Lawn sweeper belt

[Berwil]

I have a red lawn sweeper that I bought used a few yrs ago. It only says "Turf Sweeper" on the brush guard and nothing else. The instruction sheet I got with it calls it a model cm 236, but there is no company name. Google has let me down, I can find no information about it.

Last fall it broke a belt. The belt is a 1/4" (actually slightly larger than 1/4") round profile and 10" in diameter. It's not rubber like an oring (although one would probably work), but plasticky like electrical wire insulation. When installed, the belt is twisted between the pulleys to get the correct brush rotation. Anyone know of a place to buy something similar? I appreciate the help

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Bill

[ol'George]

Give us a close up of the belt and the pulleys, it might help.
possibly a
3/8" 3L belt will work if the pulleys are "V" grove.
How wide are the pulley grooves?
When you say twisted, I'm thinking as in figure "8" ??

I used to have a clothes dryer that had a belt as you describe.
It was not rubber but more like urethane.
Boy that was a long, long time ago.

[jkier]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#3044k506/=wvpg6i

Might work, doesn't seem like they have the heavy black in the 10" dia tho

[Berwil]

George, correct, by twisted I do mean like a figure 8. I didn't measure the pulleys, but the small one would easily fit a 3/8" belt, the larger one would be tight since the 1/4" belt rides near the top. Here is a close up of the pulleys, sorry should have gotten a pic of the other side with the good belt for reference. I think your correct about the belt being urethane.

image.jpg

Jkier, I think that will work! I looked on McMaster but was looking at the black oring belts, never figured they would have clear. To bad it's 2 weeks out, guess that's what I get for waiting till the grass turned green.

Thanks guys!

Bill

[ol'George]

ok, that looks to be simple ground driven brush requiring reverse rotation,prolly wouldn't hurt if it slipped occasionally.
FWIW as I posted earlier, on my old clothes dryer,
I needed a belt in a hurry ( Twins needing dry clothes) many many years ago.

We had a "make a belt kit @ work.
it was orange urethane in a roll of various diameters/sizes.
You cut off what you needed as far as length and the ends were put in a little jig, and nothing more than a Teflon coated soldering iron which heated the ends to be joined.
When they were hot enough to melt, the ends were pushed together and let cool for a minute and cleaned off the flash @ the joint.
It made a belt for my dryer that lasted over a year.
Sorry I cannot remember the name, but just throwing this out as an alternative if you cannot find something pre made that will work.
Today with Google a person can find a lot of things.
much like this: http://www.durabelt.com/

[Berwil]

Thanks George, I've replaced a few of those dryer belts back when I did electrical work. Aside from the heating coils, they're usually the only thing to go bad. I thought about melting the ends back together, I might just try it to see if it will get me by. If I clamp one end of the belt, heat up a steel plate with a torch, hold the plate between the ends and slide it out when the ends start melting. I'll see if it works, got nothing to lose before a replacement shows up.

Thanks
Bill

[ol'George]

Originally Posted by Berwil

Thanks George, I've replaced a few of those dryer belts back when I did electrical work. Aside from the heating coils, they're usually the only thing to go bad. I thought about melting the ends back together, I might just try it to see if it will get me by. If I clamp one end of the belt, heat up a steel plate with a torch, hold the plate between the ends and slide it out when the ends start melting. I'll see if it works, got nothing to lose before a replacement shows up.
=
Thanks
Bill

Use a Teflon coated skillet/pan on the stove or you will burn the ends and they will not stick together I do remember that Ha,LOL!
Just push the ends into the quite warm, but not smoking hot pan with your hands like melting a stick of butter.
When they start mushrooming just push them together and hold steady for a minute or two ----used to work for me but no guarantees it is even that type of material

[J-Mech]

Looks like a big rubber band....

[Berwil]

Originally Posted by ol'George

Use a Teflon coated skillet/pan on the stove or you will burn the ends and they will not stick together I do remember that Ha,LOL!
Just push the ends into the quite warm, but not smoking hot pan with your hands like melting a stick of butter.
When they start mushrooming just push them together and hold steady for a minute or two ----used to work for me but no guarantees it is even that type of material

So I got an old non stick pan from my scrap bin, and I was smart enough to use the side burner on the grill instead of stinking up the kitchen. I trimmed the ends of the belt to give me fresh ends to bond. I heated up the skillet and pushed the ends into the pan. Low and behold it mushroomed out so I smushed the ends together and held it....bingo! I trimmed the flash off and put it back on the sweeper. I swept my yard and some heavy wet grass from next door for my garden with no problems! Thanks George!

image.jpg

I did buy a 3/8" 3L belt from tractor supply the other day, I guessed on length and got lucky. The belt fits and seem to work right although I did not sweep grass with it. For $5 I'll hang it in the shed incase the fix doesn't last.

Bill

[Berwil]

Pic on the sweeper

image.jpg

Bill