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The Baileys Get Bit by GripperDogs

Started by jpgreen, May 26, 2006, 04:15:35 PM

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jpgreen

Finally...

The rain stopped.  The clouds broke free and Mr. Sunshine peaked through the forest this morning as I was headed to the coast from our mountain home here in Trinity County, California to meet (our Forestry Forum sponsors) Baileys- Woodsman Supplies Company... 8)

Brothers Sam, Nick, and their father Bill over at Bailey head quarters in Laytonville was going to put my GripperDog Log Dog System to the test on the Lucas Swing Blade Mill.

For those of you who have never been to Northern California- this is flat out one of the most beautiful stretches of land God has ever created.

Laytonville, as the crow flies is probably less than 60 miles away from my doorstep, but you have to pass over three steep mountain ranges to get there, so this winds up being a 3 hour drive.

From the huge Madrone, Douglas Fir, and Pines of South Fork Mountain Ridge here at my place... through the Giant Redwoods of Humboltd County, and then on to Mendocino county on Coastal HWY 101 to Laytonville- where the Bailey crew lives, the sights are unbelievable.

These counties are known as "The Emerald Triangle".  Mendocino and Humboltd is also known as "The Lost Coast" because the land is so rugged it wasn't until the very late eighteen hundreds this land was meagerly populated except by coastal Indians of various tribes.

Explorers nearly starved to death trying to get from our inland county over to the coast as they came upon Giant Redwood trees toppled over like downed skyscrapers creating massive obstacles in every direction.

I enjoyed my drive to say the least... 8)

Arrived at Baileys HQ and finally got to meet Sam Bailey face to face. He's everything his fine reputation had described... and what an operation!... well organized parts department and repair facility, and nicely laid out open area of sales staff cubicles, helping customers.  Very Impressive!

I helped Sam unpack a new Lucas Mill for the demo, and I liked the way the rails had been shipped, very well protected.





This is the first time I've seen the NEW Lucas Mill up close, and man what a nice machine.  Pictures on the internet do not do this mill justice.  By seeing it up close, I finally got to see how really well made it was. The aluminum welds were perfect.  The engineering and aluminum frames are "Hell for Stout", and I especially liked the looks of the hand crank controls and new transmission.









Notice the "Oil Level" plug on the new transmission.  This means "Oil Bath" bearings as you would have in your automobile's rear end, or like the oil bath drive housing on the Wood-Mizer saw mills. This translates into cool running, heavy duty engineering for longevity. Outstanding....! 8)

We packed the mill outside, and Sam showed me how to set the Lucas up as we went along, which only took a few minuets.  Doesn't get easier than that. About then Nick and Dad Bill Bailey showed up, as I was setting up a fresh new litter of GripperDogs. It was an honor for me to meet the Baileys- owners of such a long time well respected family business.

Here's Nick on the right, Sam on the left, and one of their sales associates looking at the dogs:







Pleased me that they liked the looks of GripperDog construction... as they commented on the heavy duty aluminum housing holding the composite "blade safe" dog block, I explained how they worked, and how the Frame Dogs work. They were also surprised at how little pressure was needed to lock them into place on the bunks.  Finger pressure on the 9/16" aluminum set bolts will even grip hard without a tool.



I locked in the cross bearers under the bunks with my "Frame Dogs", and pointed out the stake pockets on each one where you can drive an inexpensive concrete form stake into the ground at each frame dog, then tighten the set bolt down locking your bunks in place solid at each corner if needed.  This assures whilst in the heat of serious milling, your bunks never move.





Picture also shows the center dogs that accommodate the dogging of multiple logs:



Next I locked down one side of the GripperDogs as we rolled the log in place and I'm proud to say what really shocked everyone present was the fact that we simply pushed in the other side GripperDogs by hand into the Douglas Fir log, and that locked the log in dead solid.  No hammer, no mallet, just hand set!

Sam and yours truly:



GripperDogs are engineered with angles on the composite dog spikes to hold without the need to hammer into your log (but you can if you wish). I was also happy with the comments from Sam and Nick that they liked the feature of being able to set up bunks at a higher working height, especially with small logs to a comfortable operating level without having to constantly bend over while working the mill.

