belsaw info

b dukes · January 22, 2010, 12:16:10 AM

I need some advice on which mill would be a better buy. I still havent finished getting all of that old sawmill I was gave out of the woods yet, between work, rain and my chainsaw not wanting to run I have had a run of bad luck. Now with all of the rain we have been getting it will be awhile now before we can go back again without messing up this mans field. I found a name on the setworks and it is a Corley.I still would like to fix it but for now, I think I would like to buy one that is in one piece. So I have been looking around and found a belsaw or timberking I am not sure which it is. It is all steel with the pto shaft, two headblocks with a 40" headsaw. And the feed uses a v-belt , it will cut 12' I think, over all it is 31' . Which I dont think it would be all that hard to extend for a longer cut. The other mill I found is a m-24 with a 52" headsaw on wood. with the flat belt for the feed and the drive. It has three headblock and is 48' long but it is a long drive to get it. Both would work out to be about the same price. And far as usage it would only be for personal use around the farm. So any ideas on what would be best.

captain_crunch · January 22, 2010, 12:30:44 AM

My Bellsaw is 36 ft original with 6 ft added to each end and 20 ft lumber is crowding length past splitter so hope this will help you decideing which way to jump. The B_S was made as a farmer type mill and where frame and head rig are one piece makes them kinda forgiveing about level and with pratice will cut good lumber I have about 1/16 variance in an 18 ft board so this is plenty good for self use boards and with hyd carrage drive and 50 in blade can saw 26 in dia logs with 40 hp tractor running it off PTO I am a newbee but mine works great for me Hopefully more experianced people will jump in
Brian

bandmiller2 · January 22, 2010, 06:59:16 AM

Duke,you flushed the covey and don't know which bird to shoot.It depends on how much you have to pay for the steel frame bellsaw,sounds like its complete and ready for work.It would be quick to setup.The old Corley is by far the best mill of the bunch if reasonably complete,and if you have the ability and will to rewood it.Your given the Corley,hopefully with a usable headsaw.You could use the steel belsaw to cut wood for the Corley and sell the belsaw when your done.Frank C.

Tripp · January 22, 2010, 07:32:06 AM

If you have the power to pull a 52 inch saw I would lean towards the m24. I like the idea of having the increased cutting length and width. All that said, if you are serious about setting up the Corley, that would cover you on those points.

I love my m14, but without lengthening the carriage 12 foot logs are my max length.
With the 40 inch blade 14 inch width boards are my max.

When I first bought my mill it was for use around the farm. Now I have people calling for lumber. That little mill has put money in the bank this year.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Tripp

apm · January 22, 2010, 09:25:14 AM

With the steel Belsaw and a decent tractor for power, you could be up and sawing in a couple of days. They're not too picky about foundations, mines set on railroad ties and has been for years. The 40" headsaw will whittle down 20" logs pretty easily and will be a lot easier to maintain than a larger saw. Only two headblocks is a little limiting, but it'll make a lot of lumber in a hurry.

Greg

J_T · January 22, 2010, 11:50:32 AM

Warning :D If you get two mills you will want three from there it goes wild on equipment :

b dukes · January 23, 2010, 05:54:45 PM

I will be going in the morning to look at the metal belsaw. It is only a few hours from home. So wish me luck, hope it is what I want. The owner sent some pics and it looked ok there, but sometime pics look alot diiferent than when you see it in person. I really wanted the M-24 but it is a long ride about 10 hr one way. That is a long way to drive on the hope that it is the condition it appears to be in by the pics. How hard is it to find a carriage or carriage parts for these mills? Maybe I could extend the carriage length for a longer cut. It has a ten foot carriage, so what is the max you could cut on it and be safe. One other question is what is the diference in the feed for the carriage. The M-24 had just a flat belt but the other belsaw had a different setup with a v-belt? Just wondering. I will let you know what I find. Oh before I forget what are somethings I should really be looking at on the mill.

bandmiller2 · January 24, 2010, 07:47:43 AM

Duke, the rule of thumb is up to 2' overhang each end of carriage,in outher words a 10' carriage 14' log.Best to avoid overhang if possible especially with 1" boards.No big trick to extend the carriage, or for that matter you can make most parts for a belsaw mill.Myself I would not run a 52"headsaw on a Belsaw mill,the 1 3/4" arbor is just not ridgid enough,some have and are using large saws now but best to stay 46" or under.Just look for general condition especially bent pieces or sections.Make sure the small removable pieces such as the dog clamps are there, they have a habit of walking off.Good luck Frank C.

rpg52 · January 25, 2010, 12:30:51 PM

Duke,
Another nubee here, the carriage on my Belsaw was extended 2' on either end, making it 16', looked to be an easy modification. Most of the pieces are fairly light steel, an advantage if you have to buy it, disadvantage if you are into production. Like Frank said, just look for bent pieces and all the parts.
Ray

Joe Lallande · January 26, 2010, 07:31:41 AM

I bought my Belsaw M-14 two years ago with a locked up 60HP diesel engine. I had a local machine shop make a PTO adapter for the end of the mandrel shaft. I hooked up my tractor to the mill with a drive shaft from my post hole digger. We were sawing lumber within two weeks. I now have the engine rebuilt and have converted the old flat belt system to V belts using mostly used parts obtained from my friends at our local sawmill. I will have it running soon when the weather warms a bit. Contact the good people at Timberking, they still have a few Belsaw parts left. Good luck.

apm · January 27, 2010, 09:02:52 AM

Come on now, B Dukes. We're waiting on a full report with pictures!

