130 max belt life?

[Nealm66]

I've got about 64 hours on my 130 max and the belt is toast. I'm thinking it's because of the larger logs on average that I'm milling but also, I'm running a woodmizer band that's a bit wider than the woodlands and wondering if that could somehow deplete belt life a little quicker. Also curious how many hours the woodmizer mills get out of a belt on average as I've been going back and forth between a cooks mill or woodmizer when I upgrade. Woodmizer is about 3 hours away vs cooks is Alabama from Washington.

[Southside]

It's recommended to check the belt tension on a WM every 50 hours, and generally they need adjustment about then.  I wonder if your belt has been slipping, that will definitely shorten its life.  

[Nealm66]

It wouldn't surprise me. I constantly check the tension but I'm not sure if maybe it'a hard on the belt cutting a lot of larger logs. It does a really good job on them I think. Today the log that finished it off was about 30" on the big end and 16' and my band got a little dull in one of the wide cuts so combined I'm guessing it finished it off. I have the spare belts but I made a couple wavy cuts before I finally figured out what was going on. Made me curious if any other woodland owners had similar experiences and also what the belt life was like on the woodmizers in bigger logs 

[Wlmedley]

I've got the 126 with 14hp engine and still using original belt.It's only got about 85 hours and the belt looks to be getting pretty worn on the side that the band runs against. I would think quality of belt would make more difference than the brand of sawmill unless other brands of mills use a different setup. I've cut quite a bit of lumber so far so buying a new belt wouldn't change my opinion of the mill.

[Southside]

The other thing is have you broken any bands or had any slip off when the mill was running?  Both can tear up a belt in a hurry. 

[Nealm66]

No broken bands or slip offs. I'm definitely not knocking the mill at all. I feel like I might be pushing it's capabilities to the max and with that, I'm shortening the belt life. But, I'm also not running the stock size band and I'm a beginner so asking questions. Is it possible to find a better quality belt that fits? I'll be using my spare so will need to order another

[DanielW]

X2 on the belt tension comment. I mainly use circular rigs, but use a 130 for occasional portable use or when I really need to maximize recovery on a valuable log. Two things I've noticed:

i) Belt tension mechanism is a chintzy piece of crap. Weld a coupling nut and use a square-head set-screw (head backed against the adjustment mechanism) to keep it from working loose. Made a big difference for me.

ii) I heard that they may have changed belt suppliers, but the original belt that came with ours was a crappy, fibre-chord one that got a lot more pliable a lot when warm. So you could check it at the start of the day, then at the end of the day after it had cooled down, and it would be good and tight. But if you checked it when warm (within a minute of stopping a cut) it would be loose. Get a decent brand, aramid/Kevlar chord belt (make sure you get the VX/cogged style or the sheave will plug up with sawdust).

[jpassardi]

You should be able to x reference the belt number to a quality gates or goodyear belt. As noted, I'm thinking a lack of tension is the main issue.
Note that a new belt will have an initial stretch/break in and will require re-tightening.

[beenthere]

chintzy piece of crap.

An opinion.. could choose better words like you "improved it". 

[Nealm66]

I replaced the belts today and yes, it's hard to get a good amount of tension on the belt by yourself. But it's on and cutting like a laser again. The vent for the water supply clogged though and need to figure out something to keep that from happening again. I noticed I bought 2 sets of spare belts when I bought the mill but might order a Kevlar? one to try as the wavy cuts were not cool. Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

[Bostonstrong]

Good morning!  Just circling back to your first message in the post.....what are your reasons for wanting to upgrade from the 130Max?  I am curious, as I have had mine for a year, and it has exceeded my expectations, but I would like to hear your thoughts.  Many thanks in advance!

[Nealm66]

I just need something quicker for the bigger logs. I'm getting really far behind on what I have to mill its nuts. It's tough to load and spin big. I really like mine as well. Im learning a lot. Not just how to slice a log but how to manage the aftermath is definitely a big part that I'm slowly working towards a better production mill. I also need to make it profitable before I invest. 

[Nealm66]

These are a portion of long butts left after one of my logging jobs. I couldn't fit anymore on the landing. I'm getting pretty good with the 130max but I've got 2 other jobs with quite a pile of long butts to mill as well and it's a bit overwhelming with the manual mill. Plus I've got a landowner that wants to start another big winter ground logging job 

 

[Bostonstrong]

Thanks for responding!  I gotcha!  Wow, you are way ahead of me in production needs.  I hope to get there someday (gotta retire from the day job 1st!).