Sam fired up the mill, and started in on the log. The farther along he milled, the more his grin widened.  He could tell the log wasn't going to move. He let me grab the controls and I gotta say I was blown away by this new Lucas Mill.





SMOOTH was the word that immediately came to mind.  It cut through like butter, but with hardly ANY vibration... at least not what I had experienced operating a swing mill in the past. No chatter or bounce, and the lumber was very nice.  Pushing and pulling the mill was effortless, and the hand crank for moving the saw head to the next setting was very easy. Fast and simple designed controls.  I like this mill.  I want one.. ;D 

I'd say Sam was impressed so far, but he wanted to see how far down we could take the log without it moving. I suggested we pull the log and place in a couple of spacers between the dogs to lift the log higher, to get down to the last inch.  Normally, you would do this before you start because this can alter your flat square face on the cut, but for the demo purpose of seeing how well the GripperDogs perform, that was not important.

Sam cut a couple of 3/4" spacers and put them in place, and we re-dogged the log.  keep in mind at this point we are dealing with a light slab, and not a full weighted log.







The Lucas cut into the last remaining slab and produced yet more building material leaving a little wee bit of slab that was about 1" on one end and down to 3/4" of slab left on the other.  The slab did not move, and my dogs did their job.  Good little doggies.. 8) 8) 8)





For some reason- even though they were spoken for, Sam would not let me leave with that set of GripperDogs. He's now the proud owner of a new set of pups.. ;D 



Maybe it was because he used some "Lucas Mill" persuasion.. :D
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

sprucebunny

Nice presentation, jp  8)

So .... is Bailey's gonna be adopting out your pups ??? ;D
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

red

excellent job   

sounds like a great day !

with good people
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

Left Coast Chris

Jp.......... do you have a brochure or web site?   I would like to tell my brother about your dogies.  He has an older lucas and was asking how to build a deck with dogs.  Him and I are alot alike except his aversion for the swing mill vs. my band mill.......no bad blood......good thing we are brothers.  

Another issue:  I found a used propane tank hauler (trailer).  A big one with hydraulics.  I am getting ready for some large valley oaks coming my way.  I will post a pic when I get the hydraulic lines replaced and test it.   yippiee....... 8)
Home built cantilever head, 24 HP honda mill, Case 580D, MF 135 and one Squirel Dog Jack Russel Mix -- Crickett

red

Hi Farmer

J P  and his Gripper Dog Log Dogs  are one of our 

Contributing Members Shameless Commerce Links

on the opening page of the forum

http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/GripperDog.html

Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

getoverit

Great pics and dogs Pat !

Hope you get the business you need from Baileys.
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

sawguy21

Great presentation. Nice to really see how those puppies work. ;D Off the topic, I have travelled the highway through Trinity county and part of the 101. Beautiful but a long trip in a heavy underpowered truck. Those grades are steep ;D
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Hokiemill

Slightly off topic (sorry).  Does anyone know if the new Lucas chain drive can be retrofitted to older mills?  I get a tad tired of the left/right push-shove-grunt method I'm currently using ;D.

jpgreen

Hey thanks for the comments guys... and gals..  ;D  Boy, look at that belly.. :o  I've got to get busy milling some wood and loose that winter fat.. :o   Laying down on my dogs doesn't help.. :D


Spruce Bunny-

That would be awesome to be associated with a great company like that..  8)



Farmer77-

Tell your brother to give me a call Chris if he would like.




Red-

I've been so busy, I haven't returned your last PM's, but we'll git thar.. ;D




GOI-

THanks Ken.  I was trying to come up with a way to persuade Sam into trading a his Lucas Mill for that set of dogs but he knew he had the upper hand being I liked the mill so much..   :D

-To even make matters worse, that was your set.  I'll have yours done Monday.  I know that was bad..  :( ;) ;D



sawguy21                                                                 

That's how I used to feel with our old Toyota up here.. huffed and puffed up the hills.
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

brdmkr

Quote from: Hokiemill on May 27, 2006, 08:42:29 AM
Slightly off topic (sorry).  Does anyone know if the new Lucas chain drive can be retrofitted to older mills?  I get a tad tired of the left/right push-shove-grunt method I'm currently using ;D.

