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Mods or Mizer - help me identify stuff on this mill

Started by tomboysawyer, April 21, 2006, 06:29:13 PM

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jpgreen

-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

tomboysawyer

Quote from: Engineer on May 04, 2006, 11:48:35 PM
Amy, as long as you're still curious, come on up and see my mill, it's a 1985 LT-30, all original.  You can see exactly what is and what ain't "original orange" on yours. 

And sorry about missing the fun on Sunday.    :(    I forgot all about it.   I have your blog bookmarked now.  Maybe this weekend, I'll come down and help you with some sawing.

I will have to head up there. It's a nice day for a bike ride today - you around this afternoon after Rotary? I'd love to get a chance to see it today.

'salright about this past Sunday. It was wacky anyway. I'll be making more sawdust this weekend - after going to the drive-ins tonight...

Thanks for the vouching. I figure there was just a miscommunication there. Maybe I should have suggested to Jeff we could settle things over a few beers and a couple games of pool...  Won't have time next weekend to follow through on that, though, unless they have a table at CVFG.

Engineer

Nope, I am heading to Montpelier and won't be back until late.  How about Saturday?  I'll send you an e-mail off the FF.

JP I got your joke.   :D    That man behind the button has more power than the Wizard.....

getoverit

Does any of you know how much the WM log turner costs? I understand that you can purchase this whole thing from them which might save some time and money in the long run.

I spent the morning at Tom's place, and with the help of a fresh beer bottle and several arms and fingers bent in various positions he was able to explain to me how the WM log turner worked ;D

on a side note, I'm glad all is well now. It is sometimes hard to write what you are trying to say without it coming out all wrong. Sometimes it is the emphasis on certain words that can make a sentence go one way or the other and totally out of context for what was meant. Our press and politicians are prime examples of this.

Welcome aboard Amy!  If I can beg a couple more pictures out of you, I would appreciate a couple of the log turner. Maybe one folded up in the non-use state, one half way extended, and one fully extended would help. Maybe this would help to make Tom's explanation (with bent fingers and articulated arms and a beer bottle) clear as mud :)

Thanks again,
Ken
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

tomboysawyer

Quote from: getoverit on May 05, 2006, 09:28:05 PM
Welcome aboard Amy!  If I can beg a couple more pictures out of you, I would appreciate a couple of the log turner. Maybe one folded up in the non-use state, one half way extended, and one fully extended would help. Maybe this would help to make Tom's explanation (with bent fingers and articulated arms and a beer bottle) clear as mud :)

We pretty much only have soda water on the property for beverages. In looking at my video, I can see it doesn't really show the mechanism very well. I don't think I have any photos angled correctly to demonstrate the log turner, but I will definitely go grab a couple - if not this weekend soon. And I'll put the camera on a tripod or beg my partner to hold it, and get a better video. The video I took and linked to in an earlier post I was holding the camera with my right hand, working the hydraulic lever with my left hand, and watching the log - not through the camera as I turned it.

But I do love a beer. I just need to avoid beer and other alcoholic beverages around power equipment.

The key to the log turner working is a bungee cord (which keeps the forearm bent into the upper arm).

If you watch the video then look at this picture:



which is 90 degrees from the view in the video (basically standing on the loading side of the mill) it might help.

The hydraulic piston moves only the "base" arm which pivots off the monorail beam. At rest they are parallel, but as the piston pushes out, it lifts that main arm. The other part of the arm (the forearm?) hinges at the end of that upper arm, but cannot colapse completely against it. As the upper arm moves out the forearm naturally (from gravity) moves in and grips into the log with those teeth (and can just imagine this displayed with a finger demonstration). Once the teeth set in the log, they don't move unless you completely drop the turner back down. So, they set in the log and since the arm can't collapse on itself, as the upper arm keeps pushing, the teeth push the side away from the back stops up and hopefully the side of the cant on the back stops slides down. That latter part doesn't always happen, even with tapered back stops. But if you push/release/push it usually works. I bit of help from the clamp also helps me some times because it keeps the log from rolling back too far. Once the log is at a particular turn, the clamp will take it the rest of the way too - with the log generally being round and all and the back stops square.

Here's the video in case you missed it in the last post http://tomboysawyer.com/photos/20060430/turner.swf
.

It's easy to think that this is more complicated than it really is. The forearm part just flops. It works because it has teeth that grip into the log at the right point when the upperarm moves up. The only hydraulic part is the upper arm part - a simply hydraulic triangle that lifts.

Let me know if you still want more photos or video. I really think video is the way to go on this one.

tomboysawyer

Quote from: Engineer on May 04, 2006, 11:48:35 PM
Amy, as long as you're still curious, come on up and see my mill, it's a 1985 LT-30, all original.  You can see exactly what is and what ain't "original orange" on yours. 

