Norwood lumbermate 2000 drive belt

[Planman1954]

Rough day at the mill. Soooo...I'm zip-pa-de-do-dahing along cutting some pine, and suddenly a heard the blade pop off. Stopped, took a look, and realized my worn out drive belt had finally had enough. So, I made the mistake of going to an auto parts place and buying a b82. Big mistake. This standard belt has a crown. Sawmill belts are flat topped. 

After installing the crown top new belt, it seemed to work until POP, the blade popped off. Not only popped off, but BROKE the tension handle metal on the frame off. So now I'll need it welded back, and also find the correct belt!

The manual says B82v for the part. Since the mill is old, I cannot find a flat top belt. Does anyone have a site to purchase one? Thanks.

[ladylake]

 
 I've been running crowned v belts for over 16000 hours with no problems.  Maybe your tracking isn't set up right.   Steve

[barbender]

Really check your band wheel bearings over. If you get a bad bearing things start acting weird. 

[RAYAR]

With no tension on your blade, you should not have any play in your band wheel bearings when you try to rock your band wheels side to side. With your tracking and band tension properly set, your band should track centered on your band wheels, and yes, you should have crowned belts. Now while sawing, the band should not move back against your backing rollers or blocks without considerable effort in pushing your band through the log. If it moves back quite easily, then increase your band tension a little more until it holds centered on your band wheels.

My mill uses a spring type band tensioner and with a 1/8" to 3/16" gap between the back of my band and the back rollers, it takes quite a bit of effort  while milling a log to cause the band to contact the backing rollers.

[Rob in WNY]

I have a Lumbermate 2000 also.

I ordered a new belt from Norwood 

Rob

[DeepWoods]

I ordered a new set of belts from Norwood when I needed replacements.  What I received from them had a crown on them.  I was always under the impression that they needed to be flat, but after installing them, I had no problems with tracking at all.  So when I trashed the brand new belt from pushing a dull blade to hard and jumped the wheels, I looked up the belt I had receive from Norwood on Amazon.  Much to my surprise they had the exact same belt for the third of the cost from Norwood.  I did have to pay shipping from Norwood, so that explains some of the increased price.  But I have since ordered another set of belts as spares and am now convinced that if you are having tracking issues, I do not believe that it is a crowned belt that is the cause.  YMMV.

https://a.co/d/hOqvL2Q

[barbender]

Yes, if the belt isn't causing your tracking issues than the band wheel bearings are the first area to look. On my WM, I had an older design that used pretty small bearings on the idle wheel. They went out with enough frequency that I kept them on hand. Now keep in mind when my mill was built ('97) 1½" blades were rare, let alone the .055 version I sometimes run- overtensioned besides😁 I ended up upgrading my bandwheel to the newer heavier duty bearing. Anyways, when my bearings go bad, the first thing I notice is increased blade breakage. Then the tracking issues begin, before a light bulb turns on in my little pea brain and says, "check the bearings"😊

[cutterboy]

I have a Lumbermate2000 that I bought in 2001. It has served me well over the years.
This spring there was a problem with blades popping off. I figured it was the band wheel bearings as there was slop(unevenness) in the turning of the band wheels. I got new bearings and when I went to install them I could see that the band wheels were worn. Norwood couldn't get me new band wheels for six months so I went to a local machine shop. They fixed up the band wheels and press fitted the bearings in. That took care of the problem. So far so good.
Check the band wheels, they could be the problem.
The best of luck to you.

[mapleack]

I have a 2000 also.  The crowned belt should be fine.  The last time I changed mine I had one heck of a time getting the tracking right but finally did.  IIRC most of the issue was lining up the idler pulley.
Good  luck! 

[Planman1954]

UPDATE: All is well! I found a local machine supplier and found a flat top 82" belt for $17.00! And a friend from church welded the broken part, which was removable and fixable. I readjusted the wheel alignment, and finished my latest job. I'm a happy boy.😁