I am building a saw bench for firewood that runs off my tractor's PTO. What is the ideal cutting speed for the blade, it is 29" in dia. My gearbox (on the saw bench) is 2:1 and I was going to use 1:1 for the gearbox to spindle sheaves. So basically my blade will be 1/2 the speed of my pto. Is this good or should I alter the sheaves ratio.
If the blade is new, I'd ask the manufacturer. Good blades are tensioned to run true at a predetermined speed.
John Martin
I run mine right off the PTO . I think it might be nicer if it was 50% faster . Twice as fast I think would be too much on mine . Trying to remember the blade D . Close to yours , if you want I will hike out and measure it . No way I would want mine running slower . Bearings now run just warm to the touch after hours of saw time . Luck Ken Cutt
Unless your saw is very thing (less than 0.125") the go for a rim speed of about 6000-8000 ft/minute. (790 rpm - 1050 rpm).
Bruce Lehmann TKT Engineering
Thanks, I have it set-up for 500 rpm and it seems slow, I will change the spindle sheave to a smaller one to give me a speed in your recommended range.
Keep a watch on you bearing temps . Some old mandrels just will not handle high speed for long . You sure do not want to wipe one out with a
29 inch blade spinning right close to you . Luck Ken Cutt
I go by feel on old style bearings . In fact that was what I saw my Grandfather do while I was growing up . Warm is safe , hot is not . Bronze bushings should be fine . Slight drag , well I would think that would accelerate wear to one side . Shim the blocks or clamp the frame enough to release the tension and weld a bar to hold it in its free position . Cutting with a buzz saw always feels too slow at the start and to fast towards the end . Also small stuff the saw seems too slow , big stuff too fast . Do a few hours of actual cutting and then see if you think it needs to spin faster . Or if the bearings are running hot . Likely you will not start out at the ideal speed but over the long haul you will be happy enough with the size of the pile . Luck Ken Cutt
Ends up the slight drag is only when I tighten the belts. So bearings will heat up if going too slow? I thought it would be the other way around.
No the bearings will heat up if they are binding . Luck Ken Cutt
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