Newbie question about band wheel size

[Hard12find]

I understand band wheel size has some bearing on blade life, but I am curious if it has any bearing on the "power" of the blade to complete the cut. Assuming engine and blade speed is the same, does diameter of the wheel have any bearing on the cut ?  I have a set of boat trailer tires, I am considering using, but they measure just over 15" diameter, which I know is on the small end. One reason I am drawn to them is I am trying to keep width of cut close to 40 inches with a standard 144 blade, for red cedar.
Jim

[Ljohnsaw]

I think I know what your are saying.  Never thought about it.  I don't think it matters.  I have 21/22" doughnut spare tires on mine.  I've got WM "custom" 184" blades - ok price.  Check around, I think you will find a lot of "standard" sizes.  Anyhow, I ended up with a twin cylinder 18hp B&S engine.  I started with 2.25hp electric and then a 7hp Subaru.

[Kbeitz]

It thakes so many HP to move a blade so many feet per sec.
Wheel size does not make a difference unless you change
the wheel size and you done change the fps back the way
it was.

[ozarkgem]

Bigger wheels means you can run thicker and wider blades and therefore  you can cut faster if you have the HP. I know a guy that uses semi wheels and tires and runs 2" bands. Pretty awesome saw.

[JB Griffin]

Band wheel size does make a difference in how fast you can saw. At work we used to have a Baker Blue Streak 50hp electric 28" bandwheels, now qe have a Baker Dominator 50hp electric 36" bandwheels ans it is faster cutting. The bigger bandwheels act like bigger flywheels and help to power through the cut.

[Joe Hillmann]

I understand band wheel size has some bearing on blade life, but I am curious if it has any bearing on the "power" of the blade to complete the cut. Assuming engine and blade speed is the same, does diameter of the wheel have any bearing on the cut ?  I have a set of boat trailer tires, I am considering using, but they measure just over 15" diameter, which I know is on the small end. One reason I am drawn to them is I am trying to keep width of cut close to 40 inches with a standard 144 blade, for red cedar.
Jim

Cutting 40 inches with a tire mill is going to be very difficult to get a straight cut.  You can only get so much tension on the blade when using tires before the tire starts to deform around the blade.  And you need a LOT of tension to cut a board 40 inches wide. Trying to get a max cut of 20"-24" would be much easier to make work.

[Joe Hillmann]

How often to you plan to actually cut 40" wide?  If you plan to do it a lot I would suggest going with something other than a tire mill.  If not very often I would build something with a smaller throat width and larger tires.

If your mill is able to cut 30" between the guides then you can actually saw a log that is over 3 feet in diameter because by the time you get the can't squared up it is smaller than 30".  Of course if you want wide live edge slabs that doesn't help you.

[Kbeitz]

I understand band wheel size has some bearing on blade life, but I am curious if it has any bearing on the "power" of the blade to complete the cut. Assuming engine and blade speed is the same, does diameter of the wheel have any bearing on the cut ?  I have a set of boat trailer tires, I am considering using, but they measure just over 15" diameter, which I know is on the small end. One reason I am drawn to them is I am trying to keep width of cut close to 40 inches with a standard 144 blade, for red cedar.
Jim

Cutting 40 inches with a tire mill is going to be very difficult to get a straight cut.  You can only get so much tension on the blade when using tires before the tire starts to deform around the blade.  And you need a LOT of tension to cut a board 40 inches wide. Trying to get a max cut of 20"-24" would be much easier to make work.

You could use airplane tires. They take 150-225 psi .

[Hard12find]

Thanks for all the insight, I wouldn't be cutting 40 inches often, and would be cedar if I did, I do understand the flywheel effect, and problem tensioning the blades, just wasn't sure if band wheels were like pulleys, where changing diameter affects tourque, and speed......, I may buy the 19 inch wheels from surplus sales, just trying to get by with as much stuff I have on hand, I think 20 HP should be sufficient....

[Ljohnsaw]

Thanks for all the insight, I wouldn't be cutting 40 inches often, and would be cedar if I did, I do understand the flywheel effect, and problem tensioning the blades, just wasn't sure if band wheels were like pulleys, where changing diameter affects tourque, and speed......, I may buy the 19 inch wheels from surplus sales, just trying to get by with as much stuff I have on hand, I think 20 HP should be sufficient....

Yes, they are, but...  You should be targeting the blade speed (fpm) to match your engine hp rating and somewhat due to blade width.  So, you will be changing other driveline components to get to that speed taking into account your final wheel size.  While a big wheel will lower the torque and raise the blade speed, you will counter act that with other pulleys/gears.  It all comes out in the wash (old saying).