My 1980 John Deere 410 backhoe needs a new fam belt and I don't see an easy way to change it. It looks to me like two bolts have to come out of the coupler for the hydraulic pump drive first but, how do you get to them? I thought maybe if I moved the fan shroud I may be able to get my hand in there to do this. Have any of you got any suggestions or am I on the right track? I appreciate any help I can get! Thanks.
Sounds right to me, I don't have the same one, but one with a similar hydraulic pump drive. Of course I ended up taking a whole bunch more stuff out and replacing the front crankshaft seal so maybe I'm not the best guy to answer...
There are two different styles, serial number break, but in either case to use generic language you have to remove two bolts and loosen the bolts on the splined coupler so it will slip on the pump shaft far enough to open up the gap for the belt to pass through. Deere with it's usual wisdom decided to hide the coupler in the "Steering" section of the parts book, go figure. There should be a removable sheet metal plate on the bottom of the front support but I don't recall if that's just for access to the pump or if you can get a hand up to where the coupler lives.
Yair . . . I used to think these were an expensive joke, but they do work very well . . . http://www.fennerdrives.com/nutlink/_/NuTLink-C/22/ I knew of several vehicles that used them as fan belts and I have seen and built various agricultural/marine machines with no provision for belt replacement or adjustment. As I said they are expensive but (say) on a fishing boat or equipment in a remote area if all the drives are designed around one belt size it sure saves on parts inventory. Also, for anyone playing around building things "off the bench" with no plans or drawings a few feet of this on hand is really useful for establishing lengths even if you intend to use conventional belts. Cheers.
I've seen those, but as you say I thought that they were at best an emergency fix... do they really live well in hard use?
They claim to last "up to 20 times" longer. I've never heard anything bad about them from people that use them as a premium lower vibration belt. The old ones with rubber and cloth fell apart eventually, but so do regular V belts. On the other hand the belt is only one thing you want to replace regularly (every few decades, or so), why not make a day of it and replace your front seal? At least replace the rubber cogged coupler disc. I think I paid almost $40 for two belts, and under $30 total for the front seal and rubber thingie, probably less in total than the adjustable belt solution.
Yair . . . Yes fellers, they pull the load and, as I say they seem to take a beating . . . there are the normal tech./application parameter tables available from Fenner. From memory, linear speed and limits to going around real small pulleys were limitations . . . also you can't run a jockey pulley on the back of them which shouldn't be a problem as you just remove links for tension, once you get them right they do a lot of hours before they stretch. There is also a type that drives on both sides of the belt if you do need that application. They are obviously not for everyone but it could be handy for some folks to know they are available and they do really work. Cheers.
You have not lived until you have changed one of these belts! The radiator did have to come out to do it. I guessed a 5/8" x 50" belt and was right on. Now to put it all back together. Thanks for all the reply's!