Belt guards!!

I was thinking about removing my guards altogether. I have 3208s and as it sits now it would take me at least an hour to remove one. So what happens if you blow a belt and need to change it quickly. Not going to happen here. The port side being the most difficult as the HWH hoses hook up to this engine. I know when I changed the alternator I cussed the guard, but was able to install the alternator without removing the guard.


I do do engine checks on long cruises and there are time I go between the engines to check the shaft seals. If I remove the guard then there will no longer be any access between the engines while running. With the guards it is also difficult to see the belts and their condition.

Still contemplating it.....Good subject matter.

Not all safety features are well engineered or installed for the right reasons.

A full belt guard may not be required to safely keep fingers or clothes out of it if a person physically would never reach around into the danger area...they may be for protecting other items from belt flogging as much as any reason.

While guards do have their place...re-engineered ones or easily removed/replaced ones might be an agenda item.

To say one way or the other about the value of a belt guard without a specific situation/application is like any safety application...generally a folly for some applications and highly valued for others..

Down at the boat looking at mine now. I suppose I could put an expanded metal screen across the hatch beams running 6" aft of the forward bulkhead.

Whether you keep the guards or not should depend on how the engine room is laid out. If like my boat it would be easy to tangle with spinning things, then KEEP THEM.

On some boats the ER is not intended to be occupied while running, and engines up close to fwd bkhd, really no chance for accidental contact.

I have run into a couple boats where engines were installed with belt guards on, and engines were so close to bkhd that YOU COULD NOT TAKE THEM OFF. Choice words spoken then. Had to remove them with a sawzall. Really.

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

So what happens if you blow a belt and need to change it quickly. Not going to happen here.

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If you want the guards but want an easy access see my above post. You can modify them to where the screen comes off the front with 4 or 5 easily accessed bolts (the nuts would be captive on the solid shroud that supports the screen) and you could likely change a belt with that outer perimeter shroud in place.

It was said, regarding the guarding of moving parts on industrial machines, the only truly compliant machines were those so well guarded they could not be used at all. Breach of statutory duty to maintain fencing gave injured employees an automatic entitlement(now theoretically modified) to compensation for injury sustained as a result. (Even if the injured employee had removed the guard,which even raised more issues like "failure to supervise", as well.)
Clearly there has to be a balance between access to parts when necessary, and guarding them to prevent injury.

Guards are typically in place as much for containment as keeping foreign objects away from rotating parts. Leaving belt guards off is a shortcut that can bite you in the arse by way of damages to other parts by the blown belt. Some engine rooms have more crap stored than they should and the majority of it is unsecured. Safety is never an absolute but why increase your risk?

Ultimately you are responsible for your own safety but personally I've always felt that if belt guards are a nuisance for you checking fire extinguishers and such likely is too.

BruceK said:

It was said, regarding the guarding of moving parts on industrial machines, the only truly compliant machines were those so well guarded they could not be used at all. Breach of statutory duty to maintain fencing gave injured employees an automatic entitlement(now theoretically modified) to compensation for injury sustained as a result. (Even if the injured employee had removed the guard,which even raised more issues like "failure to supervise", as well.)
Clearly there has to be a balance between access to parts when necessary, and guarding them to prevent injury.

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Safety/security is inversely proportional to useability!!!

My belts aren't "in your face" but instead closely facing a bulkhead. See no reason for a guard; don't have one. Who in their right mind would go out of their way to expose their extremities to running belts anyway?

My engines are so close to the forward bulkhead. I would have to remove the guards every time I want to open or close the fuel tank sight gage valves, change the Racor elements, change the oil cooler zincs, or change the raw water impellers.

ancora said:

My engines are so close to the forward bulkhead. I would have to remove the guards every time I want to open or close the fuel tank sight gage valves, change the Racor elements, change the oil cooler zincs, or change the raw water impellers.

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Is there a way to attach them with thumbscrews for easy removal/refitting?

My engines do not have belt guards and I wish they did. Yanmar does not make a belt guard for my motor model.
I tried to mold one with fiberglass and mounting tabs - the engine vibrated too much.
I have a design for an expanded metal fence for across the front of the engine. It can be lifted out of the way when needed. I hope to have this fabricated this winter.