The Forestry Forum

Hi,
It quit raining hear in La. long enough for me get my motor on my mill! I have a problem with the banded v-belt jumping out of the sheave grooves when I dis-engage the drive. I built a temporary shield around it and that help alot but it still does it. The shield is approx. 1/2" above and on the sides when the drive is engaged. Do I need to close the gap even more or redesign it totally? Please help! I have attached a pic but more can be seen at www.davieseng.com/sawmill if it doesn't attach correctly.
Thanks,
Kip

BTW - I ran out of paint and daylight in the last few pics.  :-/(https://forestryforum.com/images/3_10_03/026_85_percent.jpg)

Some kind of a belt guide needs to be close to the belt on the leading side as the belt approaches the pulley. That is where the "wave" is coming towards the pulley. A pin or bolt, that just doesn't touch under normal load, should be placed close to the pulley so it can intercept the wave in the belt, forcing the belt to travel around the pulley in place. You may be able to weld a bolt to the inside of the guard that you have on now that will do the trick.
Be concerned that the belt has jumped off enough times and is damaged, causing part of the problem. If it lays flat and has no tears or broken spots, it may yet be okay.

Most of that type of clutch system I've seen use 2 pins that just clear the belt when it is engaged, on near each side of the pulley, to keep it in the groove and to keep it from grabbing and turning things when they aren't meant to turn.

Thanks, I did a trial run using one pin on the approaching side of the belt sheave and that seems to fix the problem.
Hope to saw my first log this weekend.

Thanks alot.
Kip