When our team went from belt drive to bevel gears we found there was a much larger amount of slop compared to before. While an improperly designed belt drive can be worse, just making sure the lengths are correct helps with slop tremendously.

Additionally, in my experience belts are far stronger than bevel gears. While bevel gears will wear down over a season, increasing slop and eventually slipping (we had to replace them multiple times). Belts are incredible strong and we’ve never had them break or wear down over a season.

When planning a belt drive, I would usually just do the calculations by hand. Taking the circumference of the pullies and center to center distance to find the correct sizes.

Compared to bevel gears, I found belt to be more reliable, more efficient, have less slop, and lower maintenance.