Who would have ever thought that the Coronavirus Pandemic and the hoarding of toilet paper would lead to a discussion on preventing one aspect of conveyor belt damage?!  What do those two topics have in common?! Reading and hearing about the toilet paper shortage got me thinking about conveyors' tail zones and keeping them clean. It gave me the inspiration to write this blog post. 

Keeping the Tail Clean....and protected!

One of the most often overlooked areas of protecting the conveyor belt is the tail pulley area. We always seem to talk about the most obvious areas of spillage and carryback along the run of the belt and its components. Rarely do we talk about the tail section of the conveyor and how to protect the pulley and the belt in that location.

Pulley-protection plows are devices that block any large lumps or stray components, such as idler rollers, belt cleaner blades, or other tramp iron, from becoming trapped between the belt and the tail pulley where they can damage the pulley or belt.

Although not designed as belt cleaners, a bonus of pulley protection plows is that they can and do remove fugitive materials with a simple, low-pressure scraping that directs the material off the return belt much like a snowplow cleans a road.

Two Types of Pulley-Protection Plows:

“V” Plow 

Diagonal Plow

Primary Purpose of Pulley-Protection Plows

Instead of cleaning fines off of the belt, the primary mission of the plow is to block any large lumps or stray conveyor components. As material degrades, the fines will be carried between the belt and the pulley. Material trapped in this location can allow the belt to slip against the pulley face, causing the underside of the belt to wear prematurely or damage the pulley surface. This buildup can also cause the belt to mistrack. Large pieces of material, tramp iron, and other items can puncture the belt as shown below.

For more information on the type of pulley-protection plow you might need and installation techniques, you can download a FREE digital edition of our book -  Foundations™ the Practical Resource for Cleaner, Safer, More Productive Dust & Material Control.