Replies

1. 
   cussnu2 | Sep 27, 2012 04:33pm | #1

   If all else fails, you can measure it with a piece of string.  Check to see if you have adjustment on either of the pulleys...it might be that the whole motor moves slightly to adjust the tension.  In any case, I would measure it at its max adjustment and at its minimum adjustment and then also measure the pulley width/depth.  A good farm supply store or old style auto parts store should be able fix you up.  I wouldn't have any faith in a national chain auto store.  In my experience, they only know what is in their books or on their computer.

   When youwrap the string around the two pulleys, use a marker to mark both the max length and the min length and then take the string along.  The places that are going to be able to help you will have a belt measuring tool they loop the old belts over and you'll have to look your string over it and get one somewhere around the middle of your two marks.

1. 
   [email protected] | Sep 27, 2012 04:42pm | #2

   Second this, it is the right approach

   I would only add that once you know what belt it takes, write it on the mixer near the motor so you can buy a new one if you need to. 

2. 
   DanH | Sep 27, 2012 08:49pm | #3

   Just take its pants size and add four inches.

3. 
   hammer1 | Sep 27, 2012 08:56pm | #4

   Measure it with a rope that fits the pulleys and take it with you to the supplier. They don't go by sizes these days, just part numbers for the specific vehicle. Better yet, get a link belt and size it yourself.

1. 
   cussnu2 | Sep 28, 2012 09:18am | #5

   I can take you to a half dozen places that will measure your belts and give you the right size.  You need to know where to go.

1. 
   hammer1 | Sep 29, 2012 11:11pm | #6

   And what if you don't have an existing belt to measure?  I'm old enough to have used the fan belt measuring tool that hung in every garage back in the day. You didn't pump your own gas, you got your window washed, tires looked at and a request to check your oil, all from a trained worker in a uniform. I worked at a Mobil station through high school, used to be service stations, not just fueling pumps. And don't forget the Green Stamps!

4. 
   DanH | Sep 29, 2012 11:34pm | #7

   Keep in mind that you need to know length, width, and angle.  Length is measured along the "top" (wide edge) of the belt, so a measurement with a string which sits in the groove of the pulleys will come up short.  Best to use a tape measure that's just wide enough to sit just inside the pulleys, if you're lucky enough to have one.  Otherwise you take a measurement around the outside of the pulleys and subtract a hair, or measure in the pulley gooves and add about four hairs.

   Width is measured at the "top" (wide edge) of the belt, and the top of the belt will generally sit just inside the rim of the pulley, so taking the width of the slot just about 1/8" into the slot will get you close.

   As to angle, there are only 2-3 variations, and they don't overlap in sizes much, so if you find the right length/width you've probably got the right angle.

   The other thing is the pulley diameter.  If you have an exceptionally small pulley you need a notched belt rather than a solid one. (But I wouldn't expect this of a cement mixer.)

   It kinda helps if you happen to have a belt that is the right width, even if not long enough/too long.  You can use this to verify the pulley width, and also use it to sit in the groove while you run a tape meaure or whatever over it.

5. 
   actar984 | Mar 20, 2013 02:39pm | #8

   Better Late Than Never

   I'm new to the forum.  I found the forum while searching the model number for my Wards 1/2 Cubic Foot Cement Mixer, Model GIL-26471A  for information.  I just got my mixer used and it WAS in great condition.  I did a dumb thing and forgot to secure the mixer to my tractor's pallet forks as I was lifting it off the truck.  Apparently my tractor control inputs are not smooth enough to keep the thing from sliding off the forks and crashing to the ground.  Needless to say, the factory bond (tac weld) between the multi layer sheave (V-Belt Pully Wheel) and the axle mounting bushing broke apart.  I now have to replace the V-Belt pully wheel on my machine.  I have been searching the internet for information on my mixer in hopes to find a pully wheel and found your post.  So I figured I'd create an account and reply to your request with the belt information on mine, since you seem not to have a belt for your own to measure.

   The V-Belt on my mixer is stamped "Powerated 5869 Made in Mexico."  It measures 1/2 inch at the top and is 5/16ths thick.  It is a smooth solid V-Belt.  I put masking tape around the outer circumference, took the tape off and measured it.  The outside circumference measured 59.5 inches. 

   I noteed that my belt was really tight when I got the machine!  It worked just fine.  I NOW see that the motor mount is slightly lifted off the base on one side and is being held by the bolts on only 1 side.   The bolts on the other side of the motor mount are lifted slightly off the base. I don't know if the bolts on the other side pulled out of the base mount when it crashed down or not?  But the belt still fits as the motor is currently mounted to the base.  I think (hope) that a belt with a "Nominal Outside Length" of 60 Inches would work better and allow me to refasten the bolts on the other side of the motor to the base as well.

   I just located the replacement belt I am going to try on my unit online at Grainger for $18.87.  It is Item #3X547, V Belt 60 In A58 top width 1/2" ARPM Belt Number A58 5/16 Inch Thick.

   I also found a replacement V-Belt Pully online at Grainger for $48.55 that should fit.   I measured the V-Belt Pully on my unit  and it has a 14 inch outside Diameter on the Sheave.  The Sheave mounts to the axle using a bushing that was tac welded onto the Sheave.  The axle bore on the bushing is 3/4" diameter.  The replacement pully I am going to try using is a CONGRESS V-Belt Pully Model #CA1400X075KW, Grainger Item #3X942.  This V-Belt Pully has a spoked wheel with a fixed bore, which requires no mounting bushing.  The Pully is a die casted 14" Outside Diameter pully with a 3/4" bore diameter and has a set screw, like the bushing that secures my broken sheave (pully wheel) to the axle.  It looks like this one should fit and do the job.

   I know that this is more information than you needed and it came like 7 months after your request.  But searching the Internet I see you and I are not the only ones trying to make good use of an old Montgomery Wards Cement Mixer Model GIL-26471A that we got cheap or free.  So I posted all the information I was able to piece together from several other forums in my search that led me here today. 

   I hope that this will save some other guy hours of searching the internet for a V-Belt Pully AKA: "flywheel" and Belt for his old Wards 1/2 cubic foot mixer.

   
1. 
   actar984 | Mar 20, 2013 08:46pm | #9

   They worked! :-)

   So, I went on line to order the new V-Belt Pulley flywheel and new belt.  When I clicked on the check shipping to my zip code I learned that Grainger Industrial had a new store open up in the County Seat (24 miles away) and that store had both in stock for the same Internet price.  I called them to confirm that.  I picked them up the same afternoon when I had to go up for a doctor's appointment.  I took the old broken flywheel and the smaller V-Belt with me.  The guys were very helpful and they appeared to match.  The new belt was slightly looser, but I thought I'd buy 2 of them any way. 

   Once I got home it took me less than a minute to put the new flywheel on and secure it with the hex screw it came with.  The belt fit on just fine.  The machine runs very smoothly.  When I put on the new belt Idiscovered that the motor mount is on a hinge on the left side and is designed to be self settling on the tension.  So the extra 1/2 inch in length was of no consequence.  If anything, the motor sits more level now but still "floats" on the tension.

   I was very happy to have a low cost fix for my being in a hurry, as compared to replacing them mixer that I just got at less than bargain basement price.  So hey, the cost of my mixer just doubled... but it's still less than any other one for sale in the area.  Plus I have two extra belts now.