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LT40 head shakes during up/down travel...

Started by pnyberg, August 23, 2011, 04:37:24 PM

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pnyberg

...or shimmys or shudders or chatters... in any event, it no longer moves smoothly.  When I first started to notice this I thought perhaps I'd been negligent in cleaning and lubing the mast, and more frequent cleaning and lubrication did seem to help at first, but now no amount of ATF fixes the problem for very long.

I have noticed that not all of the eight (I think) pads that the head travels up and down the mast on are tight against the mast.  I can slip a sheet of paper behind one of the lower forward pads and one of the upper aft pads.  I'm not sure this has anything to do with the problem, and in checking the manual I couldn't find a section that covered how to adjust this, so I'm hesitant to jump in and start turning wrenches.

Any or all knowledge, experience, or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
    Peter     
No longer milling

ladylake


Check for loose or broken bolts where ever it might matter.  Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Magicman

Peter, I would lower the head with a 2X4 or something under the "transport" hole on the outside (loader) side of the saw head.  This will simply lift the head a small amount away from the mast.  You can then spray ATF under the Teflon pads.  Putting the saw head in the transport mode should also allow you to spray between the pads and mast.

I spray my mast at least 6-8 times during a saw day.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

customsawyer

You might also check to make sure that the gear box that drives the head up and down has the proper amount of oil in it and that he gears are not in bad shape.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

pineywoods

Probably slack in the head lift chain. There's an adjustment on the bottom end of the chain to take the slack out. The chain gets slack due to normal wear of the chain itself and the sprockets it runs on. Ditto on the lube level in the gear box. Don't keep on sawin and hope the problem goes away. I saw one mill where the shaft connecting the gear box to the chain sprockets broke from the stress. That saw head is HEAVY.
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

Magicman

Remember guys, Peter has a virtually new WM.    ;)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

BBTom

 I know that WM tells me to use silicone spray, but it doesn't last but a couple hours, if that long. 

I have been using a graphite coating in a spray can.  I think the name of what I use is  E Z Glide or E Z Slip or something like that.  I raise the head to the top and spray the up/down rails at the end of the day about once a week.  That gives it time to dry good before the next morning.  Seems to work like a charm for me. 
2001 LT40HDD42RA with lubemizer, debarker, laser, accuset. Retired, but building a new shop and home in Missouri.

Brucer

Mine tends to do that too -- and it has for quite a while.

Cleaning and lubricating the mast helps -- for a while. Adjusting the vertical chain tension to spec helps a little. I recently adjusted the slide pad clearances and that helped too. However, nothing has made it go away permanently.

Peter, you'll find the section on slide pad adjustments about 3 pages into the section on "Complete Alignment Procedure (Section 7.2 in my 2006 manual). It sounds like yours are about right.

Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Jim H

I've used wax on mine before with good results. In warm weather canning wax or candle wax will work. When it gets colder try bowstring wax, it's a little softer.
2008 LT40HDG28, autoclutch, debarker, stihl 026, 046, ms460 bow, 066, JD 2350 4wd w/245 loader, sawing since '94 fulltime since '98

Mooney

Hey Mr. Nyberg, I consulted with Nick Burdine from customer service about your problem and here are his recommendations. He's thinking that your pads may be out of adjustment, or there may be some buildup behind your pads.

Raise the head all the way up, and check the gap between the mast and the top inside pad (on the teeth side of the head). The gap should be business card sized.

Lower the head all the way, and check the gap between the mast and the bottom outside corner pad, closest to the fuse box. The gap there should also be about business card sized.

If those are not business card gaps, the pads need adjusting, and you can set the proper pad spacing by loosening the two lock bolts with a 3/4" wrench and then adjusting the upper or lower pusher bolt(s) with a 9/16" wrench. There should be a section in the head adjustment area of your manual that shows you how to do this properly.

If those are both business card sized, you probably have buildup behind the pads, and can free that up by soaking them down with ATF after each log for a day.

