Woodmizer blade

[YellowHammer]

On a side note, one of the reasons I didn't really like the Turbo .055's for my LT40 was they take a deep aggressive bite, and was causing me to retension my drive belt more frequently.  It would start slipping much more than even with standard 7's, so I went from adjusting the main drive belt from once in a while to once a week or so.  So it was putting higher loads on my mill, and in I didn't like that.  I stopped using them (.055 Turbos) for that reason.

I should have been more clear, I put the parentheses in the quote above.  I only had the main drive belt issues with the 055 Turbos.  Actually, I used a lot of standard .055 7's and 4's on my LT40 and it handled them well.  I had the Yanmar diesel, and all the the .055's I tried cut very flat, especially in wider logs.  On the other hand, I disliked the .055 Turbos because they were hard on my mill, and it caused issues.  I switched out .045 7's when I was going through easy wood, such as Poplar and Basswood, mainly because I had boxes of them and they sawed fine in some stuff.  When I had big hard wood, on went the .055 standard 7's.
So I ran standard 7's in both band thicknesses on my LT40 and this allowed me to not have to adjust my sharpener or setter.
With my new LT70 Wide, there isn't enough gullet depth in the standard 7's in the wide cuts, so there is a lot of sawdust spillage and wavy cuts in wide logs, because it will cut to 34" and my old LT40 cut to 24".   Seems about 26" to 28" wide is where the standard 7's lose advantage and the Turbos surpass them. Flatter cuts, less sawdust, higher speed.  
Everything is a trade off.  With the LT70, I'm not seeing the band fatigue I had with the smaller bandwheels of the LT40 and the main drive belt is much beefier, so retensioning isn't an issue.  I've used both .055 x 1.5 in Turbo 7 and the standard 7 and the Turbo is noticeably faster while at the same time cutting flatter.  
@123maxbars got his new LT40 mill with the big diesel and he slabs as wide as possible, as I do.  I suggested he switch to .055's and I think he is quite pleased.  
 

[Bruno of NH]

I slab wide with my lt40wide max cut 38hp gas 
I have switched to 747 in .55
Flat cuts in hard maple and white oak.
With the 7 turbo .45 I could get some wave in max cut on hardwood and pine with spike knots. But not every cut it would just show up.
So far I'm very happy with the 38hp gas.

[Stephen1]

I slab wide with my lt40wide max cut 38hp gas
I have switched to 747 in .55
Flat cuts in hard maple and white oak.
With the 7 turbo .45 I could get some wave in max cut on hardwood and pine with spike knots. But not every cut it would just show up.
So far I'm very happy with the 38hp gas.

I have the same mill. I looked at the diesel, but the cost and the amount I saw did not justify the huge cost difference. I like the 38, but have no problems bogging it down in "fast" wide cuts. I usually only see the corduroy after I flip the slab.
I am going to order the 1.25 7turbos .55 on Monday. I hit so much hardware I only average 2-3 sharpenings per blade anyways.  
Really an truely the best blade so far has been the 7carbide. I maybe get 1 sharpening and lots of time I have to junk them as I hit trash. But can you ever cut a lot of lumber without stopping to change a blade. I have furniture builders that want me to use them. They pay when I trash them no problems. The finish they get, cuts down on their plaining, and I'm not changing blades unless we hit something. That saves 2-3 blade changes in a day if not more. Depending on how dirty the logs are. 

[123maxbars]

I slab wide with my lt40wide max cut 38hp gas
I have switched to 747 in .55
Flat cuts in hard maple and white oak.
With the 7 turbo .45 I could get some wave in max cut on hardwood and pine with spike knots. But not every cut it would just show up.
So far I'm very happy with the 38hp gas.

Same set up for me except I have the Diesel. 
After @YellowHammer guided me on my new mill upgrade and now blade use I am sawing perfectly flat wide slabs. 
Go with the .055 and if you have to make adjustments everyday it's still worth it, 

[Stephen1]

I slab wide with my lt40wide max cut 38hp gas
I have switched to 747 in .55
Flat cuts in hard maple and white oak.
With the 7 turbo .45 I could get some wave in max cut on hardwood and pine with spike knots. But not every cut it would just show up.
So far I'm very happy with the 38hp gas.

Same set up for me except I have the Diesel.
After @YellowHammer guided me on my new mill upgrade and now blade use I am sawing perfectly flat wide slabs.
Go with the .055 and if you have to make adjustments everyday it's still worth it,

Guys are you using 1.25" or 1.5" . 7 Turbos
I had a box of Kasco's 1.5" 7's., they ended up being bad steel and went dull after 2 cuts. I am waiting for a replacement box. I didn't like the the adjusting between 1.5" and 1.25" . I want to have one width and cut down on the adjusting. 

[E-Tex]

stephen1  -   just ordered some 055  x  1.25 just for that reason.  i have all 1.25 now and i want to keep one width and avoid adjustments.  and concerned if my 38gas will pull the 1.5 wide blade (WoodMizer told me it will).

Can't wait to try them.  I have a stack of nice post oak logs to try my new 747's, .055, 1.25"


I do want to try a 1.5" at some point though.

[barbender]

The 1.5" width will not make much of a difference horsepower wise. The .055 will take a lot more power, though.