RE: recall an (Indiana Jones?) movie where the bad guys had a hideout out
in the woods.  They had taken an old pickup truck, put the back end up
on blocks, and installed a wheel with no tire on it.  There was a flat
leather belt looped around this wheel that went to another pulley that
in turn drove a water pump or generator or something.

Not just movies, a common setup for many things in years past.  I recall
seeing a portable sawmill that was driven by a jacked up pickup truck when I
was a kid.  I'm sure that this is still a power source in many parts of the
world.  Probably wouldn't work very well with a Syncro though....