Belt driven or hydraulic cutter heads

[Ian C]

just change the pulleys to v,belts ,

 

Yeah that's one option, in fairness though if looked after they don't cost that much considering the hrs they cab do.

[Mick Dempsey]

Not it's not but the belts are bloody expensive and there are more bearings and shafts etc, one of the big advantage of a hydraulic machine is the ability to run other things from the hydraulics, basically there a big power pack, fir the big predator you can mount a mulching head on the back, you could power a splitter or post knocker etc etc.

 

Yes they are expensive, and if they're not fitted right can eat bearings and pulleys.

Grinding is dull but very lucrative, I'd hate to be on an endless row of conifers cursing the lack of power, the knowledge (or belief) that 6months down the line I'd save on fitting a new belt would be scant consolation.

[Ian C]

Yes they are expensive, and if they're not fitted right can eat bearings and pulleys.

Grinding is dull but very lucrative, I'd hate to be on an endless row of conifers cursing the lack of power, the knowledge (or belief) that 6months down the line I'd save on fitting a new belt would be scant consolation.

 

Don't get me wrong mick there was plenty of power and with the anti stress it keeps the machine from bogging down, if you need a bigger grinder with narrow access, remote, dozer blade and hydraulics the predator p50 is it.

[Mick Dempsey]

Ok, understood.

[marne]

Interesting topic.

 

Don't forget there is loss in each type of transmission.

 

Depending on it's condition (tension, wear...) a belt looses 2-6% per pulley pair, same for drivechains, a geardrive looses about 3% per 90 angle too.

 

In the end it maybe a numbers game. The thesis:

 

Results vary by brand, but I think a belt drive may last 500hrs but then pulleys, belt and bearings are shot the more or less, maybe a grand for all, so 3 grand in 1500 hrs. Maybe some belts go much earlier.

 

And guess what a modern high performance pump is? 3k. how long would it last in a balls to the wall stump grinding environment? Nobody told me after I asked, but I think if they go 2k hours in a grinder, they went really far.

And then hopefully no metal particels went through the hydraulic system and met the hydro-motors.

 

So a hydraulic needs little maintenance for the cost of power (and fuel), while belt drivers got the grunt but always need attention.

 

I don't think any of the manufacturers really helps any user saving money, they just have different ways to get it.

 

Just my thoughts on this.

 

Good night

[Breezeblock]

Your right with less maintenance although you do have pumps and hoses to look after but one of the biggest draw backs is loss of power, belt drive is much less power hungry, on a hydraulic head you will loose about 10% power over a belt! I just demo a predator p50, 50hp hydraulic but in fact my carlton 34hp was just as fast grinding due to less power loss. Hydraulic is simple and is probably the future.

 

hydraulic is a nightmare and expensive when it goes tits up I've recently just done a clean out on a dumper and so far we are at £32k in parts without labour so for something as punishing as a grinder i would go for belt driven losses are minimal and easy to fix when it goes pete tong

[Ian C]

hydraulic is a nightmare and expensive when it goes tits up I've recently just done a clean out on a dumper and so far we are at £32k in parts without labour so for something as punishing as a grinder i would go for belt driven losses are minimal and easy to fix when it goes pete tong

 

Good point, be interesting to see how many hours a hydraulic machine can clock up until trouble brews.

 

My 4012D has 280 hrs on it and so far has had both drive belts replaced £400 and both head bearings £500 plus service items so in 4 yrs has cost me about 1k in bits, not bad really considering what's it's earn in those 4 yrs.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Ian C

[Breezeblock]

Good point, be interesting to see how many hours a hydraulic machine can clock up until trouble brews.

 

My 4012D has 280 hrs on it and so far has had both drive belts replaced £400 and both head bearings £500 plus service items so in 4 yrs has cost me about 1k in bits, not bad really considering what's it's earn in those 4 yrs.

 

ours has had 2 sets of belts and a few bearings the belts cost about £9 and the bearings are £15 i remachined the shaft to take thick discs on the inner sides of the bearings to stop crap getting in and its never had a set since its using cheap chinese bearings I've tried skf and rhp on grinders and its always been dirt shield failure thats caused their demise

[Stumpy Joe]

I've used both and belt driven every time as no loss of power and pick up speed of the wheel almost instant. I use Carlton 70-15 and Predator 28 and have had no issues with either and thats after doing about 550hrs a year

[GlobalNewark]

I would get use to hydraulic as that's where it will end, only Carlton are dragging their feet and I know they made a hydraulic grinder but it wasn't successful. Bandit now only make a pedestrian belt grinder, the lack of maintenance & downtime outweigh the other options as it is the downtime that costs the money although polychain belts are getting more expensive.

 

Personally we have only had two motor faults to date but they have since been uprated, it is impossible to proportion costs as each manufacturer and the quality of machines are different. I don't know of one customer who would return to a belt machine to date and I've shifted a few.