Hey, I received my new drive belt Fri. evening and along with it the new belt tension gauge that the WM people recommended. I put my new belt on ( originally had the 2 single belts ) this is the single wide belt that replaces the 2 narrow belts. Opened up my new tension gauge and read the instructions and it says it is capable of testing force and belt tension on --single strand belts to 1 inch in width--that kind of rules out this replacement belt which is a double strand about 3 inches in width. Maybe I'm missing something here but seems to me this gauge won't do me much good. I tried it anyway and unless I'm doing something wrong ( which is very likely ) there is no way I can get 7/16 deflection with 5lbs. of pressure even with the nuts on the turnbuckle all the way to the top! I tightened it down to where my engagement lever felt about right and sawed with it today but this old sappy VA pine that I'm sawing really makes makes the blade talk to me, I stopped and tightened the new drive belt a couple times during 5 hrs. of sawing and changed the blade once. I have 3-4 more of these knotty, sappy logs to saw and I'm finished!
I hate to say use the search function but it works :D
Read your manual for the right tension and for how to do it.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,63168.msg936894.html#msg936894
Your tension gage will work fine for your double belt. It's the same one use with the belts on the bigger mills too. Jcbrotz is right; using it is not as intuitive as you might think. The rubber end goes against the palm of your hand and the other end against the belt. I use a framing square as the straight edge on my LT50.
Thanks JCBROTZ, and as for using the search function I spent about 3hrs. last night going through every post that had the word tension in it before posting my message but I was going by what I read on the instructions for this gauge and it clearly says for use with belts 1 inch or less that was the reason for my post. And thanks Nomad , that is the way I was using it also, but I will try again. Thanks!
On sappy, knotty Pine, I like to use a 7° blade. It saws with a whole lot less resistance.
I just happened to be at Pa. Woodmizer last friday for sawyer's day. Among other subjects, they taught us how to align our mills.
When it came to drive belt tension, they recommended 18 lbs. with 7/16" deflection ;)
Quote from: rooster 58 on April 07, 2013, 04:56:54 PM
I just happened to be at Pa. Woodmizer last friday for sawyer's day. Among other subjects, they taught us how to align our mills.
When it came to drive belt tension, they recommended 18 lbs. with 7/16" deflection ;)
I have to run 12 pounds on my Kohler 29.
Hello,
Yes we did review drive belt tension. Every engine has a different belt tension.
Thanks
Marty