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HM126 Drive Belt Tension

Started by Johnkeller1979, November 17, 2019, 11:26:46 PM

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Johnkeller1979

Hello, although Ive used this site many times for cross reference and has been a big help, this will be my first time asking a question.
Ive had this HM126 for about six months, it ran well when I first set it up and slowly it has acted up more and more over time. The problem being the blade popping off. I noticed that when I would re tension the drive belt, it would run better for awhile, but I would have to go back after a couple blades and re tension the drive belt again and again. I came to the apparent conclusion yesterday that the blade was riding on the metal drive bandwheel and figured it was the diesel I had been using as lube was deteriorating the belt. It probably has about 20 hours, so maybe the diesel had softened it enough in that amount of time, I guess. 
So I replaced the drive belt today, bearings too, just because I wanted to eliminate that as being a possible issue as well, replaced the follower belt.. \
Set the tracking, set the tension and fired it up. Upon fully engaging the throttle, it started to vibrate quite a bit. I shut it down and checked everything once again. I noticed that the drive belt was loose. So when the tension is off the blade, the drive belt is tensioned and tight, once I tension the blade, the drive belt  becomes loose (or looser) 
Is this normal? or am I over analyzing? Im honestly afraid the running the *DanG thing thinking Im going to damage something beyond repair. Yet Im trying to keep faith in this green machine. 

I also noticed the blade is tracking back and forth when I spin the wheel by hand. Three different blades, same back and forth action. 

Any help would be much appreciated! 
HM 126 Learning..

adirondacker

Check your engine alignment with the band wheel AFTER you tension. You may have to realign engine. Also..... make sure engine mounts bolts are tighter than all get out.
Do not let saw blade ride on edges of band wheel. IF necessary go to a slightly deeper V-belt. Maybe...just maybe you have wrong size belt right from get go.
Also....run your roller blade guides about 1/16" from back of blade after fully tensioned. Once everything is perfectly aligned....that baby should just sing to you.
One other thing......I don't know how you tension your saw blade.....make sure your T-Handle ....or whatever, is not backing off tension as you saw. Vibrations from mill will cause that...I had same problem with my mill brand new. I designed my own anti-vibration lock.
Look for simple little glitches....that is 90% of troubles.
Good Luck!

btulloh

The drive belt tension definitely shouldn't change when you tension the blade.  X2 on the deeper V belts.  One of these days I'm going to get my pulleys turned down so I have a little more belt exposed.

I haven't had the problem you're having and I've been running the HM126 for over three years, so something is up with your mill.  Probably something in the various adjustments.  These can be hard to track down, but if you go through everything it should be right when you're done.  I found the adjustment of the drive pulley to be a little fussy, but once it was done and running well it stayed that way.  My biggest issue is my belts wear out pretty quick.  I think that's from running cheap belts plus I get a lot of pitch/sawdust buildup on the belts.  I just haven't found the right formula for keeping them clean when sawing.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.  Keep us posted on your progress and questions.
HM126

Johnkeller1979

Thank you! 
I got off the phone with a very helpful guy from Woodland Mills, I think with a combination of everyone's input, Ive got a plan. Im going to double check the follower belt is completely seated. I also got some advise on how to straighten the motor while trying to put tension on the drive belt at the same time, seems the trick is to remove the belt then adjust the motor, then replace belt. 
I really feel good about learning a little bit more about this machine and look forward to helping someone with the same issues in the future. 
Thanks again, Ill let ya know if this solves the issue(s) 
HM 126 Learning..

btulloh

We're all learning every day.  All part of the game.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about removing the belt before adjusting the motor.  I usually slack off the motor, install the drive belt, then tension.  I'm not sure how to do it otherwise.  Maybe I just misread your post.