So Jon and I just got together and did some site and mill comparisons.

Frankenmizer is most definitely NOT an LT30. Frankenmizer's monorail has been cut a few times, but my sawhead and monorail are MUCH bigger than Jon's LT30. My cut length is 17' 6" and overall length is about 21' - but everything is just plain bigger than Jon's LT30. So, our current best guess is this is an LT40 that has been cut down (shorter). I've been trying to figure out the purpose of the non-Woodmizer trailer axle. It appears to be the steering axle off some piece of farm equipment with the ball joints welded straight. It would depend on the order of things, but with these aftermarket log loaders, I'm thinking they needed to get the bed higher off the ground so they went with a bigger trailer.

It is difficult to put things in perspective with photos, but my bandwheels are much bigger than Jon's. The depth of the blade carriage area is much larger. I have a wider cut. The head and brake are definitely Woodmizer. Someone pointed out my round saw dust chute is specific to a range of years (and it is a lot nicer than Jon's which dumps sawdust in his walking path).

Must say, I really like my hydraulics. I'm also really glad this wasn't my first mill because it is much more complicated than a manual mill. I also really love 18 horsies up there driving things.

I can't imagine what could happen to a mill that someone would cut it and modify the bed so much. Maybe the LT40 didn't fit in a saw shed. Maybe someone dropped a tree or bucket on it. I don't expect we'll ever know unless there's some logger in Upstate New York (north of the Finger Lakes) who knows of someone refitting an LT40. But he does cut wood really nice.

red

well  sounds like it is what it is

and as long as you are cutting logs/ out of logs 

it is doing it pretty good !

RED
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

getoverit

Thanks for the video and explanation. This helps a bunch. Some time this week I will be working on a log turner and a log loader for my mill. I think I have all the needed ideas for it, just a matter of putting it all together.

Thanks again!
Ken
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

jpgreen

Tha turner looks better than the one on my Mizer.
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

getoverit

I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

jpgreen

Not yet Ken, but I will be in LT40 mode here shortly, and get it online.

Just welded with the new generator, and it's doing fine so I will get caught up with the new Alum GripperDogs Monday, and then we'll get the Woodmizer done and my blade sharpener, and setter table built.

Then I gotta learn how to use it..  ;D  Then I've gotta finish my shop.  When does this all end?..  :D
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

getoverit

I know the feeling... beem working on turning the old barn into a wood shop for several months, but havent made it far on that project. Now I got the bandmill to turn into a hydraulic mill, and somewnere in the mix I have to find time to saw wood and get some income coming back my way too.

There is ALWAYS something to do around here it seems.
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

pineywoods

Your log turner looks just like the homebuilt one on my 95 LT40. IN fact my hydraulic system looks very much like yours except I use a 1 hp electric motor for power and I didn't bother with log loaders cause I have a tractor with front loader and forks. I added a second small cylinder where you have the bungee cords. Made a world of difference. I can't find serial numbers on mine either, I traced back through wood Mizer with the previous owners name to get it.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

tomboysawyer

Quote from: pineywoods on August 06, 2006, 10:34:39 PM
Your log turner looks just like the homebuilt one on my 95 LT40. IN fact my hydraulic system looks very much like yours except I use a 1 hp electric motor for power and I didn't bother with log loaders cause I have a tractor with front loader and forks. I added a second small cylinder where you have the bungee cords. Made a world of difference. I can't find serial numbers on mine either, I traced back through wood Mizer with the previous owners name to get it.

I also have a loader with forks, but find the log loaders helpful since there is only one 4WD loader with forks and my partner is usually using it to go get the logs to put in the queue. The loaders are also exceptionally handy for storing flitches until they go back on the mill.

There's a new thread for my rebuild of this mill - now called Buzz. I have since replaced that bungee cord with two hobby horse springs. They work really well. Relocated support posts. Changed axle.



Here are the springs - freshly painted green like everything else on the saw.



And a picture of the rail in the painting process so Tom can see the fuscia stripes.  8)

Tom

Ah Yes!   Color!   Looking like a spring garden.   8)

I love  the anti-establishment aire of a "Flower Child".    :D

tomboysawyer

Quote from: Tom on August 07, 2006, 11:44:07 AM
Ah Yes!   Color!   Looking like a spring garden.   8)

I love  the anti-establishment aire of a "Flower Child".    :D

Anti-establishment - yes. Flower child - probably not.  :D

Buzz is all green now except those stripes on the monorail. I can tell at a glance exactly how long a timber is now and how it is positioned on the mill. Those stripes are symmetrical on either side of the clamp/dog and mark off every foot. Kinda nifty. We just painted the carriage first, then took it up to the property to get the sawhead. Have the hydraulic equipment at the job site, have the welding and painting equipment at home.  :)

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