Belsaw mills

[bandmiller2]

We owe a lot to Belsaw they were/are the model "T" of sawmills. I would wager, a large percentage of rural buildings were built with lumber cut on a Belsaw, many in town too. I've never owned a B- saw but was influenced by their design when I built my circular mill and learned to cut with a copy of their manual. Admitted their small potatoes beside a Lane, Corley or Frick but they cut good lumber with one man and a light power unit. Their advantages are they lend themselves well to be driven with a tractor PTO, are easy to setup, compact and one man can cut with some efficiency. Disavantages are light duty, easily damaged with heavy logs, carriage over the arbor reduces the cut depth and the small carriage wheels wear fast. If you can find one reasonable, complete, and not all rusted away its an interesting project. Frank C.

[Bert]

I saw a bellsaw in action for the first time last year. An uncle of mine bought one at an auction for less than $1000. He set out to saw the lumber for a BIG pole barn he was building. Looking at the mill I never thought it would hold up. A year later the building is finished and the mill is still intact. Its a very simple design, sits outside, and is run off an older Kubota tractor. I agree, for farm type uses, they would be handy. All I saw go through it was pine, but it did ok.

[Joe Lallande]

I brought home a worn out Belsaw a few years ago with a locked up Oliver diesel engine. It took me two years to rebuild the mill and engine and now I use it all the time.  I recently had the blade tuned up to include new teeth at Menominee saw and it has never cut better.  I cut pine, cedar and hemlock for myself and a few friends.  All of the interior wood in our new home was cut on this mill. I was able to get parts for the mill at Timberking and the 1955 Oliver parts were all over the net. I still sharpen the blade without a guide but I need to find a better way. Let the big dog eat!