Woodmizer blade wheel bearing replacement.

[retseih]

I have owned a used Woodmizer for about a year.  It doesn't see alot of action but I am tuning it up.  The blade wheel bearing on the idle wheel is bad.  Does anyone know how to remove the bearing from the wheel?  The rear bearing does not want to come out easily.  This is an LT30 and uses B57 belts.

thx, Dick

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, retseih.  I replaced mine about 3 years ago and I did have to use a press to remove the old bearing from the shaft.

[retseih]

thx Magicman.  I was texting my brother-in-law and we basically came to the same conclusion.

[WH_Conley]

Remove band wheel. Take the snap ring off, knock out the old bearing, seat the new one. Be careful not to install the wheel backwards.

[Nomad]

     I replaced one a couple of months ago.  Remove the snap ring and set the wheel on a couple of 4x4s, or whatever.  You can drive it out with a brass drift and a medium size hammer.  (I used a brass hammer too.)  Use light or medium strikes, working opposite sides of the bearing and alternating back and forth.  You may have to give it a pretty good shock to get it started, but after that it's just time consuming.  If it appears that one side is getting ahead, work away from it to keep the bearing level.  It takes awhile, but it's actually safer for the equipment than using a press. 
     I did it right on the mill, in about an hour from start to finish.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
Depending on what year the mill is you may want to up date the wheel and bearing. Most LT40 mills can be up dated to the current design with one large bearing.
Some have one small and two small and then one Big.  Long story. We just had a 1989 mill come in the idle side cover was missing. I have been training a few younger on mill alignment.  So went to check how they were making out. First thing I saw was the blade was sticking out of the housing and there was no way the cover would go on. The wheel was on backwards. I corrected the wheel and set the tracking and all was good!
The small bearings sometimes spin in the bore, this is wheel replacement time. Make sure the bearing is started straight in the bore.  I like the press but most times I drive out and in with a dead blow hammer. I do keep a wheel puller in the truck in case the wheel will not come off.



Hope this helps.
Marty

[retseih]

Marty,

Thank you very much for your post.  The Mill is definitely older but seems to be in reasonable shape.  It is an LT30.  I used a wheel puller to get the wheel off of the machinge.  I used a BIG hammer and a punch and knocked the old inner bearing out of the wheel.  I cleaned up the inside of the wheel with a wire wheel and drill.  I am waiting on my new bearings but it seems like the they will slip in OK.  I will definitely take care to start them easily so they go square into the bore. There was no retaining clip on this wheel.  Before I started this the blade seemed to track pretty well and I got a decent cut.  The rear bearing (or inside bearing) definitely needed replacing. After it was "dismantled" you could see the ball bearings were pretty rough.  I am on a very tight budget so I think I will forego the upgrade for now assuming it is available for the LT30, but I will definitely put it on my wish list.  The previous owner replaced the front pillow block on the drive wheel.  It seems to have a bit of 'slop' as I can move the wheel back and forth about 1/16" or so.  Should I be nervous about this?  It doesn't seem to affect tracking or the cut. 

thx again,

Dick

[Jim_Rogers]

When you say: "back and forth 1/16" are talking about from left to right (sawdust side to log side) or in line with the axle (front to back- hitch to tail light)....?

I don't believe it should move that much in any direction......

Jim Rogers

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
Must be an early LT30 with the pillow block. The idle side bearings have three bolts that held it on? Two bearing were pulled together with the bolts? If you check the shive of the wheel where the B-57 belts rides it will be a V the newer wheel and a newer mill will have a bottom to the V more like a U to keep the belt from falling into the wheel.
Dont tell but some times when owners are low on funds I grind about 1/4" off the outside of the wheel so the B-57 belt is exposed more. The early mills have an issue with the belt going to deep and then breaking bands and other tracking issues. Grind the wheel down evenly and this will extend the life of the belts. The new wheels this is not needed. If you have an early mill you will understand. I could explain more, but long day. Sorry.
Thanks
Marty

[ladylake]

 Even with the tight fitting B56 belts on my TK I beveled the edges of the wheels, Keeps the blade from hitting the wheel a lot longer.  Steve

[retseih]

You guys are awesome! I did break a band just before deciding to "rebuild" the idle wheel.  I have ordered some B57 belts to replace the ones on my mill, but it never occurred to me to look at the depth they go into the wheel.  The metal is pretty close to the "surface" of the belt so I will watch this.  Not quite sure how to grind the wheel uniformly.  The drive wheel can likely be done on the machine if your careful, but the idle wheel looks challenging without some metal working equipment.  I suppose it could be done with a band in place but that seems a bit unnerving.

Jim, the slop I was referring to is left to right. 

If anyone is interested, I am a woodworker in Colorado and use the mill primarily for sawing pine beetle kill.  I have completed various projects like  Bars, benches and bar stools with the wood for various clients.  When my wife wakes up I could post a few pics if anyone is interested.

thanks a ton everyone for your input, it really helps a rookie like me.  Dick

[Jim_Rogers]

Marty will have to comment on that 1/16" slip left to right, as to whether it's ok or not.

