Wood-Mizer Mills

[JD350Cmark]

Hello,

I am new to the saw milling world and new to this site.  I am looking to buy a new mill and have decided to go with a Wood-Mizer LT-40, at least the standard hyd.  I understand the difference in the standard and the super, but wondering what opinions some of you may have on these.  Some of the other posts talk about more power and bigger engines and being able to cut faster.  As I am not looking for the fastest cutting mill out there, just a good all around set up to mill Fir, Redwood and Oak on my property, and if word gets around maybe try to make a few bucks milling for people I know.  If I stay with the standard hyd, the common engine is the Kolar 25 h/p.  Anyone had any problems with it?  I ran a 2000 LT-40 stan.hyd. 25 Kolar for about 4 hours recently and did not notice and power problems, however I was going slow most of the time.  There is a 28 Kolar, 33 Nissan, and a 33 Kubota option, but looking at at least 3 weeks to get one, think I would go Kubota if I were to wait.  But I think the Kolar 25 may be just fine.  I am adding the lubemizer, accuset, (even though I still can't figure out how to use it yet) and the auto clutch.  I think it will make it more enjoyable for my dad to run once in awhile.  Any thoughts or opinions would be great.  Thanks in advance.  -Mark

[Oregon_Sawyer]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  You can learn alot here and anything you don't see just ask.

I am on my second Woodmizer mill.  I would get the Kubota engine and seriously consider the Super mill also.

My first mill was a gas 35 horse,  it was a hydrolic but not the| "Super".  Great mill but I upgraded.  I use less fuel and can cut faster.  Faster will mean more later.  Accuset is fantastic when you figure it out.  Not to hard I'm just a Truck Driver. ;D  The lube mizer feature is very understated.  It is much better system than the drip.

Try the 13 degree blade for the wood you are cutting.

Loren

[DR Buck]

Greetings,

I just  got my 1st mill 4 weeks ago.  A WM LT40HDG25.   I think the 28hp Kohler is going to replace the 25.  The difference is fuel injection.   I add 2 options to my basic hyd mill; (1) Lubemizer, real nice to have and a convenience (2) The de-barker, this is a MUST HAVE.   I used someone else's mill and had to manually de-bark logs. :(  What a pain and time consuming.

After I get a few $$ made from sawing I'm adding the auto clutch, lap-sider and maybe setworks option.  

Good luck with your shopping.    :D

[Bibbyman]

Welcome to the FF JD..

Can't go wrong with either choice.  Just how fast you feel the need to go.

Super HD vs. Standard HD.

Besides engine power,  the hydraulics are about twice as fast on the Super.  Also the head motors are quite a bit more powerful and faster on return and I think up and down.  The board drag back feature is also standard on the Super.

I was at a Wood-Mizer field show and did a little sawing on a Standard HD.  First thought was – "What's wrong with this thing?"  Well,  nothing,  it just wasn't a Super.

If you've never sawn on a Super,  a standard HD will do just fine,  you'll never know what your missing.  But after getting accustom to the much faster hydraulics and head speed,  it'd be hard to go back.  

The first option on my list would be the debarker.  Then Simple Setworks or Accuset,  then the Lubmizer.  Auto-Clutch is nice if you're a little over the hill (like I am) and have a little arthritis, etc.  Less necessary on the smaller engines I'd think.

[Percy]

Heya JD
Like Loren and Bibby, Im on my second mill(woodmizer). Me thinks Bibby has had about three ;D.
No matter which Woodmizer you get, you really cant go wrong. Machines get goofy once in a while and  with Woodmizer, they will go the extra step/mile/lightyear to get you cutting again real quick. The extra money you pay for a WM is well worth it.
On the option thing, DR Buck is right on with his debarker suggestion. I dont know what Id do without mine. Loobmizer is cool and the accuset is about my second favorite after the debarker. Speed to the next cut is impressive once you catch on to it.
 There are many people cutting lots of lumber, makin a good living with a 25 hp mill(ARKANSAWYER). That being said, Id still recommend the largest engine(diesel,and Super) if you can afford it. Even if it dont work out and you have to sell the mill(not likley) you will be able to get a good buck for it.

