Posted by NCWayne on March 18, 2011 at 08:26:54 from (166.82.187.163):
Ok guys, these weren't the kinds of replies I was looking for. That said, the supplier I got my belts from has been in business since the 20's and was highly recommended to me by several other reputible suppliers. Each of those suppliers told me that they would have to get the belts from him first, even if I was to order through them. Given the cost of belting nowdays they were nice enough to guide me to him instead of further inflating the cost of the belts even more by the addition of shipping, markups, etc. For that I was grateful given that the two belts were already over $100 with me picking them up. Heck looking at McMaster Carr the 1 1/4" x 11' belt alone would have been nearly $90 by itself, with the other belt I would have been looking closer to $150 or so if I had gone through them so I felt like I got a pretty good deal even at that cost. Heck think about what two large V belts the same lengths would have cost.
Now, reardless of wether the line about the age of the cows is right or wrong, suppliers are still having problems getting good quality leather in the thicknesses they could in years past. There in is yet another reason several suppliers guided me to one single supplier who was successful in getting the needed material. Now wether it's the age of the cows alone or the way they are bulked up for sale, or whatever the problem, it still stands that there is a problem. As far as this particular supplier goes he said he handles alot of round leather belting for certain applications. He said the larger round belts needed to come out of a single piece as they couldn't be layered and glued like the flat belts could, and that a 'not quite round' belt caused by trying to cut one out of a thin hide just didn't work. Honestly I really can't see him cutting his own throat buying material that he knows won't work in that application and trying to sell it knowing it won't work. Honestly that would be plain out stupid and the fact that this business has been around since the 20's and has survived the loss of much of their business when the mills began shutting down, means that they must know a little bit about what they are doing. So, wether the problem is just in this area or not, wether there was a problem a year or more ago or not, there is a problem getting good quality leather in the same thicknesses it used to be readily availible in.
With all that said, and discounting the age of the cows since everyone thinks that is BS, can anybody out there give me a valid reason that the good, quality, thick leather that was cheaply available, in quantity, in years past should be in such short supply? I know Dad used to buy belts for some machines he had back in the late 70's to early 80's and back then it was really easy to find locally and while not cheap it wasn't nearly as expensive as it is now. Last time I looked several years back there was no one local to me with anything so I had to expand the search out over a 100 mile radius of me to find just a couple of suppliers still in business. When I initially talked to the guy he didn't say thick leather no longer existed, what he did tell me was that it was extreemly hard to come by in large quantities like it used to be. In the end cows are still cows, and leather is still leather, and except for the fact that cows are 'artificially' fattened up and taken to market alot sooner nowdays than they were in the past (in an attempt to boost profits just like ever other product from crops to other robotic built, mass produced consumer items) what exactly could be causing the problem? The only things I see different the way things are being done NOW, with the speedy fatten and get to market, mass production approach using 'chemicals' unheard of 50 plus years ago-- VS-- they way they were done THEN, when the cows grazed in open pastures, and were 'driven' to market by guys on horseback and not in a trailer behind a truck.
So, still curious as to anyone experiencing similar problems as asked in the origional post, and also looking for valid reasons for this problem since everyone seems to think that the guys answer to it was BS.....Inquiring minds want to know and I like to learn.........
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