Bandsaw tires. Help!

[william Ku]

Hello, Everyone.

Could somebody tell me the width of the tires on a Powermatic pwbs14 or Jet JWBS-14 bandsaw?

They are supposedly the exact same tire?

Or the width of the Grizzly GO555 or GO555X tires. (I don't know if the Griz' tires are the same.)

I have an old Powermatic 143 14" bandsaw I'm trying to prep for service and am somewhat baffled by the price Powermatic wants for replacement tires--$78.02 apiece.

I looked up the price for a replacement tire for the new model 14" Powermatic saw, pwbs14, and the replacement tires are $6.19 apiece, and the Jet JWBS-14's tires run $11.10.

Tech support at WMH Tool Group could only tell me that the tires for the new saws are exactly the same. Though they could offer me no specific details about the tires. Grizzly's website flat-out tells you they will not give measurements for any of their parts. Period.

Apparently, the expensive tires for my old saw are pre-crowned, and therefore $$$, but even so, $156.04 (plus shipping) still seems a little high for two rubberbands.

I will crown the tires I purchase, myself. So that is not a problem.

If the Grizzly tires will fit my wheels that would be great. They are between $4.00 and $7-something apiece. I could just add them to the rest of the stuff I plan to order from them tomorrow and consolidate shipping.

Thank you for your help.

- Bill

[lowell holmes]

I replaced the tires on my Jet BS. I just bought a pair at the Cutting Edge (RIP) in Houston and put them on. They were urethane. You nuke them in the microwave to soften them and put them on. They were generic 14" tires.

Check with your favorite store like Lee Valley, Woodcraft, Rocklers, Highland Hardware or whoever. They should be able to help you.

IIRC, the wheels are crowned on my Jet and the tires were flat. It was not necessary to crown the tires.

[Lee Schierer]

Call the folks at Suffolk Machinery (http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/) they have a pretty complete data base and sell bandsaw tires. They should be able to get you good tires and the right size.

[Ken Casser]

I second Lee's suggestion. A quick call to Suffolk Machinery or Iturra Designs will get you a qualified answer that will save you time and money. They both really know their stuff and are extremely helpful.

Ken