What is going on with this Craftsman 2 12 band saw?

[MikeyMakey]

I popped into a barn sale near my house today and there stood this Craftsman 2 12 band saw. After digging around on this site today my best guess is that it's from approx. '60-'61. I'm annoyed that I didn't see where the ID badge was on the thing when I was standing there, so I didn't get a photo of the model number.

My question is: what is going on with the motor and belt setup at the bottom? None of the photos I've seen online of similar models are this complicated. I tried to turn the wheel on the right side of the saw, and it seemed to be seized. Any ideas what I'm looking at here? I took the photos with their permission.

If they'd been asking a reasonable price, I would have brought it home, but the owners put a price on it of $400. I think that's outlandish, but maybe they know something I don't know. They said they came up with the price after researching it online. Is there any reason this should be that expensive, particularly in this condition? I appreciate any insight.

 

[The Cobbler]

I tried to turn the wheel on the right side of the saw, and it seemed to be seized

that's a worm drive speed reducer so you wont be able to turn the pulley. try spinning the motor and see if everything turns. it was probably set up for metal cutting with that reducer on there.
I am not sure on prices of vintage craftsman stuff, but I'd guess it's in the ball park .

 

[Cruzan80]

Probably the price was a combo of pedestal stand and gear reducer. Not a lot of those two together, so they may have picked a higher than average price for each, and added them to get to $400.