Good luck on whatever you decide. ;D ;D

[Bibbyman]

Well,  another point...  I think it depends on how much sawing you plan to do and how much help you plan to have.

I don't suspect one person running a mill can't see that much production increase using a Super with all the toys vs. a standard HD.   A Super and a good sawyer with a good run of logs can work 3-4 people into the ground.

[JD350Cmark]

Thanks for the advice.  I guess I forgot to mention that I am getting a debarker, along with the lube-mizer, accuset, and the auto-clutch.  I figure my dad would enjoy it more with that option, so it's mainly for him.  I am in my 20's and if I can't operate the lever, perhaps I should look for another hobby. I have not cut on a super, so I don't know what I am missing.  Think I will stay with the standard, but still up in the air on engine choice.  Will the Kolar 25 have plenty of power for someone just starting out?  Like I mentioned in the other post, I will mostly be milling Fir and Redwood; 60% Fir, 30% Redwood, 10% Oak/Pine and who knows what else.  I am near the coast, about 2000 feet and get a light snow fall about 2 or 3 times a year, so I am not sure the fuel injected 28 Kolar will benefit me other than gaining 3 h/p.  Generally nice weather here on the Central California Coast.  Thanks again.  -Mark

[kentuckyboy]

Welcome to the Forum. You have made a wise decision with a Wood-mizer mill. I started last year with the very mill you are considering, including the debarker( a must). It does everything I want to do. I am 50+ and can wear 2 people out in a days time on a regular basis.I considered the Super starting out, but since I would be sawing a lot by myself could not utilize the extra speed. I am well satisfied with the WMLT40HD. The support from WM is also a big plus for someone starting out. Good luck with your decision.

[FeltzE]

I'd have to recommend the following options

Board return, I think it's standard now
The "Super" Model for the extra hydraulics
Remote operator station.
Debarker

Considering those Items alone I'd then go back to the manufacturers and compare prices for the mills and options.

In my opinion The brand name is less important than the options vs price. WM makes a fine product I happen to own one, which has as most operators will tell ya a few items which have had to be replaced due to normal wear and tear as with other comperable mills. The reality in my mind is to compare the options. Here is why.

For a given horsepower a similar blade will perform similarly on any of several different brand name manufactures. NOBODY wants to admit that fact though. ANY blade manufacturer will weld you a blade to fit ANY mill. Whats my point?  On the portable band mill viewfinder. The HP and Blade is what limits Production Capability. The options will make your life better and ultimately more productive with less personal effort on the operators behalf.

Next note: Why those options?

Board return: This will save you a lot of traveling while carrying lumber to stack it off the mill making your sawmilling life MUCH better especially when you line up an edger with the mill down the road.

Super (If WM) the original hydraulics are a bit slim the new ones are better. They are using it as an option to jack up the price in my opinion, therefore should be a standard item (Sorry Bibby no offence intended to WM) Hydraulics mandatory on any model if you are going to saw for a profit, because hydraulics are cheaper than labor in the long run and as with drag back capability a definite back saver.

Remote operator station. This will allow you to work in a smaller "operator zone" You can locate to a position out of the dust or in position to stack lumber or feed the edger and not have to chase after the sawhead. Additionally if i were to compare models I would check and see if the saw head controls will lock in the cut and or return settings allowing the sawyer to free his/her hands to handle the lumber. Thus making the mill more operator friendly especially when operating alone.

Debarker: Simple, Debarkers make for better blade life and ultimately sharper blades, truer cuts, faster cutting, and lower blade maintenance costs.

WM support is good, their prices are appropriately high but I am sure others are similar. I have a Blue edger to accompany my Orange saw and the team works very well together. Equally good support from each company.

The lubmizer is a bit oversold as an option. I can saw for extended times with virtually no lube in some timber and other times with as much as I can pour on due to the pitch pine with bad wind shake or other damage in the heart.

WM recommends that you unclutch your mill as you clear the cut. I did that for 3 years wearing my arm out and cycling the motor RPM each time. I have found that with .042  3/4 pitch 1.25 blades I can run the blade continusely with out any premature blade breakage. If you are running the .055's that WM is selling I wouldn't recommend that they are thicker and will stress earlier on the small drive wheels.