[Magicman]

I would think that a machine shop should be able to reduce the wheel diameters for you.  It would need to be done uniformly to maintain the wheel's balance.

I would be replacing bearings, etc. to remove the other wheel's "slop".

[Chuck White]

The B57 belts should hold the blade about 1/8 inch away from the blade wheel.

When the blade gets close to the wheel, switch out the belts.

You can extend belt life a little by switching the drive and driven belts at around 50 hour intervals!

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
I use a 4 " grinder to remove the metal. The wheel will turn when the grinding wheel is against it. You want the wheel to spin not to fast not to slow. Never let it stop or you will get a dip. (This is like poor mans James Bond. Best way is to replace the wheel or take it to a machine shop. )  It seems every time I ask a machine shop they say the wheel is to large for their machine.
The drive side I remove the drive belt and the brake belt on early mills you can fold it out of the way. The drive wheel will then free spin. I always remove the drive side blade guide roller. I also take a black marker and put a mark around the wheel so I can see how much metal was removed. Sometimes if the grinder is not angled correctly it will remove more metal from the front or rear of the wheel. I also have a new B-57 belt and put it on to check where the belt rides.
Also note that you may make the wheel sharp on the edge and I hold the grinder to angle the edge to keep from getting cut every time you remove the belt.
Look this is not something I think everyone should do. This is only for early mills with a V pulley this problem was resolved many years ago. After you grind the wheel the V will open up again over time and the belt will fall into the valley. Things to think about is wheel balance and the wheel may come apart and not be safe. I have never had any issues but be careful!  Yes the metal you remove from the wheel is not good for lungs.
Marty

[Ga Mtn Man]

You guys are awesome! I did break a band just before deciding to "rebuild" the idle wheel.  I have ordered some B57 belts to replace the ones on my mill, but it never occurred to me to look at the depth they go into the wheel.  The metal is pretty close to the "surface" of the belt so I will watch this.  Not quite sure how to grind the wheel uniformly.  The drive wheel can likely be done on the machine if your careful, but the idle wheel looks challenging without some metal working equipment.  I suppose it could be done with a band in place but that seems a bit unnerving.

Jim, the slop I was referring to is left to right. 

If anyone is interested, I am a woodworker in Colorado and use the mill primarily for sawing pine beetle kill.  I have completed various projects like  Bars, benches and bar stools with the wood for various clients.  When my wife wakes up I could post a few pics if anyone is interested.

thanks a ton everyone for your input, it really helps a rookie like me.  Dick

Welcome to the forum,  retseih.  We're always interested in learning more about the folks on the forum.  And we're not just interested in pics, we REQUIRE them! :D

[ladylake]

Same as Marty here, let the grinder turn the idle wheel and the engine turn the drive wheel.  I did mine around 8000 hours age.   Steve

[ladylake]

Same as Marty here, let the grinder turn the idle wheel and the engine turn the drive wheel.  I did mine around 8000 hours age.  I didn't reduce the diameter of the wheel just tapered the edges as the blade would hit the outside edge first.   Steve

[retseih]

Thanks Chuck, Marty and Steve--

I get my new bearings and belts tomorrow (Wednesday.)  First thing I will do is see how the belts fit on the wheel to see if I need to modify the wheels.  Then I will proceed with great caution.  Anybody want to hear about the power winch I put on to replace my manual winch on my manual mill.  I think it is pretty cool since it has a remote pendant that allows me to jiggle the log right before I winch it onto the ramps...clearly don't want to be directly behind the log while you are loading.  And I will post some pictures soon.

Dick

[thecfarm]

retseih,we sure would like to hear about the power winch.. We all like new ideas.

[retseih]

So the handle on my manual winch was missing and it looked like one of the gears needed replacing.  Rather than spend the money on parts I decided to "upgrade" to a power winch similar to the one on my ATV.  I spent ~$150 on a 3000 lb winch from Harbor Freight (violating my self levied restriction of no moving parts from HB) and mounted it on the same bracket the manual winch was on.  The biggest design concern was creating an umbilical to supply power from the battery mounted on the carriage to the winch.  I discovered a quick connect for battery cables at Napa Auto Parts and this problem was solved.  I mounted a handlebar switch on one of the nuts that holds the bracket in place.  I mounted the contactor module that controls the switch and pendant on the frame keeping the wires out of the way of the cable used to pull logs onto the frame.  To operate the winch I simply drive the carriage toward the front (tongue) of the trailer and park it.  I plug the battery quick connect to the cables leading to the contactor module and the winch is ready to go.  The rest is the same as you would manually load a log with the hand winch.  As I said before you want to be careful wear you stand when you are loading logs....I guess I don't need to tell you guys that.  BTW...bearings are installed, new belts are on (with 1/8" clearance), new cable for bearing guide adjustment built and installed, and the milling is cutting great.  Needs a bit more work (e.g. middle blade bearing is totally shot) but for now I'm pretty happy.

thanks again for sharing your technical prowess.

Dick

 


  

  

 

p.s. don't forget to unplug the quick connect....