Anyway, the support is usually real good from those guys, so it sounds like they gave you some useful advice.  Happy sawing.
HM126

mitchstockdale

Quote from: Johnkeller1979 on November 17, 2019, 11:26:46 PM
Hello, although Ive used this site many times for cross reference and has been a big help, this will be my first time asking a question.
Ive had this HM126 for about six months, it ran well when I first set it up and slowly it has acted up more and more over time. The problem being the blade popping off. I noticed that when I would re tension the drive belt, it would run better for awhile, but I would have to go back after a couple blades and re tension the drive belt again and again. I came to the apparent conclusion yesterday that the blade was riding on the metal drive bandwheel and figured it was the diesel I had been using as lube was deteriorating the belt. It probably has about 20 hours, so maybe the diesel had softened it enough in that amount of time, I guess.
So I replaced the drive belt today, bearings too, just because I wanted to eliminate that as being a possible issue as well, replaced the follower belt.. \
Set the tracking, set the tension and fired it up. Upon fully engaging the throttle, it started to vibrate quite a bit. I shut it down and checked everything once again. I noticed that the drive belt was loose. So when the tension is off the blade, the drive belt is tensioned and tight, once I tension the blade, the drive belt  becomes loose (or looser)
Is this normal? or am I over analyzing? Im honestly afraid the running the *DanG thing thinking Im going to damage something beyond repair. Yet Im trying to keep faith in this green machine.

I also noticed the blade is tracking back and forth when I spin the wheel by hand. Three different blades, same back and forth action.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Hey, welcome to the forum lots of good helpful folks here

I don't think the drive belt tension is a huge issue in my experience (so far) drive belt tension loosens up as the belt wears and stretches I only tighten it if its excessively loose like and 1" deviation or notice the blade slipping (this has only happened once)...but with WM they all seem to have their quirks..

Yeah worn belts will cause you lots of trouble.. I figured that one out the hard way...your belts should always sit proud of the bandwheel and thus so should the blade...this caused me many problems with tracking and wavy cuts...this may be why your blade was popping off...btulloh gave me some helpful advice to straighten this out few months back 8)

Just curious if your side to side adjustment on your drive side band wheel (the two horizontal bolts) are loose...you are suppose to loosen those when you set the tracking on your drive side then re-tighten when you're done.  the jamb nut could be tight but the bolt might not be contacting the stem that hold the bearing allowing the whole wheel to move....don't know just a thought...

Keep us updated...



btulloh

Excellent point about the tracking on the drive side.  I found that to be my biggest learning curve when I got the machine.  The adjustment is a little fiddly and wasn't easy for me to comprehend at first.  Eventually I got it through my thick head and haven't had to touch it.
HM126

goose63

Welcome to the F.F. where are yoy from ?

There are a lot of us on here with the same mill you have maybe one of us a re close enough to you to help you out
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

Johnkeller1979

Btulloh - Hey there, I was having an issue when I would tension the belt using the horizontal tension bolt, once it would start to near the reccomended 1/4" tension, the motor would start to twist. 
Mitchstockdale - I am wondering about the drive side tracking as well, I wish I understood better how it worked. I first aligned the motor perfectly square. Then I used the horizontal bolt/nuts on the drive side to adjust side to side until the belt rode perfectly on the idler pulley (as I turned front and reverse) so I guess thats it?? haha. I put a blade on and there was a lot of back and forth movement while tracking by hand, then upon start up it was I could really see it going in and out, but it didnt fall off and I made 3 cuts. Then it started shaking more and more, 4th cut, fell off. So I thought maybe i didnt have the new follower belt seated properly, it did seem kinda wanky.. re seated it and put another blade on, seemed to not move back and forth as much. Made one cut, released the throttle and after in wound down, bam! if fell off again. At this point Im just finding it amusing. 
The blades I used today were all blades that have popped off before and didnt have a broken tooth on them so I sharpened them on the Woodland Mills sharpener, but I dont have a setting so they arent re set. Ive got a box of WM Double Hard blades on the way and Im curious to see if they will work better now that I believe I have everything set, tensioned, aligned, squared and new. 
goose63- Thank you, everyone has been really helpful! Its amazing how much there is to learn getting into this, inch by inch. Im from Western Nebraska, Scottsbluff. 
HM 126 Learning..

btulloh

I'll be curious to hear how those doublehards work for you. 

