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Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 9:41 am
by DonFBAH
I need to replace the drive belt on my Yuba Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw. The saw appears to have been manufactured around 1959. The drive belt is V-shaped and measures approximately 14.5 - 15 inches in circumference (OD). It is approximately 5/8 of an inch wide. The inside of the belt has what I would describe as grooves cut in it. It is not smooth like a fan belt on an older car. It is approximately 3/8 of an inch thick. Any idea where I can get a replacement drive belt like this? I live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Thanks
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 11:48 am
by ChrisNeilan
Take it to an auto parts store and match it up. Should find one close.
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:36 pm
by billmayo
This sounds like a 150J6 belt sold at
http://www.beltpalace.com/mivpovbe.html. The "J" series belts have grooves running the length of the belt. Most likely will find one on the internet.
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 8:55 am
by DonFBAH
The belt I need is only 14 and 3/8ths inches OC. Auto parts stores do not carry nor do they have access to belts in this length.
The 150J6 belt you refer to is not a cogged V belt like I am looking for. It is a ribbed flat belt (aka. serpentine belt) similar to those used on newer automobiles.
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 9:01 am
by dusty
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:55 am
by DonFBAH
The belt you suggested is 'ribbed' not 'cogged', nor is it a 'v-belt'.
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:30 am
by JPG
DonFBAH wrote:The belt you suggested is 'ribbed' not 'cogged', nor is it a 'v-belt'.
"Ribbed" as in "poly-v".

Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:06 pm
by stephen_a._draper
I own a Sawsmith. Without giving you all of the history of my research, there is no belt anywhere in the world currently manufactured that can be used to replace the original belt designed for the Sawsmith. No one makes them that short. You need to find someone trying to sell a Sawsmith for parts and buy the belt. I recently bought two that way on eBay and paid $25 each for them.
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 1:51 pm
by reible
Any chance we could see a picture of the belt in question? Also a picture of how it is used would be useful ie the belt in place on the sawsmith. I've never studied a sawsmith or actually seen one in real life.
I sure don't have an answer but I can think of a few "other" off the cuff ideas such as switching pulley sizes enough to get to manufactured size without effecting the saws performance too much....
Any chance a linked belt might work?
Anywhere you could add an idler pulley, this would allow a longer belt....
Ed
Re: Yuba Sawsmith Drive Belt
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:46 pm
by rpd
reible wrote:Any chance we could see a picture of the belt in question? Also a picture of how it is used would be useful ie the belt in place on the sawsmith. I've never studied a sawsmith or actually seen one in real life.
I sure don't have an answer but I can think of a few "other" off the cuff ideas such as switching pulley sizes enough to get to manufactured size without effecting the saws performance too much....
Any chance a linked belt might work?
Anywhere you could add an idler pulley, this would allow a longer belt....
Ed
I don't have a SawSmith either.
I did find a parts diagram on Vintage machinery that may provide some insight
SawSmith RAS Item # 700000 - Spare parts list
And here is a link to the manual
Sawsmith Owners Manual (Radial Arm Saw) 700000 84-2265
Looks like it uses the familiar Reeves drive and the speed control cam looks similar to the one on the Mk VII.
I agree, a 5/8 link belt should be a viable option, I just checked the link belt on my drill press and the depth is about 3/8 which fits with the specs the OP gave.
DonFBAH wrote:I need to replace the drive belt on my Yuba Sawsmith Radial Arm Saw. The saw appears to have been manufactured around 1959. The drive belt is V-shaped and measures approximately 14.5 - 15 inches in circumference (OD). It is approximately 5/8 of an inch wide. The inside of the belt has what I would describe as grooves cut in it. It is not smooth like a fan belt on an older car. It is approximately 3/8 of an inch thick. Any idea where I can get a replacement drive belt like this? I live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. Thanks