Bushed Cast Steel Alloy Pulleys

Note: The following information was retrieved from UtterPower’s archived pages. All information is republished for educational purposes. Any mention of items for sale or prices are outdated and no longer applicable.

Pulleys for the Lister and Big Flywheels

Many DIYers will know that utterpower was the first to offer DIYers the 8.x inch Pulleys specifically designed to drive 4 pole generator heads off Lister and other big flywheels. Many of these have been put into service over the years, and we have noted that others have developed their own versions of these pulleys. Our pulleys are designed for Marine service, no expense has been spared period. When we learn how to make it better, we do it. Oh, you noticed our pulleys use a bushing that covers a wider range of shaft sizes? that comes in handy more often than you’d think.

Belts are typically $28 and up at any automotive store in lots of lengths, belts and pulleys will carry two or three times the load we typically use them for and never slip or chirp properly tensioned. Part of KISS is using simple, proven, readily available and cheap wear components. We have customers who claim 6000 hours plus on the same belt.

This 3rd Generation Utterpower pulley uses CNC and American QC and supervision. We believe that we have made a huge step forward in quality and performance of the pulley. It was important that we address the requirements of those who find themselves in marine and tropical settings, the pulley is plated as a final step. Yes it was a pain to go thru all the steps necessary to apply the plating, and it certainly did add to the expense. This effort incorporates special features, some not so obvious, but you’ll likely appreciate the effort to include them. One thing for certain, it was our goal to build the best pulley possible, and cost was a last consideration. This is not one of those products with a high mark up….it was designed by DIYers for DIYers, and we have used the same philosophy as we use in the direct drive, when it is obvious that we can make it better, we do. We leave behind two earlier versions of pulleys that DIYers here and in the third world can copy and make for themselves if they have the machine tools.

Now that we are confident of the design and new features, we are adding different sizes to the line up to provide certain drive combinations. Drive kits for 6/1_ST5, and even a drive system for the Yanmar 10hp clones and PMGs are in stock. More will be stocked in the near future.

Pulleys are made for both 50HZ and 60HZ, and there are many combinations that one can come up with for various requirements. Our line of pulleys will continue to grow, and we expect to develop drives that will handle considerably more torque and horsepower. some of the features in these pulleys support future offerings, they are fully backwards compatible, but they will also offer some advantages we will not discuss at this time. MORE sizes are in the works.

Some Pulleys that were offered at UtterPower:

• 11.25 inch 8 groove Cad Plated 40 pounds!  (Sold Out)
• 10.0 inch 8 groove Cad Plated sized for 50hz machines (Lister 6/1>4 pole heads)
•  8.4 inch, 8 groove 20 pounds, Cad plated   (Sold Out)
•  7.0 Inch, 8 groove, Cad Plated
•  5.0 inch, 8 groove, 5 pounds, Cad plated, sized for SK bushing
•  4.2 inch, 8 groove, 3 pounds, Cad plated, sized for SK bushing
•  4.1 inch, 8 groove, 2 pounds 10 oz, Cad plated, sized for SK bushing
•  8.4 and smaller pulleys, priority shipping and handling with tracking
•  Good Supply of 38mm and 42mm SK Bushings

I have some inventory left, so feel free to leave me a comment as you never know what I might have in the shop.

Watch a Video of a Modified Pulley

This is a video of a modified 8.4 inch 8 groove serpentine pulley bolted to changfa flywheel.

Bushed Pulleys

Why do I use bushed pulleys, isn’t it just another expense?

Bushed pulleys; as far as I’m concerned, they are an important part of ‘KISS’ engineering. a bushed pulley is something that can be used on a range of shaft sizes. I use the ‘SK’ sized bushing because it covers the range of sizes we DIYers normally find ourselves involved with. There are a few using the 48mm shafts, and the SK bushing covers this rather large size as well. If we step up one size to the SF bushing, we can even cover a 2 inch bore, this is the size of the Lister 6/1 crankshaft!

Bushed pulleys allow us to attach a pulley to a shaft with a VERY positive fit, if you do it near right, it’ll never slip, it’ll never come loose, you won’t mangle a key way, and you can remove the pulley in sub zero weather with gloves on! Standard Bushings have two sets of hole in them, one can be used as ‘pass throughs’ the others are threaded. What you need to know BEFORE you install a bushed pulley is that one set of these holes are used as >JACKS< to ‘JACK’ the bushing back out of the pulley. This is typically done when the pulley is put on the shaft first, widest part of the hole facing the end of the shaft. Then you fit the ‘SPLIT’ tapered bushing on to the shaft small end first.

Some folks new to tapered bushing can’t get the new bushing on, always check the shaft and the bushing and make sure they are the same size. Once you are sure of this, you will note that the bushing often needs to be opened up a little. Simply slip a screw drive in the slot, and gently tap on the butt of the screw drive until the bushing spreads enough to get it on the shaft.

Here’s a Metric ‘SK’ sized bushing, if you look close you might see the SK followed by the size. You’ll also note six holes, three are larger and un threaded, three are threaded

The archived images from the rest of this post are not retreiveable, but if you need more information on what you need to know before installing one, just send me a comment!

Thanks,
George B

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