Hi Allen,
Many thanks for your photos .... including the one showing a pillow: Buoyed with enthusiasm and a sense of empowerment, with photos in hand, I decided to take the spindle moulder cover off and take a few moments with my head supported on the pillow to survey the scene. Now my CF731 is a bit older than yours, being an early 2003 model. Looking around the inside of the saw / spindle cabinet I noticed four dome headed M6 nuts holding a large inspection panel in place. From the comfort of my pillow I realised that if I removed this large panel, tilted the spindle over to 45 degrees and slid it to the rear and side of cabinet, I could access the friction drive and all the planer-feed drive belts. To give greater access, I also removed the side panel of the planer to the right of the indeed table. I think I have averted having to split the two units ....
I hope you find this useful should you have the same job to do in the future. My drive wheel is very gnarly ... but it has lasted nearly 20 years as opposed to the 6 or 7 years that I hear other tyres lasting.
Thank you once again for the time and effort you have provided in responding to my query ... it is very much appreciated!
Best wishes,
Steve.
