Making a treadmill running deck

I'm not familiar with deck material but am interested in your question.

It would be interesting to improve the deck on my treadmill.

Would hardwood really expand and contract that much in such a small space?

Keep me posted on what you find out.

[quote]J.R. wrote:

Would hardwood really expand and contract that much in such a small space?

[quote]

That's what I read in one of the very few discussions I found when googling the subject. You sound skeptical and I am too. The temperature indoors won't fluctuate much during the year, but the relative humidity might. That could have an effect, but really I don't know. My TM came with a fiberboard deck. I'm not sure if it's because it's the best material, or if it's the cheapest. I'll let you know what I find out.

This is a great thread!!

I can offer no help, but I can tell you my solution. I bought a NordicTrack and purchased an extended warranty that covered wear and tear. I asked - it even covered the walking board.

About once a year, I call their 800 number and they ship me a free walking board.

Mine will be out of warranty in about a year. I'd love to find a way to make my own when I can't get them anymore. I'm hoping to put 10,000 miles on mine before it dies (I'm at about 7000 now.)

I wish I had though of that! I just bought a new one last week and I wonder if it's too late to buy the extended warranty? Anyway, I'm keeping my old one so I can play around with making my own decks.

It's really aggravating because a bad deck seems to cause a series of other problems which shorten the life of the TM. Being a skinflint, I wondered if I could avoid the $100 replacement cost and make my own. If the melamine fiberboard works ok, I can have 3 replacement decks from a $35 sheet.

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Birth control glasses wrote:

I thought of putting some sheet metal underneath for support. I don't know if it would do any good, and if it would help, should it be a full sheet completely supporting the deck or would a few straps lain width-wise be sufficient.

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I know I saw a post on RWOL about a guy repairing the deck of his treadmill. It was in the last month or 2. I think it was in one of the marathon training threads.

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Birth control glasses wrote:

Being a skinflint, I wondered if I could avoid the $100 replacement cost and make my own.

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Bump

J.R., on mine, I had to remove some plastic molding that protects the tightening screws on the rear roller, and some molding that protects the edges of the deck (much of it was secured to the deck with screws). Then I loosened the tension screws on the rear roller to loosen the belt. Then I unbolted the deck from the frame, slid the old deck out from under the belt and slid the new deck in. Then reversed the dissembly process. My TM is Horizon make and they have pdf instructions for doing many maintenance and repair tasks which I'm sorry to say I experience many.

On TM's, there's always plastic covering up the nuts and bolts of how it's constructed. Once you pull that stuff off, it makes sense how it's all put together. Careful, some of the screws that attached the molding to the deck were hard to find. I kept removing screws thinking I found the last one, but it was still attached. When I bought my replacement deck, it wasn't pre-drilled properly to receive the screws, so I had to drill my own. Then, the molding didn't quite fit right and rattled in operation. Eventually, I ripped it all off so that all the inner workings are completely exposed. Another reason I'm annoyed at paying +$100 for a replacement deck.

The surface material is important and that's one of the big questions. I have three ideas for it: 1) use the melamine coated MDF, 2) use the back-side of formica flooring bolted and maybe glued to the deck, 3) use sections of an old junked shower stall as the surface. I like #3 because that stuff is rigid, flat, slippery as hell and big enough to cover the entire deck. I'll probably just try one first since it's easiest.

Interesting, don't suppose you have a link? I'll have a look.

I'm surprised there is so little out there about trying to do this. There has to be engineers out there who can't abide shelling out so much for a small sheet of fiberboard.

Just an random thought, what is your treadmill sitting on? If it is sitting on something soft (like carpet) it may be that the way you land when you are running on it is putting a stress (torsion) on it that they didn't design it for. If you can make sure it is on a hard surface that may help.

Or it just may be a piece. Good luck making the new deck.

Many higher end treadmills use a material called "phenolic".
I've built treadmills from scratch for research purposes and I find phenolic is the best. I tried UHMWPE (teflon generic) but it wears out, buckles etc.
You can buy sheets of phenolic from a local plastic supplier.

Agree that UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight poly ethelyne) would work but is expensive and would need to be backed up by proper thickness of plywood to make it rigid enough.

I'd go with a cabinet grade (the more plys the better) plywood. myself and make sure edges are sanded round and hardware is countersunk below the surface. Then get some belt lube from a store that specalizes in exercise equipment.
I am surprised that you get cracks in your deck though. You might want to reinforce the plywood with a wood strip lengthwise if there is space for it. Good luck!

2 legit, my TM is on a sheet of plywood that is on top of carpet. I don't really have a place to put it that is not carpeted. I put the plywood down to have something rigid for the frame.

Thanks Rodger and Woodguy for the excellent ideas. I will seek out the materials you described.

Rodger, which phenolic did you find the best? Linen, canvas?? And how did you secure it to your wood? THANK YOU!

When I first read this I imagined you trying to turn the surface of your deck outside of your house into a running treadmill. The belt would be say 15 feet by 30. You could run stationary on the treadmill with a group of friends, maybe 5 or 6 friends, while your wife cooks hotdogs off to the side, occasionally spraying you guys down with the garden hose, etc. etc.

That would be awesome! I'd feel bad for whoever fell off pace with the group.

I'm pretty sure Melamine is what you want. I have a LiveStrong treadmill and that is what my deck is made of. The issue of expansion and contraction isn't caused by the ambient temperature in your room, it's caused by the friction of the belt itself. This is why you are supposed to lubricate it with a silicone lubricant every 1000 miles or so. Also, if you attempt to place metal, or phenolic with plywood or MDF, you'll get differential expansion and contraction and that will torque the materials and likely make things a bit worse.

Now if you are cracking the the deck lengthwise, I think you may want to consider just using Melamine, and just be very carefull with your assembly. There may be a mounting bracket that is just slightly out of tolerance so you are not loading the deck uniformly (causing a moment or shear concentration). This may require some calipers to check, but it may be that one of the brackets was damaged one time, or it may be a manufacturing flaw.

Good luck

try using vinyl planks, used in flooring. usually see them in the clothes section at walmart,looks like wood on their floors.

heres an example of what it is. http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=6964&CAWELAID=899334823&gclid=CNDuiIzAta4CFRN3hwodEymsow