If you can't find it in your manual, give the guys a shout at customer service (800.525.8100) and they'll walk you through it step by step. Hope one of these methods gets you fixed up quick!

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Peter, you can't go wrong by calling Woodmizer. They will walk you through a forest fire without getting burned whatsoever!
They're good and know their stuff.

David
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Bibbyman

Quote from: Magicman on August 23, 2011, 09:22:26 PM
Remember guys, Peter has a virtually new WM.    ;)

New mills and new components often take some readjustment as they break in.  I think there is some 50 hour, 100 hour maintenance things that are recommended.  Things like V-belts often need a little more tugging up after 10 hours and then maybe again at 100.  From then on they seem to go a long time.  As I remember, the up/down chain is one to check frequently during a break-in period.

Now that I'm reminded,  I think I need to check the up/down chain tension on our mill.  I haven't done that in many thousands of hours.

Let us know how it shakes out.  ::)
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

pnyberg

I did find the slide pad adjustment write-up right where Brucer said it would be.  I could slide two business cards behind the loose pads both top and bottom, but not three.  Doing the adjustment to reduce the space to one business card was straightforward, but did require some disassembly to access the upper adjustment bolt. 

When I was done, I found that I'd eliminated most, but not quite all of the shaking.  The mast had last been lubed three days ago in preparation for yesterday's job.  After a fresh coat of ATF on the mast, the shake was gone entirely, but that was generally the case before.  I'll report again after my next job, which should be Friday.

--Peter
No longer milling

Bibbyman

Well...  In that case,  I'll give it a shot.  (I'd like a 7° RazerTip blade please!)
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Mooney

Alright, sounds good. Let us know how the sawing goes on Friday, and keep that ATF on the pads to release any additional buildup.

Brucer

I did a complete alignment on my mill about 80 hours ago and the pads definitely needed adjusting. For the next several hours that solved the shaking problem but it's started to creep back in.

I haven't tried the trick of adding ATF several times in one day, so that is next on the list.

There are a few things they don't spell out about adjusting the pads -- like getting at the adjustment bolts :(.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Magicman

As I mentioned previously, taking the sawhead weight off of the pads will allow you to really give them a good oiling and cleaning.  Yes, I spray the mast with ATF about every hour.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

John S

Magic,
What do you use as a "sprayer" for the ATF?
2018 LT40HDG38 Wide

Magicman

A 99¢ Home Depot spray bottle.  In the Winter it squirts instead of spraying, but it still works.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

barbender

That's in a Mississippi winter, though ;D
Too many irons in the fire

Magicman

Yeah, sometimes it gets down into the 50's.  Burrrrrrrr.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

ladylake



  It only gets down to the 30's and once in a while the 40's here.  (below 0).   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

pnyberg

Quote from: pnyberg on August 24, 2011, 03:07:00 PM
I'll report again after my next job, which should be Friday.

Well, the Friday job got postponed, and then we had this hurricane, but I did manage to get out to a multi-day job today.  I lubed the mast with ATF the day before, as I usually do.  I didn't do any additional lubing during the day.  I noticed none of the shaking I had previously experienced.  So it seems that removing some of the slack in the slide pad did the trick for me. 

--Peter
No longer milling

DR_Buck

Quote from: John S on August 25, 2011, 06:02:06 PM
Magic,
What do you use as a "sprayer" for the ATF?


I use a hand pump oiler like this one:




I've tried the spray bottles and they quit working after a few uses.   I've got a pile of non-working ones laying in the corner of the barn.    The hand pump oiler has worked flawlessly  for a couple years now.   It has enough pumping pressure to reach the top of the mast from the ground.
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

John S

Dr Buck,
Thanks for the suggestion.  I use one for lubing on a trailer but did not think of getting one for the ATF.  Out to Tractor Supply (I have a gift card) tomorrow.
2018 LT40HDG38 Wide

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