Belsaw M-14 power train help

[Birk-man]

Hello all,

I've been refining the design of the power train to make the blade on my M-14 spin at the right speed and in the right direction.  The engine is a 50 HP air-cooled Deutz diesel with a reversing speed reducer on the clutch bell housing. 

A new wrinkle has emerged - I don't have a lot of level ground on my property and the space where I am hoping to build is near a creek that has a 25'  setback requirement.  I've added an extra shaft and pair of pulleys to my configuration so I can tuck the engine in closer to the mill frame.  This gives me less than a foot to spare with the setback.

I have not done this type of design before.  If you have an experienced eye for the forces involved and can offer helpful suggestions I am very open to your advice.

I placed the bearing housing near the large sheave on the mandrel shaft on the inside of the frame to make the lead adjustment easier to get to.  The sheave I have has spokes so I could mount that bearing on the outside of the frame and still be able to make lead adjustment through the spokes.  Is there a preferable location for that bearing?

The drive line shaft (in red) will be spinning at about 1350 rpm after the engine speed is reduced.  On a tractor the PTO shaft usually has a top speed of 540 RPM - is this a problem?







Thanks for your help!

Peter

[D._Frederick]

On some tractors the power take-off runs at 1000rpm and much faster on cars and trucks with no problem if correctly balanced. Your design should work well, I see no problem if you design it to handle the torque.

[bandmiller2]

Birk, what you want to do will work fine, just uses alot more expensive shafts, bearings and belts than necessary.Could you move the mill away from the creek enough to put the pulley on the engine output shaft and belt it up to the arbor pulley.That is usally the way engines are hooked up,belts dampen alot of vibration.Frank C.

[uncle kenn]

I mounted my engine overhead to reduce walk around space and put a clutch between the engine and the saw double belt pulley on the arbor.  used 4x4 posts set 3 ft in the groung and braced the framing both ways to handle the tork from my 80 hp john deere engine.  works fine UK

[weisyboy]

what size blade?

if the pulleys are to scale i would say your blade will be runnign to slowly.

i would recommend having as few spindles as possible.

that drive shaft will need to be a high speed drive shaft off a truck or similar, tractor pto shafts are not balanced.

the less belt and pulleys the better as they take a huge amount of your power.

how bout some pics?

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

If its working out to 540 to 600 rpm at the saw shaft i would go for it Mate the only thing i would consider is abit of extra bracing in the main drive section and six of the posts a good 4" into the ground to make things as rigid as possible as I take it your building a timber frame Mate  ;)

Regards Chris

[Joe Lallande]

Nice pictures but in my opinion this is a very unsafe set up.  You will be standing next to a shaft and pullies turning at 1300 rpm while you are trying to load a log. If you drop anything in this area like a cant hook, pry bar or wedge it will be airborne.  Loose blue jeans legs look out! I agree with Frank C.  Hook up to the mandrel shaft on the opposite side of the mill and have some rpm left for those big logs when you need 600 rpm.  My 40" blade is hammered for 600 rpm but I run it at 580 most of the time to save on fuel. Also I do not see a saw dust collection box or blower. These blades make a lot of sawdust. Plan to clear the pulley area after cutting a couple of logs.

[Joe Lallande]

One more idea for you to consider. Remove the large pulley from the mandrel shaft and place it on the engine drive shaft or another shaft in between. Try and reduce the weight on the mandrel shaft. The bearings on this shaft are a bear to replace.

[captain_crunch]

Hopefully that is a reversing transmission or you are going wrong direction with blade Most engines turncounter clockwise at output where as  a tractor PTO turns clockwise  I would try to avoid any more belts than needed due to expence and slippage. We added another bearing on our mandrel shaft outside pully to take strain of haveing enough belt tension

[Birk-man]

Thanks for all the constructive comments,

I've put up a few more pictures of the mill.  I changed the power train over to have the motor mounted on a stand-alone platform set on posts that go three feet in the ground.  That should isolate any vibration!

The views also show the log ramp, the sawdust collector running inside the mill frame and the operator's platform.

And it all fits outside the 25' setback from the creek...

Thanks for looking & comments welcome!

Birk-man

[terrifictimbersllc]

that guy should have some PPE on!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Joe Lallande]

I am sharing with you my experience after setting up my old Belsaw mill.  When I attached my metal sawdust collector  box, the blade was set in the middle within a 4" opening. With a long slab, I had no problems. However short slabs and bark would fall down into the box and rub against the blade.  I now have a flat metal plate covering the top of the box with only a 1/4" opening around the blade. Now the small pieces fall away on the ground. Good luck with your set up and send us more pictures when you have it in operation.