Changing drive belt on 54' greenie, HELP!!

curly57 · Post by **curly57** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:57 pm

Hi Guys!! been awhile, well any way I need to change my drive belt(started smoking)(terrible smell) I've dropped the motor, which I'm finally gonna replace with the new 1hp, but there's not enough room to get the belt off from the top of the idler sheave, any sugestions, I sure would appreciate some help.

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:24 pm

HI Curly;
I have never done a gilmer belt but I think that you will have to remove the eccentric adjusting sleeve abd the sheave that is connceted to the speed control by unclipping the loop from the rear of the "pork chop" piece on the speed control. This little clip moves from left to right when you advance the speed control handle and causes the idler sheave to increase or decrease size.
You will also have to remove the upper shaft that the gilmer belt drives in order to install the new belt.
If you buy the belt from SS then it will come with a full set of instructions.
Good Luck
Bill
PS
there a lot of good people here that will be willing to give advice, Bill Mayo rebuilds a lot of older SS headstocks.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:35 pm

I find the following 25 instructions to be very helpful. I copy each one to a CD for later use: http://www.allinonewood.com/?page=shop/serviceadvisor&
Let me know if you have questions on any of these instructions as they cover almost any repair needed on the Shopsmith.

First, I unhook the retaining loop on the control sheave from the quadrant. If I cannot get the belt off, then remove the Speed Control Assy. Then the Control Sheave will slide off to remove the motor belt. I only use Shopsmith drive belts on customer repairs. Be sure to check the teeth on the quadrant and the speed control handle for missing/chipped/badly worn teeth. You may want to replace the Gilmer/Poly-V belt while you are this far into disassembling the headstock. Make sure all the bearings turn with no noise. Check that there are no rough or loose feeling bearings.

Lastly, a trusted friend of mine in Va Beach, VA, Jacob Anderson sells an outstanding DVD set on repairing the headstock and the motors. I highly recommend this DVD set for anyone interested in the insides of the headstock and motors in case you need to check/repair either. Just say that I recommended him, thanks. His home page is http://members.cox.net/jacobvb/index.html
You can contact him directly through his home page or on Ebay.

curly57 wrote:Hi Guys!! been awhile, well any way I need to change my drive belt(started smoking)(terrible smell) I've dropped the motor, which I'm finally gonna replace with the new 1hp, but there's not enough room to get the belt off from the top of the idler sheave, any sugestions, I sure would appreciate some help.

curly57 · Post by **curly57** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:34 pm

Thanks wa2crk, but it's not my v-drive belt(I replaced my gilmer drive belt) there's just not enough room at the top of the headstock housing to get the belt thru, I don't want to have to take the idler shaft out again. Thanks!!

curly57 · Post by **curly57** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:41 pm

Thanks Bill, I'll look at it again, no other way besides taking out the speed quadrant huh, quess thats easier than taking out the idler shaft again.
Guess some day I need to buy a new headstock, don't have an extra 1100.00 at the moment. Thanks again.....Curly

curly57 · Post by **curly57** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:03 pm

Well looks like I have to take the idler shaft out again, I've done it before, so it's not like it's anything new, just didn't want to have to do it again. Thanks for all of your help!!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:19 pm

Curly, we have a Sawdust Session segment that answers your question: http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... _Belts.htm

And for those of you who may have questions about maintenance or other woodworking issues, let me remind you that we maintain a huge index of our videos at http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Archive_Index.htm Look up the topic in the Index. If it isn't there, ping Drew and me. We will consider it as a suggestion for future Sawdust Sessions.

With all good wishes,

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:49 pm

[ATTACH]1321[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1322[/ATTACH]I enjoy watch Nick manhandle the Shopsmith headstock in a lot of his videos. I built a working stand for the headstock and can repair/rebuild all SPTs and test them on this stand. I have build it to attach to the tailgate on my truck so I could repair customers equipment at their home but after a couple where I always was missing a needed part, I now only use the stand in my shop. It locks in the up and down position. I normally have some Shopsmith item on the stand for future repairs/rebuilds.

Nick wrote:Curly, we have a Sawdust Session segment that answers your question: http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... _Belts.htm

And for those of you who may have questions about maintenance or other woodworking issues, let me remind you that we maintain a huge index of our videos at http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/Archive_Index.htm Look up the topic in the Index. If it isn't there, ping Drew and me. We will consider it as a suggestion for future Sawdust Sessions.

With all good wishes,

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:05 am

That is a cool stand, Bill!