The right Vee belt

THE choice of Vee belt for boat engines determines how long they will last.

Up until a few years back, Vee belts were individually made and had an outer surface which was of fabric and which was wrapped around the core to cover all four surfaces of the belt, Ian Reid explains.

Easily identified

These are still around, but so are belts with a later form of construction. These are manufactured as one wide belt which is then cut to provide many belts of the correct width. These are easily identified as the two Vee surfaces are obviously machined leaving the make up of the belt visible.

As they are not wrapped all round in fabric these belts can be made in a 'toothed' form which permits much more flexibility to wrap round small pulleys. These 'cut' belt give a far superior grip than the wrapped variety and shouldbe used where ever there is a choice. The fact that they grip so much better means that they slip a lot less and it is slippage that wrecks belts, no matter how well they are tightened.