I've been using Kasko 7 degree exclusively after the initial box of Lennox ten's. Happy with the kasko but always wondering what might be better. Timberwolf blades have a good reputation too.  I was not in love with lennox blades. 

So you got it tracking right and the blades stopped popping off?

Well done. The learning and tweaking never ends, but that's one of the attractions. 
HM126

Johnkeller1979

I'll let you know how the double hards work out, with what little experience I have to compare. I did notice the teeth were off quite a bit at the welds, not sure if that's just a normal thing. 
I did get a few passes, but it popped off twice. I'm hoping it's the blades, for they are old blades that I re sharpened. 
HM 126 Learning..

Johnkeller1979

Adirondacker - I was thinking about your suggestion about checking the tension as am cutting, I havent tried that, but that might be part of whats happening, thanks for the suggestion! 
HM 126 Learning..

btulloh

Check your current blades for any bends or a mis alignment at the weld. If you don't see any problems they should track even if they don't saw well after all the popping off has fouled the teeth. 

Something you said about aligning the drive pulley didn't sound quite right. Check the manual for the procedure and follow carefully. Turning by hand will confirm correct tracking. Even a couple revs of the band will show a tracking problem.  It should center up and stay in one spot on both pulleys. Front overhang should be equal on both pulleys. About 3/8 in front. Be sure to have the guides backed off from the blade while you're adjusting the tracking (you're probably doing that, but i just want cover all the bases).

On the drive pulley, make sure the vertical tilt is correct!  The do the horizontal adjustment to be right with the idler.  Don't adjust it in relation to the clutch pulley. I believe this is all in the manual, although there have been some changes since my manual was printed. 

I wouldn't want to put a brand new doublehard on until the tracking was right. 
HM126

Johnkeller1979

I may need to call woodland and get something on how to align the drive pulley. There is nothing in the manual and a sticker on the adjustment housing that reads "dont adjust, factory set" haha, but then I didn't listen of course. I might have possibly wanted to believe that a new blade would help.. but yeah, deep down I know Im not done with adjustments. And youre right, the current blades, even though they are old, are not misaligned at the weld and no kinks. I am backing off the guides, thats become second nature now from previous issues. 
Do you have any suggestions on how to adjust the vertical tilt? I think I have the horizontal tilt figured out, I suppose its the same for the vertical? But how to i gauge its accuracy? A level maybe? I dont feel measuring off the sheet metal is a good base? 
And thanks in advance! 
HM 126 Learning..

btulloh

I don't have my manual handy to see how they explain the procedure but the objejective Is for both the drive and idler pulleys to be exactly co-planer.  Then the horizontal tilt can be tweaked slightly to achieve proper tracking. If all things were ideal, tracking would be correct when the pulleys are in the same plane, but we don't live in a perfect world, so there's some adjustment required. 

The vertical tilt (in a horizontal band saw) needs to be the same on both pulleys. Drive and idle.  If not, it would not be possible to achieve decent tracking, plus the band would have a slight twist. So bad on several counts. 

It sounds like they set the vertical tilt at the factory and locked it down. So maybe it's ok. Worth checking though, because traveling by motor freight can change almost anything. Put a band on and tension it. Use something like a digital angle gauge and a straight edge to compare the vertical tilt of the drive and idle pulleys. This is a little more difficult with the band in place, but easier if you use a straight edge that just fits the diameter of the pulley. A real straight edge, not just some stick. 

Hopefully they match and you can move on to normal tracking adjustments. If not the adjustment works the same (I think) as the horizontal adjustment. 

With all that correct, the clutch pulley should line up correctly. It can tolerate a slight misalignment, but the big pulleys cannot. 

I hope that helps. 

