Vol. LXXVIT. 
Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
.ri;! W. 30th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Y’ear. 
NE\Y YORK, NOVEMBER 0. lOlS. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. June 2G, 1879. at the Post 
Office at New Y’ork, N. Y'., under the Act of March 3. 1870. 
No. 4507. 
Care of Farm Belting 
The Great Power Transmitter 
RE USEFUL (JAS ENOINE.—The American 
farmer of today is :i f?reat user of machinery. 
In his effort to he more effectiYO, keep abreast of 
the times and increase production, he luis delegated 
job after job to his trusty helper, the gasoline en¬ 
gine, until now much of the routine work of the 
farm, from turning the washing-machine and milk¬ 
ing the cows to thrashing the grain and tilling the 
silo—big jobs and little—is done by this faithful 
servant. The gas engine cannot do this work alone, 
however, but for every ta.sk performed it must have 
a heliier in tlie sliape of a driven inachine. This 
calls for some means of transmitting power from the 
driver to the driven, and, as farm machines are 
nearly all portable and freiiuently moved from place 
to i»lace, a licit is usiiall.v used. 
ItELT TRANSMIS.'^ION.—Belting as a means of 
transmitting power is largely an American develop¬ 
ment. It is claimed that at least 1)0 per cent of all 
power u.sed for driving machines in this country is 
carried by means of belting. Its extensive use is 
due larirely to the fact that it has many advantages 
over other forms of power transmi.ssion. It can be 
easily adajited to the various conditions of farm 
work, and does not need such careful adjustment as 
gearing. It is somewhat elastic in its drive, and if 
the inachine is stopped suddenl.v. or the speed 
checked abruptl.v. the belt will slip a little, lessening 
the chance of serious breakdown, and if by chanc»‘ 
a breakdown does oc'cur it can be repaiiaal without 
the services of a skilkvl mechanic. 
qualities needed.—M aterial suitable for the 
manufacture of belting is limited, as it is necessary 
that it po.s.sess, to some degree at least, each of the 
following (]ualities; strength, durability, freedom 
from stretch, and flexibility, enabling it to wrap 
around the pulle.v in close contact and get a good 
pulley grip, preventing slippage. Becau.se of the 
conditions imitosed above, practicall.v all belting is 
made either from leather or a cotton fabric impreg¬ 
nated with various oils and minerals, or such gums 
as rubber or balata. Of these two classes the leather 
belting is pre-eminently the better for shop or indoor 
use, but for the hard knocks of the farm some of 
the cotton belts, canvas, rubber or balata. are best, 
stitched canvas belting being especially well adapted 
to thrasher-running and similar out-of-door work, 
while for the lighter work of the farm, rubber or 
balata belting, becau.^e of their better pulley grip, 
are preferable. These belts are not so good in the 
first place a.s leather, but are less affected by the 
'‘With, Tri-s(iuare and Sharp Knife or Vluael, Cut 
Ends of the licit /‘rrfcctln S(jnarc.'' FUj. o!)S 
dii t, wet and improper running conditions that are 
bound to be met with in farm practice. 
TROUBLES RESULTING FROM ABUSE.—Many 
belt troubles result from improper use, or even abuse. 
Altogether too fretpiently a "belt is found which is 
far too narrow for the load imim.sed upon it, and 
the owner meantime wonders why the belt slips, lace- 
holes tear out, and various other troubles occur 
faster than he can remedy them. For ordinary farm 
operations four to six-ply belting will be found heavy 
enough, a thicker belt being too stiff to grip tightly 
the small pulleys found on farm machines. The 
belt, however, should be wide enough to can-y easily 
the i)owei‘ needed b.v the driven machine without 
being drawn up too taut. Stretching a belt up to 
avoid slip])ing soon wears it out. at the same time 
causing incnuised wear on the machine bearings, and 
•making the maehim^ run harder. It is a .safe rule to 
u.se as wide a belt as the pulleys will permit, being 
.'-^ure that the pulley is somewhat wider than the 
belt to avoid its crimping over the e<lge and thus 
mining it. Where there is doubt about the proper 
width needed, it can be worked out api)roxiniately 
by the following method: A four-pl.v canvas belt, 
running at 800 feid per minute, will carry roughly 
one horsepower for each inch in width, and within 
the limits likely to be met with in farm practice its 
power-carryin.g capacity will increase directly with 
its increase in si»eed. a belt running twice as fast 
carrying twice as much power. ('onse<iuently, to 
lind the hoi’sepower that any belt is capable of carry¬ 
ing. multi])l.v its width in inches by its speed in 
feet jter minute, and divide this product b.v .800. The 
speed in feet per minute is found b.v multiplying the 
number of n'volutious made ])er minute by the pulley 
by .3.1410 times the diameter in feet. 
I'O.SITION of the BEl/r.—The position in 
which a belt runs has much to do Avith its abilit.v 
to carry a load. Whenever possible it should be run 
in a horizontal imsitiou with the under side doing 
the driving. 3'he reason for this can be seen more 
clearly by referring to the cut. Fig. 600. 'The upper 
side being slack, sags down and brings the belt into 
contact with a greater portion of the circumference 
of the pulle.v. iucrc'asing its grij) and i)crmitting it 
to be run slacker without slipping. To illustrate 
this more cleaily the opposite case is shown where 
the driving is done by the upper side of the bolt. 
It will be noted that the belt in this arrangement 
falls away from the pulleys and does not hug them 
as it does in the lirst case. Running a cros.sed belt 
will also increase the pulley grip by securing con¬ 
tact with a greater portion of the circumference. It 
is said also that a cross belt is not so badly affected 
“a’/iP Holes Are Spaced Off icith the Dividers^ Fi<j. qin' 
“Whf'n Tracing a (Umvas Belt Make the Holes with an An'l” Fig. 590 