I'd like to hear about that too!  Maybe someone from Lucas is following. 
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

tmullen

I sent an e-mail to bailey's since I am very interested in the crank system as well, we should get an answer back soon.
JP I am still trying to convince my wife that we need your dogs, my order should come in this summer. :D
when in doubt
fire out

jpgreen

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

logwalker

I say we all call Bailey's on Monday and ask if they have those little doggys.   :D :D
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

arnold

Yep they can be retro'd, They should be available soon. Just email Mat at Lucas and he will give you detail. It sure makes for easy sideshifting.

jpgreen

Quote from: logwalker on May 27, 2006, 05:13:04 PM
I say we all call Bailey's on Monday and ask if they have those little doggys.   :D :D

As you know it's is our Memorial Day weekend Joe, and everyone's on vacation.  Probably won't be able to get Sam until Tuesday.

I'm sure the Lucas machines have a retrofit, and if not, there are clever minds on the FF so we will design one.. ;D
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

jpgreen

For anyone interested...

Larger Pictures of the ones above for more detail with more information can be seen at:

http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/GripperDog.html

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

BEAVERBOY

jpgreen- good selection of pics- I am going to ship the dogs I got from you to Rex over in Australia as he would like to test a pair out. I plan on giving you a call here when the phones die down.

With regards to the new chain drive system, they will fit most of the old 8 inch machines. I know they will fit the 827 and 825 frame but not sure about the old 820 model. I still do not have an answer on 6 inch mills but assume that there will be a piece to fit those models as well. We will have them in late August or early September with the new 8 inch mill. I will give Australia a call later today to find out which models the attachment will fit on. Look for a post this afternoon.

Thanks again to Mr. Green for all of his time and hard work in putting together the dogging system. I am real happy with the results we got during the demo late last week.

jpgreen

Why thank you and you're most welcome Sam..  smiley_beertoast  8) smiley_beertoast
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

BEAVERBOY

With regards to my post yesterday, here are some details on the Side Winder.

Side Winder Attachments are currently in production & will be fitted standard to all models, except Model 613, from July '06. The Side Winder Attachment will be an optional extra for the M613. Retrofit Kits will be available for older models mid-June. 

After talking to Australia an hour ago, it sounds like the Side Winder Attachment will fit models 827, 825, 618, and 613. They don't have an answer on the 820 or 616 because of the differences in material (steel vs aluminum) and thinkness variations. They are still investigating the situation to see if the attachment will work for those models. Will post when I have an answer. 

highpockets

Jp, you're looking good.  Not like in pretty but a good presentation.
Louisiana Country boy
homemade mill, 20 h.p. Honda & 4 h.p. for hydraulics.  8 hydraulic circuits, loads, clamps, rotates, etc.

jpgreen



Dick... pretty is as pretty does..  :D
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

solodan

Where has JP been?

He must be busy with them dogs.

does anyone know if the sidewinder attachment is available yet?


highpockets

Solodan,  I am not sure about JP but he has something going on as he has been too quiet for some days.   I think he is inventing something and he does not want to talk about it.  Probably automatic logdogs.   
Louisiana Country boy
homemade mill, 20 h.p. Honda & 4 h.p. for hydraulics.  8 hydraulic circuits, loads, clamps, rotates, etc.

jpgreen

"Just when I thought I was out... they PULL me back in"..  smiley_thumbsup_grin


Yes... I've been busy.  Gonna set the dog world on it's end this time..  ;D  I can't talk about it yet, but  momma's gettin' ready to have a new litter, and the best of all the neighborhood dogs are the daddies..  smiley_angel02_wings

Made some progress on the KawaMizer too...  8)

I've gotta get caught up on my FF reading.  Whatcha buildin' now Dan, and Dick?  Cause I know you guys are always building somethin'..  smiley_smash
-95 Wood-Mizer LT40HD 27 Hp Kawasaki water cooled engine-

highpockets

Well we got the shed over the deck last week. Check out the General board for Redneck Megalift.  Building a large set of cabinets for the dinning room and repainting.  Planing a little cedar and pine.  An idiot I know burned up the emergency brake band in my tractor so that is my next project.  With my back hurting it may take six months.

Louisiana Country boy
homemade mill, 20 h.p. Honda & 4 h.p. for hydraulics.  8 hydraulic circuits, loads, clamps, rotates, etc.

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