Drive wheels, now thats a whole 'nother discussion. Bigger is better, then there is the V-belt VS steel wheel discussion. But I think in the long run it dosn't make a lot of difference.



Well sorry for the rant.

Eric

[FeltzE]

Ok one more rant....

The sawmill is mearly a conveyance for a sawblade.


The motor's HP is directed to the

The head propels and guides to some extent the
The Hydraulics postion the log so the will be oriented properly.


 
Rant over....

[FeltzE]

Ranting about my rant now...

So much for highlighing and editing after writing, You will have to decipher what I think I ment... I think

 ;D

[Kevin_H.]

I have the 24 hp onan on my wmlt40, I also have the debarker and setworks, When I up grade to a super I will most likely get the same options

As some of the discussion has to do with horsepower I have always had a theory (now most of the time I am wrong but that doesn't stop me  ;D ) I think that you will get more BF per sharpening with bigger motor, As your blade starts to dull the bigger engines will have the torque to keep the blade speed up.

I run a blade about 500 bf before I change it, now I could run it more but my feed speed starts to slow and it is worth it for me to change out to keep my speed up.

Just a thought, I could be wrong.

[FeltzE]

Jeff You are correct but....with higher HP you will soonreach a limit to the beam strength of the blade and you will encounter deflection and a degradation of the cut quality (wavy boards).

Eric

[Bibbyman]

Good discussion point about HP and blade life.

In my opinion,  when the blade is no longer sharp,  it's time to change it.  Pushing a blade that is starting to get dull is not productive or the best economic decision.  

What more horsepower does for you is it will allow you to run thicker blades with wider sets that will use the extra HP to cut faster.  Cutting faster will give you more board feet before the blade starts to loose it's keen edge.  

Everyone has noted that unless a blade has every toot just exactly right you can see where a blade made one revolution.   Let's say, just as an example,  three mills are sawing through 12" of red oak. Mill A with 15hp and .037 blades may cut something like 1/2" on each cycle of the blade.   Mill B with 25hp and .042 blades cutting 1" on each turn of the blade.  Mill C with 40+hp and .055 blades may get as much as 2" of wood sawn on each cycle of the blade.  (Look at it this way – Mill A had to pull the blade through a 100" long log 200 times,  Mill B had to pull it through 100 times,  Mill C only had to it through 50 times.)

If you take away all the rocks, grit, sand, dirt and other foreign materials,  it would stand to reason that Mill C would produce twice the board feet before the blade needs changed than Mill B and four times the board feet than Mill A.  

I can't say the above logic hold up because just cutting wood does not dull blades that quickly.  A table spoon of grit will knock the keen edge right off a blade and it'll be dull soon after.  A rock the size of a BB can blunt a couple of teeth.  

[Kevin_H.]

I wonder if all the WM are running the same blade speed, or do the bigger HP mills run a faster blade?

Bib I like your math as it makes since

I'm with ya bibby on changing a blade as soon as it starts to show dull, I just wonder if the dull will show sooner on the lower HP mills

I know this may be straying from marks post, But how many of ya have blades that are too narrow to be sharpened?

Once in a while I will get a new one from resharp because of the "dulls" were too narrow sharpen

[Minnesota_boy]

I get a few replaced with every resharp order as they get too narrow.  I probably have 50 blades in a box that are too narrow that I tried to sharpen myself before I started sending all my blades to resharp, and I know I have given that many more away to blacksmiths.  I usually get a few replaced because resharp won't sharpen then when I've hit too much metal too.

[Percy]

Heya Kevin
I been using the1.5 inch .050's on the 70 and they seem to last longer than the .045's did on my LT40. I musta sharpened  each blade 20 times already and I think the Double hard part is starting to wear a little thin. They are slightly larger than an old 1.25 blade I had from wayback.

[Bibbyman]

We could probably use a little help here from the WM experts but I'd say the blade speed of their mills have increased a little in the past couple of years.  Another thing,  engines RPMs tend to creep down over time and the mill owners may not be checking.  Just a couple of hundred RPMs really make a big difference in the smaller engines.

We were accustomed to listing to the pull on the engine to set our cutting speed.  When we switching to an electric motor,  that indicator wasn't there.   We are probably still not sawing as fast as we could – just because we can't tell.  It would be nice to have a feed rate system like the LT300 has that is based on amps pulled by the motor.  I'd like to see some kind of a light bar system.  