HM126

Johnkeller1979

Thats really is helpful! Sounds like a good foundation type of setting that needs to be right to operate, otherwise I'm just tinkering with temporary fixes. I'm going to find a digital angle finder and check it out. Thanks again! 
HM 126 Learning..

mitchstockdale

from your initial post you mention the vibration started after you replaced the bearings in your band wheel?  Did you get that bearing seated properly if not that could be causing your wobble

Someone mentioned checking your tension after a cut..i second that thought...your tension springs could be bad..WM should easily send you new ones if youve only had the mill 6 months

Johnkeller1979

Quote from: mitchstockdale on November 18, 2019, 11:30:34 AM
Quote from: Johnkeller1979 on November 17, 2019, 11:26:46 PM
Hello, although Ive used this site many times for cross reference and has been a big help, this will be my first time asking a question.
Ive had this HM126 for about six months, it ran well when I first set it up and slowly it has acted up more and more over time. The problem being the blade popping off. I noticed that when I would re tension the drive belt, it would run better for awhile, but I would have to go back after a couple blades and re tension the drive belt again and again. I came to the apparent conclusion yesterday that the blade was riding on the metal drive bandwheel and figured it was the diesel I had been using as lube was deteriorating the belt. It probably has about 20 hours, so maybe the diesel had softened it enough in that amount of time, I guess.
So I replaced the drive belt today, bearings too, just because I wanted to eliminate that as being a possible issue as well, replaced the follower belt.. \
Set the tracking, set the tension and fired it up. Upon fully engaging the throttle, it started to vibrate quite a bit. I shut it down and checked everything once again. I noticed that the drive belt was loose. So when the tension is off the blade, the drive belt is tensioned and tight, once I tension the blade, the drive belt  becomes loose (or looser)
Is this normal? or am I over analyzing? Im honestly afraid the running the *DanG thing thinking Im going to damage something beyond repair. Yet Im trying to keep faith in this green machine.

I also noticed the blade is tracking back and forth when I spin the wheel by hand. Three different blades, same back and forth action.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Hey, welcome to the forum lots of good helpful folks here

I don't think the drive belt tension is a huge issue in my experience (so far) drive belt tension loosens up as the belt wears and stretches I only tighten it if its excessively loose like and 1" deviation or notice the blade slipping (this has only happened once)...but with WM they all seem to have their quirks..

Yeah worn belts will cause you lots of trouble.. I figured that one out the hard way...your belts should always sit proud of the bandwheel and thus so should the blade...this caused me many problems with tracking and wavy cuts...this may be why your blade was popping off...btulloh gave me some helpful advice to straighten this out few months back 8)

Just curious if your side to side adjustment on your drive side band wheel (the two horizontal bolts) are loose...you are suppose to loosen those when you set the tracking on your drive side then re-tighten when you're done.  the jamb nut could be tight but the bolt might not be contacting the stem that hold the bearing allowing the whole wheel to move....don't know just a thought...

Keep us updated...
Ahhh, just figured out how to comment on someones post haha. I did check the drive side, something tells me the issue is there. The bolts are tight, but its not in plane vertically with the follower bandwheel. I put a level on the drive pulley, pretty close to level. Put a level on the follower pulley, its about 3/8 of an inch off. Do you think this would be an issue? I talked to woodland mills and they said thats normal??
HM 126 Learning..

Johnkeller1979

Quote from: btulloh on November 18, 2019, 10:25:02 PM
I don't have my manual handy to see how they explain the procedure but the objejective Is for both the drive and idler pulleys to be exactly co-planer.  Then the horizontal tilt can be tweaked slightly to achieve proper tracking. If all things were ideal, tracking would be correct when the pulleys are in the same plane, but we don't live in a perfect world, so there's some adjustment required.

The vertical tilt (in a horizontal band saw) needs to be the same on both pulleys. Drive and idle.  If not, it would not be possible to achieve decent tracking, plus the band would have a slight twist. So bad on several counts.

It sounds like they set the vertical tilt at the factory and locked it down. So maybe it's ok. Worth checking though, because traveling by motor freight can change almost anything. Put a band on and tension it. Use something like a digital angle gauge and a straight edge to compare the vertical tilt of the drive and idle pulleys. This is a little more difficult with the band in place, but easier if you use a straight edge that just fits the diameter of the pulley. A real straight edge, not just some stick.

