Lt 30 belt slip

[moandrich]

Cutting on our lt30 auto feed it seems the saw could cut at a faster rate but if we go to fast the belt slips and the blade stops. Do. We need to tighten something or are we just trying to go to fast. Very happy with mill so far. Only cut 6 logs but has worked great. Cut a couple white pine logs at a friends house just for practice and an older gentleman that watched and talked to me the whole time offered me $400 for the wood. Gave it to him for $100, made me feel really good, well worth letting it go cheap.

[Sawmill Man]

That slippage is pretty severe, you definatley need to tighten your drive delt

[Woodey]

I would suggest that you contact the mill service department for some advice. They are a lot of help.


Him getting a good a good deal will bring you more business with his word of mouth advertisement.

[Larry]

You need a new, quality belt.  Once a belt slips it never has the grip of a new one.  I think the pulley burns a slick spot on the belt.  I've used belt dressing in the past but that is just a stop gap measure...get a new belt.

When you put on the new belt make sure you adjust tension properly.  I'm sure the WM guys can tell you how.

[LarryRB]

Could it be that half the belt is missing? I had that on my lt 40 and it was cutting slow. Replaced it and now it cuts well.

[moandrich]

we have new belts from wood mizer, going to replace this weekend.

Thanx, Rich

[Bogue Chitto]

If its slipping, new belt.

[Jim_Rogers]

When you install the new belt you may have to adjust the linkage to make it the correct tension.

There are methods to measure the belt tension and one is to get the belt tension tool from WM.
I got one but I never have figured out how to use it.
I talked to one tech on the phone and he said he could explain it to me very quickly when I needed to hear it.

We used to just measure the deflection of the belt off the frame of the machine to see how far it would deflect at a certain number of pounds of pressure.

I think it was something like 7/16" deflection at 10 lbs pressure. So I needed to figure out how to measure 10 lbs pressure. My local parts store guy suggested I get a fish weighing scale from the sporting good department at K-Mart and hook the scale onto the belt and pull it down till it read 10 lbs and then measure the amount of deflection.

I got one and did this and it worked for me.

As the belt ages it does stretch some. And you'll need to adjust it again.

You'll find that all things are connected.

Adjusting the belt tension also adjusts the throttle cable so be careful you don't make it too tight and break your throttle cable. (Don't ask me how I know).

Also it can effect the brake strap. And how it grips the brake drum, if you have the leather one. I'm not sure how the other type brake works.

Good luck and as mentioned talk it through with customer support and they'll help you to understand how to adjust it all.

Jim Rogers

[LeeB]

Good info Jim. A new belt will stretch quite q bit to start and then settle down.

[moandrich]

Thanks Jim, definitely going to use the fish weight idea, I like that.  The brake needs adjustment also but I will wait till we install the new belts.  There is talk in the manual about alignment of the engine, does it have to be exact?

Thanx, Rich

[Jim_Rogers]

I have never ran into a pulley alignment problem.
And I have taken the engine off the mounting plate several times for service.

You can sight it and see or put a straight edge across one pulley to the other to check. But I would believe there shouldn't be any issues with this.

Also, while you've got everything all apart, check your main shaft bearings block for oil. And make sure you have some in it.
I retro fit mine to make the "see through" gauge so that I can tell when it's low.
I wrote up a story about doing that here on the forum.
I'm sure a search will find it.

When I did the retro fit the bearing block was dry.

The manual said to not check that block for oil until the mill has 1000 hours on it. My bearings let go at 687 hrs due to lack of oil.
Check this often and make sure you have some in there and a vent plug on top.
If you don't have a vent when the oil get hot it expands out through the bearing and is lost.

Good luck with your repairs.

Jim Rogers

[pineywoods]

I concur with Jim on the main bearing block. If your mill doesn't have the plastic tubing sight gauge, install one, it's easy enough. You do NOT want to change out those bearings. I have done so twice, it ain't easy and you really need a machine shop with a big hydraulic press. I don't think WM sells just the bearings, I understand prefering to supply a complete assembly. I use 80w 90 gear oil in mine instead of atf, but remember I live in the deep south. Wouldn't be a good idea in cold climates...

[moandrich]

I have the sight tube and we check it on pre start.  Went to change the belts last night with what the previous owner thought was MW belts but after taking the old ones off it clearly was not. Ordered new ones this morning, tightened the old ones.  Sounds and engages completely different, huge improvement.  We decided after taking it apart we should have a few rattle cans of wood mizer orange so we could paint any parts we take off, ordered them also.

Thanx Rich