Singer 301 Question
 

I have a friend who sews commercial grade webbing into a criss-cross type pattern for a project. She generally uses her Singer 201 to sew it, but she recently acquired a Singer 301. She said that after sewing awhile on the Singer 301, it will stall. She brought it over and my DH went through the machine, cleaned it and did a few things to it. Afterwards, I folded some heavy duty fabric several times and sewed with it and had no issues. When she took it home to sew the webbing, after about an hour it stalled. I told her to increase the tension on top of the machine and try it again, and if it still stalled, increase the tension more and try it again and keep increasing the tension on top of the machine and sewing to see if that could be the problem.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing the machine to stall? Is a Singer 301 heavy duty enough for this type of sewing? She has never had an issue sewing the webbing with her Singer 201. Also, are there any machines that you would recommend that she should consider purchasing to sew the webbing? She totally prefers to sew with vintage machines because they are true work horses.

I find that my 301 prefers piecing and light quilting to really heavy stuff. Why not just keep using the 201? I've heard it's quite the workhorse!

I have never tried to sew anything heavy duty with my 301, but my mother used to say that it wouldn't sew heavier things. She used my grandma's treadle to mend horse blankets and sew saddle pads. She said it would sew thru anything you could fit under the foot.

Maybe check the speed control pedal for problems; resistance/overheating. The fact that it works for a while and then has problems may point to an electrical issue. When it stalls, check that the wheel turns freely by hand and is not binding. Second, check the motor commutator is clean.
These are tough machines and generally will punch through what fits under the foot.

The Singer 301 doesn't like to sew heavier things, its just not meant to do heavier fabrics constantly; an industrial machine might be a better choice.
I use my 1917 White Rotary treadle for stuff like that, it will sew through just about anything I can put under the foot. I made several dog bed covers from old blue jeans and my treadle sewed through the heavy seams like it was nothing. My hubby was watching and was impressed.
Sharon in Texas

Man oh man, I was just looking at a 301 and thought it would sew through anything. I was wondering about that. I will get my treadle machine going this spring. I will have to move it due to it's location. We have property in the mountains in northern NY. I just visited the place trampling through the snow to get to the house. I went in and it was very moist in there. So that being said, I will lube, oil and move her next fall.

It isn't the machine it is the motor. The motor isn't heavy enough to punch the needle. I would use an old clone with a 1.0 or bigger motor or best use an industrial with a walking foot especially if it is a business type sewing thing. The 301 motor is .5 if I remember right maybe .7 possibly. I used a 1.5 to soup up my Singer 15-75. It hems jeans.

I agree with the folks who say it is the motor. I have both a 201 and 301 and can put anything through either of them.