[neslrite]

   I am on WM #2 and can't say enough good things about Woodmizer. In my previous life as an equipment engineer I have worked with equipment vendors from all over the world and Woodmizer has one of the best customer service teams  I have seen.

  My current mill is a super with the 42 kabota, remote accuset, debarker, lubemizer and board return. I hardly ever use the board return but it is nice to have when you need it.

    I would also recommend WM's resharp service I think this is an outstanding value.
neslrite

[FeltzE]

Bibby, Why can't you slip a ammeter into the line on your motor?

I'm NO electrician but the idea seems pretty simple

[VA-Sawyer]

JD350,

    I have a 24 Hp Onan on my LT40HD sawmill. When this engine dies, I plan to put on something with more HP. If  most of your boards will be 12" or less in width, then you will be fairly happy with the 25 Hp. Mine does OK in Pine up to around 15",and  Oak up to 12".  I often cut Oak over 20" and the feed speed drops to almost nothing. When the feed speeds get that slow other problems show up. Because the blade is running so long on the same bit of wood, the wood warms up, which heats the blade. The heated blade expands, the tension drops, and the blade starts to wander.
    I agree with Bibbyman about the Super. Unless you have the manpower to feed it and pull boards , then you won't see a lot of gain in production.
    Options:
                   1. Debarker ( Pays for itself in blades and time saved)
                   2. Setworks or Accuset (saves time, reduces miscuts )
                   3.  Lubemizer  (saves hauling water )

    Not real sure about the Auto Clutch.  My first question on them would be, how durable are they ?

 Hey folks... how many have autoclutch, and how is it holding up ?
VA-Sawyer

[Kevin_H.]

Percy,
we are running the 1.25/.045  we get about 10 WM resharps out of a blade before They either snap or get too narrow. The worst case is when you get a blade out of the resharp box, put it on and get 100 or so bf before it breaks.

The 70 is running a bigger band wheel isn't it?

Minnesota_boy,
We have the same deal here, we get somewhere around two new blades with every resharp, sometimes because they are too narrow, sometimes we send broken blades back if they may have fail prematurly.

[JD350Cmark]

Thanks for all the great tips.  It sounds as if the LT40 standard hyd. with the Kolar 25 will do me just fine.  I will be milling by myself at times and I can always upgrade in the future.  What are the largest size trees that you all have been able to do without doing any pre-work with a chainsaw?  I have many more questions about drying and stacking, but i'll save those for the other section and read the old posts first.  I've spent many many hours on here already and have not even made a dent in all the info on here.  Thanks, Mark

[Oregon_Sawyer]

Mark:

Woodmizer will tell you 36in.  I find anything over 32in gets to be alot of work.  With the real big ones you have to make a octogon so everything will fit.  I have had logs over 50in on the mill (don't reccomend it).

I like logs from 8in up to 24 for day in day out.

Lately we have been cutting oversize logs that have been halved or quartered.  We will be glad to get back to some round logs.

We had some smaller logs about 8 to 10 inches.  One day when my son was cutting by himself he pulled all of them out of the deck and cut them all leaveing me the odd ball ones.


Loren

[D._Frederick]

Feltz,

On my low horsepower band mill, my finding on blade life is there is only so many hours of run time for a blade before it will work harden an break. The only way to increase the bdft cut per life of blade is to keep the blade sawing any time it is running. If your WoodMizer has 19 inch wheels, run time is a factor in blade life and the amount of bdft cut per blade. What are you doing to increase sawing time, if you are leaving the blade run contantly?

[FeltzE]

When I'm sawing, yes.... repeat cuts I'm leaving the blade turn during the gig back. I stop it during repositioning the log or turning or for any time over 30-40 secs.

The wisconsion 35 hp engine seems to like it much better that way (don't ask why) but it does. But it hasn't had any affect on blade life at all. I do sharpen my own blades and when I'm cutting I encounter a lot of tramp metal. I do run the blades until they develop cracks but it's only after several sharpenings usually over 10 which includes blade damage.

I would never let the blade run for extended periods without being engaged in the log as I do understand the consequences of blade fatigue.