How was the trip and what did you bring home?

Greg

b dukes · January 27, 2010, 08:16:06 PM

Well the trip went fine. But it did rain off and on all day. And you would know it with my luck this mans house is on the river. We were there talking about an hour., when I started to leave the river had came up enough I had to use another road to get out. I didnt bring anything home yet. But I am going back to pick up the mill . It is a belsaw m-14. I took off work fri. where we can go back. I would like to post some pics, but I am having some problems posting them. I downloaded the software but When I shrink the pic down to the right size where they will load, you cant see what is in the pic. (blurry) I made a pic gallery but it doesnt show on my profile???? Any help would be great.

beenthere · January 27, 2010, 08:26:01 PM

Are you using the Java Uploader?

I assume that Java is the software you downloaded.

If not, don't shrink the file size first. Shrink the pixel size to 500 (longest of the two dimensions) first, then save to the file size. This will give you a 500 pixel size, and will be acceptable by the forum for your gallery.

Hope this helps.

captain_crunch · January 27, 2010, 11:52:12 PM

I had the srink episode also 450X350 seems to be what works for me. Thru the hard way and several riggin fits I found with standard MS Windows my pictures then right cliking on pic then go to Resize, Then click the Custom size and enter the #'s and it makes another pic that says custom. Don't know if this is correct but it works for me.
Now hurry up with the pics

b dukes · January 29, 2010, 07:28:16 PM

Me and my father went and pick up the belsaw this morning. Everything went fine except having to change a trailer tire on the way back. I guess we will unload it in the morning and then the work begins. Hopefully we will be making sawdust before long.

fishpharmer · January 29, 2010, 07:38:01 PM

Looks like a great find. Can't wait to see it up and running. What do you plan to do use for power?

b dukes · January 29, 2010, 08:48:02 PM

Maybe later I would like to find an old diesel engine, but for now I plan to use my tractor pto. MF 285

fishpharmer · January 29, 2010, 08:51:43 PM

I don't know alot about the belsaws but Captain_crunch seems to have good success with his 40 hp tractor. You shouldn't lack for power. Is the 285 around 75 or 80 PTO hp?

Do you plan on cutting alot of hardwood or soft?

b dukes · January 29, 2010, 09:05:07 PM

I dont really know what we will cut yet. Mainly what I have on my place is pine, but we have some oak too. I wanted to build a new barn and a cut some lumber for my dad. He does alot of woodworking. I kinda got this for a hobby for both of us. Something we can do together. We are going to unload the mill in the morning and get started, take it down and go ahead and replace the bearings and belts. I also want to extend the track some just to get the log away from the blade for saftey reasons. I was thinking about six feet to each side. Then some paint and on to sawing. Thats the plan anyway. If anyone has some pics of how the sawdust chain need to be installed that would help me alot. That way I could start trying to find what all I will need. And yeah I think the 285 is 81hp at the pto.

KyTreeFarmer · January 30, 2010, 02:24:53 PM

Looks like a great project!! Seems to be in pretty good shape from the picture. Keep us posted on your progress.

KTF

bandmiller2 · January 31, 2010, 07:29:41 AM

Duke,those metal frame Belsaws are not too fussy about a foundation,and I don't think you have a deep frost problem in Ga.A well drained poured slab is nice but railroad ties set and leveled on a good base will do.Sono tubes filled with cement or biilt up cement blocks will also work.I've seen them just set on wood blocks.Have it high enough off the ground to make sawdust removal easier.Frank C.

Tripp · January 31, 2010, 08:24:56 PM

B Dukes,

I set up my dust chain on a sprocket, shaft and two pillow blocks under the saw.

The chain is driven by a gear reduction box and motor on the back side of the mill.

The chain is pulled under the mill shed dragging the dust along with it.

However you decide to set up your system make sure it cannot, in the event of a chain break, pile the chain up under the saw blade. When I first set mine up I was driving it with the sprocket under the saw. If the chain broke it would continue piling up the chain until it made contact with the blade. Not a good scenario. It did not take long for me to realize that I had a poor design.

Tripp

GT · January 31, 2010, 09:07:15 PM

Hello.I have a belsaw and am running a 48" insert tooth blade and I pull it with a 175 allis chalmers that is 69 horse power . It does ok , but some times in hard wood like kickoy I need to slow down. GT