put on the input shaft of the axle wear things fast? Bearings might be better then bushing for once, but I know these bushings handle a ton of a abuse too. But still, the gear mesh changes when the torque of a chain is pulling hard on the shaft, as the sprocket tries to climb the chain. There is a little slop in the shaft with bushings and probably bearings too. I guess time will tell.

For me, it's a toss up on the tires. I think they both look good on the tractors, but I prefer the narrow lugged tires myself. I ordered up the same ones for my tractor. I am a little curious what rims you are running. There is a wealth of 2.2 rims out there, many with different offsets. I took a guess and just bought some cheap $7 rims, and when they arrive, then I'll know if they were a good buy or not.

Enjoyed the videos! Thanks for posting them.

[Snochaser]

I like the "other" (what brand?) tire on them better than the ProLine's, they just look better. Does either tire out perform the other as far as traction goes?
What are you using for a steering servo? I have already stripped something in mine, the servo motor make noise, but now movement, gears look fine.
Nice job on these FGD.

Ben

[fhhhstix]

Ben those tires are the older TRAXXAS Stampede tires which look a lot more like the AG floater tires.

Travis

[9W Monighan]

This belt thing might be ok for r/c cars,but it's not the hottest set up in town.
She will out pull my first one in the dirt.But that's only because it has a lot of weight in er.Now get it on carpet for the max pullin,& the old belt just don't cut it! So now I'm lookin for a chain set up. It does work fine if you use it the way it should be,nice & smooth.But it isn't worth the time to use the belt.

I wouldn't sell the cog belt short just yet. I like your idea and maybe a little better quality belt and make sure there's no slack and the shafts are rigid enough , this may do the trick. The chain will make alot of noise and take up more room but would be very strong indeed.
I use a cog belt alittle bit bigger driven by a 1/8th HP motor in my main transmission case on my dragline. This setup is very quiet and has withstood walking of the 200#+ machine and digging without any maintenance for 5yrs.

[ihbuilder]

Freddy send them here The 1 I send back you can use AKA I like the 1 on the right

[mazdaparts]

Freddy, take a look at the HPI mud thrashers. The stock tire on the wheely king.