My comparison to blade life, several yrs of operating while stopping the blade, and about 2 yrs not. I havn't seen a difference in blade life. Of course I'm not running WM .50 blades either. I'm running a .42 1.5" Lennox woodmaster C with 3/4 pitch at about 10 deg rake for all applications, Kicking my set out to the wide side. And cutting Residential recovery timber mostly, and alot of large knotty syp

Eric

[FeltzE]

Here is a load of large SYP being dropped off to cut, Stock like this is a real challange for a band blade!

[Percy]

Hey JD
a 36 incher that is strait shouldnt be a problem but positioning is critical on them biguns.
My favorite size is 18-26 inchers when working without an edger. Seems production drops a tad with them big ones. Longer to turn,square,clamp and p[osition so as the blade throat dont run out of room.

Thanks for all the great tips.  It sounds as if the LT40 standard hyd. with the Kolar 25 will do me just fine.  I will be milling by myself at times and I can always upgrade in the future.  What are the largest size trees that you all have been able to do without doing any pre-work with a chainsaw?  I have many more questions about drying and stacking, but i'll save those for the other section and read the old posts first.  I've spent many many hours on here already and have not even made a dent in all the info on here.  Thanks, Mark

[Stump Jumper]

I bought my lt 40 super hd with the 42 hp Kubota and no remote station.  Had to walk behind this machine.  Realized it was to fast for me to keep up walking so I bought the seat.  Now I can keep up with the machine.

 Machine had a manual clutch which wasn't to bad as long as you are only doing a few 1000 bd ft at different job sites.  But when we had 2 semi loads of Aspen come in I did 15,000 bd ft with a manual clutch.  After that job was done I promptly ordered the autoclutch.  Because my arm was awful sore and looked like a popeye arm.  I do recommend the autoclutch if you get the bigger engine.  My wife had a hard time pulling back the manual clutch and she loves the autoclutch.

[Minnesota_boy]

I should clarify that when I get several blades replaced from sending them to resharp, that I usuall send between 50 and 90 blades at a time.  It isn't 4 or 5 per box, but 4 or 5 per 5 to 10 boxes.(10 blades to a box)

[Bibbyman]

Mary could pull the lever on our manual LT40 with 18hp Briggs just fine.  When we got the 96 LT40HDG35 Super with 35hp Wisconsin engine,  it was a might more difficult to pull.  She couldn't just stand and pull it,  she had to lock her arm and buckle her knee to get the drop on it.  After a bit,  her forearm started to look like Popeye's also.  

We've only had one minor problem with our Auto-clutch - had to wipe the dust from under the two proximity sensors that detect the "up" and "down" position.  

Getting all the linkage into adjustment when the main belt needs adjustment is bet of a struggle.  I've learned to unbolt the motor and schooch it over a 1/16" of an inch and retighten - repeat as required.  Probably a little easier to do with a motor than with an engine.

[lord_kenwolf]

  i have a question i was wondering if you people might be able to answer.  we are looking into getting a band mill to replace our old #1 lane mill.  we have been getting a lot of info on the different brands. timberking says that a cantilever head like on woodmizers will wobble, twist, and come out of plumb really easy.  is this true ?  or are they just filling me full of bull.

[FeltzE]

I've had my saw since the fall of 96 and it still cuts true, everything is adjustable if you did somehow wack it out of alignment but you would have to wack it to get it out of alignment.


Besides if you think it's going to wobble put a log on it like this to keep if from blowing away. ;D

[isawlogs]

timberking says that a cantilever head like on woodmizers will wobble, twist, and come out of plumb really easy


 I have 4500hrs on my LT40HD 24 hp onan and it has yet to do that.....and I've not herd it from any of the orange mill owners .... Would like to know where they get there info....

[Bibbyman]

Good-Lord - welcome to the Forestry Forum.

The Wood-Mizer cantilever head and single rail frame design works.  The proof is in millions upon millions of board feet of lumber sawn on 30,000 mills all around the world.  

[Percy]

I've had my saw since the fall of 96 and it still cuts true, everything is adjustable if you did somehow wack it out of alignment but you would have to wack it to get it out of alignment.


