The working conditions of belt conveyors were analyzed and the working principle of the hydraulic takeup device was introduced. The research emphasis was the pressure control under the working condition switch from the run tension control to tail car tension control. During such switches, the larger discharging flow of the large sizing accumulator required the hydraulic components with larger size. If the flow saturation occured, the pressure oscillation in the closed loop pressure control was easily caused.A control strategy was presented in which an open loop pressure reduction strategy was applied firstly, and then a closed loop constant pressure control was utilized. Simulation shows hydraulic components flow should meet the requirement of 500 L/min if a single closed loop control strategy is applied, while, for the present control strategy, the maximum flow is 60 L/min, relief valve size can be reduced a lot. Furthermore, the dynamic performance of pressure control is also improved.