Hopefully they match and you can move on to normal tracking adjustments. If not the adjustment works the same (I think) as the horizontal adjustment.

With all that correct, the clutch pulley should line up correctly. It can tolerate a slight misalignment, but the big pulleys cannot.

I hope that helps.
Hi there, so I checked the vertical plane of each bandwheel. The drive sits level, or plumb. The follower bandwheel sits in on the bottom about 3/8 of an inch. I had asked the woodland mills tech about that today while I was on the phone and he said that was normal, when I would ask him how to adjust the drive side, he said to not touch the drive side adjustment. haha
He most likely believes its in the correct position and doesnt want me getting in deeper with issues, but that cant seem right that they are in two different planes vertically?? 
He also said its normal that they are not in plane horizontally. And they arent.. when i put a straight edge across the front faces of both bandwheels, they both tilt "inward" towards the motor.  
Any suggestions would be so appreciated! 
HM 126 Learning..

Johnkeller1979

Quote from: mitchstockdale on November 19, 2019, 10:55:52 AM
from your initial post you mention the vibration started after you replaced the bearings in your band wheel?  Did you get that bearing seated properly if not that could be causing your wobble

Someone mentioned checking your tension after a cut..i second that thought...your tension springs could be bad..WM should easily send you new ones if youve only had the mill 6 months
Yes, noticed vibration after replacing the drive belt, follower belt and both bandwheel bearings. The vibration has gone down a lot, I think back to normal. But that came from re seating the follower belt, it was kinda sitting in there a little wanky. 
HM 126 Learning..

mtoo747

Quote from: Johnkeller1979 on November 19, 2019, 07:43:32 PM
Quote from: mitchstockdale on November 19, 2019, 10:55:52 AM
from your initial post you mention the vibration started after you replaced the bearings in your band wheel?  Did you get that bearing seated properly if not that could be causing your wobble

Someone mentioned checking your tension after a cut..i second that thought...your tension springs could be bad..WM should easily send you new ones if youve only had the mill 6 months
Yes, noticed vibration after replacing the drive belt, follower belt and both bandwheel bearings. The vibration has gone down a lot, I think back to normal. But that came from re seating the follower belt, it was kinda sitting in there a little wanky.
Hi John, You said that you had replaced the bandwheel bearings or was it the blade guide bearings? I would be very surprised if the bandwheel bearings would have needed replacement with this few hours on the machine but if you did replace them i would be sure, as someone else suggested, that they are correctly seated. Also sounds like you have changed your drive side tracking even though it should have been set from the factory. I haven't touched mine so i can't advise you on that and will leave that to the woodland mills techs. They are quite good. I did have some vibration problems that i tracked down to the follow wheel belt (the red one) not being seated properly. I put a travel dial type indicator on the belt (without a blade installed) and spun the wheel and found i had about .060" of run-out. After reseating the belt by sticking a screwdriver all the way under the belt and working it all the way around the wheel a couple of times that my run-out was about .010". Also make sure that you are getting 100% of full throttle, the cable tends to stretch and needs to be adjusted from time to time. These single cylinder engines tend to vibrate more when run at less than full throttle. 
Hope some of this helps. 
mike

Johnkeller1979

Quote from: mtoo747 on November 19, 2019, 10:24:06 PM
Quote from: Johnkeller1979 on November 19, 2019, 07:43:32 PM
Quote from: mitchstockdale on November 19, 2019, 10:55:52 AM
from your initial post you mention the vibration started after you replaced the bearings in your band wheel?  Did you get that bearing seated properly if not that could be causing your wobble

