I am refinishing some heart of pine floors, all was well until I did the room that some idiot had put down peel and stick tile. The glue is gumming the belt. I was wondering how the pros handle that. I have a drum sander and a 17" bufffer. Thanks JL

You use a lower grit paper. 12, 16 or 24 grit.

Buy a bag of sand. "Playsand" at Home Depot.

Spread it out and as you sand, the adhesive balls up in the sand. Where it is easily removed. Sanding heats it up and it will gum up a sander quickly, rendering it usless no matter what grit you use.

Duct tape the sole of your shoes, so you can rip off the duct tape and not track it all over the place.

I tried the sand and some of it came up and mixed with the sand but it made a royal mess and the floor still has a sticky residue. I have way too much inthis already, I am about to tell the homeowner which is a fiend of mine to install carpet over it. Does anyone else have any more tips. Thanks JL

Your in way over your head!.

Hire a pro!

How do you ever get to be a pro if you don't try difficult things? Just thought I would ask the experts. I would much rather read your solution than to tell me I am way in over my head. I am already into the project, hiring a PRO is not an option. It's either do it or carpet it. If you have a tip I would love to hear it. Thanks NOVICE jl

Get the sand on the floor, and i don't mean a little sand. Sweep and feed clean sand under your cut, with the 17" floor machine, with some 24 or 36 grit.

Aggresively sand and sweep. It isn't going to be fast, if that's what you want. But way better then smearing glue and your machine.
I'm surprised your machine isn't all gummed up from the first attempt.

Then cut the floor with the drum.

Use a buffer with a hardplate attachment and bolt some very course sandpaper to it, 16 or 24 grit. This will remove that stuff and will not be as difficult to clean up as a drum sander. Plus 16" sanding discs are less money than belts.

Gary has the answer.
If on concrete, throw gypsum patch and scrape.
Over plywood sub-floor? Remove the plywood and replace (frankly, this is what we used to do). removing and replacing the plywood was faster, cheaper and cleaner........
I read these problems and think to myself........... I am sure glad those days are behind me..

This gumming up the machine thing is getting way overblown, especially if you are using a drum rather than a belt machine(its not clear what your using). Sure its nice to have a beater machine for this but the only thing thats really going to get gummed up is the wheels especially with a small room with a little tile adhesive. A $3 sheet of 24 grit and half hour, its over. Then start with a 36 and carry on. And if you have to spend a half hour cleaning the machine-big deal.

Well I guess there are different adhesives, because this was a pain in the rear. I did it but it wasn't worth it. If confronted with this again, I will pass.Don't get me wrong I don't mind hard work, but the end doesn't justify the means. Plus my machine is a mess, the room was a mess and it just is not worth it. Thanks for all your help, it is greatly appreciated. Doing wood floors is definitely a work of love because you can't be doing it for the money! JL

I recall sanding flooring adhesive off of a plywood subfloor with my Hummel about ten years ago. The adhesive was Franklin 911 and it was used to glue down some 3/4" parquet. Now the current owners wanted to change out the flooring to plank so the adshesive was way too thick and uneven to lay over so it had to be sanded off. As I was sanding, it heated the glue up and the crap stuck to everything on my machine. Took four hours to disassemble and clean and reassemble my sander. This is why when people want to glue to a wood subfloor, I always recommend using a underlayment. That way, if the floor needs repair or replacement, it is mucho easier than sanding a subfloor. Nowadays, I no longer use my Hummel for anything but sanding finish floors. No decks, no subfloors and no slabs. A hardplate attachment on a buffer is a much better way to go.