Someone mentioned checking your tension after a cut..i second that thought...your tension springs could be bad..WM should easily send you new ones if youve only had the mill 6 months
Yes, noticed vibration after replacing the drive belt, follower belt and both bandwheel bearings. The vibration has gone down a lot, I think back to normal. But that came from re seating the follower belt, it was kinda sitting in there a little wanky.
Hi John, You said that you had replaced the bandwheel bearings or was it the blade guide bearings? I would be very surprised if the bandwheel bearings would have needed replacement with this few hours on the machine but if you did replace them i would be sure, as someone else suggested, that they are correctly seated. Also sounds like you have changed your drive side tracking even though it should have been set from the factory. I haven't touched mine so i can't advise you on that and will leave that to the woodland mills techs. They are quite good. I did have some vibration problems that i tracked down to the follow wheel belt (the red one) not being seated properly. I put a travel dial type indicator on the belt (without a blade installed) and spun the wheel and found i had about .060" of run-out. After reseating the belt by sticking a screwdriver all the way under the belt and working it all the way around the wheel a couple of times that my run-out was about .010". Also make sure that you are getting 100% of full throttle, the cable tends to stretch and needs to be adjusted from time to time. These single cylinder engines tend to vibrate more when run at less than full throttle.
Hope some of this helps.
mike
Hey Mike, thank you for the info, I can use all the help I can get here. 
I did make sure the bearings were seated, but I'll double check. That makes sense about the throttle, I'll check that too. I did change the drive side, but it was off when I got it. The drive side never did track to 3/8. It came from the factory tracking at almost 1/4". I've re seated the follower belt a few times now, it looks nice and even. I'm going to run through it all again tomorrow with everyone's suggestions. It's going to work! Haha
HM 126 Learning..

btulloh

Good info from @mtoo747 , especially the throttle cable.  Mine stretched also early on.  It's easy to miss but easy to check and correct.

I'm also surprised your wheel bearings needed replacement so quickly, but it is what it is. 

Reading some other threads about belts, it sounds like the belts from Woodmizer are a better breed of cat.  I'm going to try some.  All the belts I've tried from various sources don't seem to be as good as what they are describing.

You have the right attitude: "It's going to work!". And it will.  Just a little fiddling required to get there.    My experience with the HM126 has been just like the vertical bandsaws in my shop.  Adjust and re-adjust until it runs right, then things work well from then on.

I'm curious about what you said measuring the tilt and alignment of the wheels:  Were they under full tension when you were checking them?  Your results in the vertical and horizontal checks sound like things are still pretty far out.  

I finally went and checked my manual this morning.  The reference to the left side (drive side) vertical adjustments only talk about loosening the bolts slightly to allow the shaft to move during horizontal adjustment.  There is no procedure outlined for checking the vertical tilt and adjusting.  This would mean that it's expected to be correct when you receive it.  I don't remember doing anything initially other than the procedure outlined in the manual for initial tracking adjustment, so mine must have been ok.  Seems like advice from the factory tech is the best course there.

One thing about the overall tracking adjustment though.  The drive side and the follower side do interact and you have to go back and forth.  It's a little tedious because you have take the tension off to adjust.  You can leave the "vertical bolts" slack on the drive side while you're doing this.

At some point in this process, the blade will track ok (staying put and staying on) but the overhang/offset may be slightly different on the drive side and the idler side.  I had to readjust the drive side a little at this point to get the same overhang on the blade.  Then re-adjust the idler side.  After a couple back-and-forths, they were both equal.  Life has been good ever since.

It sounds like yours is pretty far out right now, but it should come into adjustment pretty quick.  The process is a little annoying because of the walking back and forth and the release and re-tension of the blade each time.  

You only have to spin the wheels by hand a couple revs to see how it's tracking.  Good or bad tracking shows up real quick.  

One thing I did early on which really payed off:  I reversed the bolts holding the blade guard in place so the heads were on the inside.  Then I stopped hitting them with my gloved fingers when spinning the wheels.  Maybe that's just me, but life is better with the bolts turned around.

Good luck today.  Stay after it 'til it obeys your wishes!  Once it's right it should be smooth sailing.  

Looking forward to a report on those double-hards after you've got it dialed in.

BT  
HM126

Johnkeller1979

Quote from: btulloh on November 20, 2019, 09:00:25 AM
Good info from @mtoo747 , especially the throttle cable.  Mine stretched also early on.  It's easy to miss but easy to check and correct.

I'm also surprised your wheel bearings needed replacement so quickly, but it is what it is.

Reading some other threads about belts, it sounds like the belts from Woodmizer are a better breed of cat.  I'm going to try some.  All the belts I've tried from various sources don't seem to be as good as what they are describing.

You have the right attitude: "It's going to work!". And it will.  Just a little fiddling required to get there.    My experience with the HM126 has been just like the vertical bandsaws in my shop.  Adjust and re-adjust until it runs right, then things work well from then on.

I'm curious about what you said measuring the tilt and alignment of the wheels:  Were they under full tension when you were checking them?  Your results in the vertical and horizontal checks sound like things are still pretty far out.  

I finally went and checked my manual this morning.  The reference to the left side (drive side) vertical adjustments only talk about loosening the bolts slightly to allow the shaft to move during horizontal adjustment.  There is no procedure outlined for checking the vertical tilt and adjusting.  This would mean that it's expected to be correct when you receive it.  I don't remember doing anything initially other than the procedure outlined in the manual for initial tracking adjustment, so mine must have been ok.  Seems like advice from the factory tech is the best course there.

One thing about the overall tracking adjustment though.  The drive side and the follower side do interact and you have to go back and forth.  It's a little tedious because you have take the tension off to adjust.  You can leave the "vertical bolts" slack on the drive side while you're doing this.

At some point in this process, the blade will track ok (staying put and staying on) but the overhang/offset may be slightly different on the drive side and the idler side.  I had to readjust the drive side a little at this point to get the same overhang on the blade.  Then re-adjust the idler side.  After a couple back-and-forths, they were both equal.  Life has been good ever since.

It sounds like yours is pretty far out right now, but it should come into adjustment pretty quick.  The process is a little annoying because of the walking back and forth and the release and re-tension of the blade each time.  

You only have to spin the wheels by hand a couple revs to see how it's tracking.  Good or bad tracking shows up real quick.  

One thing I did early on which really payed off:  I reversed the bolts holding the blade guard in place so the heads were on the inside.  Then I stopped hitting them with my gloved fingers when spinning the wheels.  Maybe that's just me, but life is better with the bolts turned around.

Good luck today.  Stay after it 'til it obeys your wishes!  Once it's right it should be smooth sailing.  

Looking forward to a report on those double-hards after you've got it dialed in.

BT  
So the throttle cable checked out fine, it does indeed extend fully when the hand control is completely engaged. 
I really dont think I needed to replace the bearings.. although it seemed at the time I wanted to rule out any odd little things first. But yeah, more than likely, a waste of time.
I went out today, flag in one hand, skepticism in the other.. I figured the vertical alignment of the two pulleys had to be important, so I adjusted the vertical on the drive to match the follower and it made a big difference. I got it tracking to hardly any swaying (which had become a new issue) haha. Noticed again though at full throttle that there was still some vibration, seemed more than usual, although I cant seem to remember what usual was.. its been a while since Ive cut anything and didnt do much cutting when it was cutting. 
So called wood land again, they still say the alignment of the clutch with the face of the drive pulley are culprits in the blade popping and vibrations. So it looks like in order to get the clutch pulley aligned the way they want it, Ill have to put smaller bolts the engine mount so it will slide back more. 
Im not even sure at this point if there's any suggestions left or I just have to keep going over things until something hits me, hopefully not a blade. 
 
HM 126 Learning..

mtoo747

John, are you using a torque wrench when you set your band tension to 25 ft/lbs? I was using an old school beam type when i first got my mill last fall and couldn't really get consistent results so i finally bought an inexpensive click type (like $30) and have much more confidence in the consistency of my band tension now. 
How long have you had your mill and did it ever run well for you? I know the frustration you are having but keep after it and when it does all come together it will be worthwhile and a lot of fun.
mike

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