Besides if you think it's going to wobble put a log on it like this to keep if from blowing away. ;D

Heya Eric
Thats a spittin image of my old mill,a 96 with that heavy Wisconsin. I loved that motor. Cold blooded as a lawyer but warmed up, she cut good. The motor on my old mill has well over 4000 hours on it with no rebuild. The ad said "Exeed Expectations"  they were right. ;D ;D

[ARKANSAWYER]

   I heard them words about the Mizers not cutting true as well.  You can lift the out side of the head up about an inch.  Hit the machine with a skidder while sawing and it will wobble but you do not notice it on the board.  I have dragged mine pert near 30,000 miles and some of them in 4x4 up creeks and sawed close to 1 million bdft with it.  But I will bet a weeks earnings I can set up on a hill way out of level and saw a 0.30 thick board off of a oak cant.   I did notice that several 4 poster mills come with a string so that you can level the frame before you saw. :  I can just drop the 4 center legs and never unhook from the truck and saw logs on mine and the boards will all be true.
  I have sawed logs as large as 42 inches on mine.  One trick to large logs is to load them butt first on the mill.  That way if the head will not clear you are not stuck 3/4 ways through the log.  Also if you blow a log with black powder it should be close to the loading arms as half moon logs do not roll very well. ;)
ARKANSAWYER

[MM]

OH MY. What a can of worms. I don't have to say much. just look to the left at my orange "wm"  ;D  

[Bibbyman]

Good to see you back on the Sawmills Forum..


What'ya been up to?

[Kirk_Allen]

I too heard the stories about WM mills.  

I would encourage those that are investigating mills to always ask two questions when your told something from a sales person.

Says Who?
With What Proof?

We apply those two questions in our fire business.  Its real easy for people to say things.  Its real hard for them to prove it!

If a competitor of WM says it wobbles and comes out of plumb then simply make them prove that.  

If it were true, they would have multi page colored brochures pointing it out to the world.  

I bet all would agree that if a company spends time badmouthing their competition then they have something to worry about.  No one likes badmouth salespeople......from ANY company.

I have to say, on numerous occasions I have tried to get WM to give me their scoop on other companies blades, mills etc and not a single time did they badmouth.  They simply explained how and why their product is what it is.  Being in sales, I appreciate that more than you can imagine.  

I have never used anything othe than a WM so I cant speak on other brands.  My LT40HDG25 has been a true pleasure to operate and work on.  Although it has needed very minor work, it was simple and all my questions were answered in the manuals.

I want a Super but sometimes I have to regroup and evaluate my "true" production needs.  I  have no problem keeping a tailman busy but if I dont have one, I cant keep up with the mills capabilities.  Thus, I think I will be using this mill for quite some time.

[D._Frederick]

Isawlogs,

I am interested in your secret of how/what you did to get 4500 hours of run time on an Onan engine?  Most of them around here blow long before that many hours.

[FeltzE]

Well to keep that saw from sagging under the weight... Not ... had to whittle it down a bit


Had to knaw it down to people handlable size though...

That saw has had logs dropped on it help has bumped it loaded and unloaded with the loader, they have tipped the forks to dump logs on the ground while I was sawing slamming into the sawmill, the rig rocks and settles right back to norm without even a wave in the cut.

[isawlogs]

D. Federick
   Change oil and filter every 50 hrs as recomended by manufacturer. Clean air filter daily , the only part of that is atached to the engin that I have changed since I bought it in 93 is the starter....
  I have not heard of any around hear blowing up , I've seen a few with over 7500 hrs on them .
  A lot of the air compressers and welders that we used on construction had the same motor and never had a prbleme with them....

[Bibbyman]

My old Uncle Ed would always start a story with "I never knowed the man to tell a lie."

Anyway,  I know a fellow that is on his third Wood-Mizer.  He told me (And I have no reason to doubt him) that when he sold his second mill it had over 6,000 hours on the 24 hp Onan.  He added it had never required any major work and still ran as strong as new.   He replaced the mill in 95 or 96 with a new  LT40 again with 24hp Onan and I think he told me he has over 2000 hours on it.  

I replaced the 18 B&S on our first mill with a 20hp Onan.  At about 800 hours the piston broke or burnt a hole in it or something drastic happened.  In any case,  it lost all compression on one side.  

Don't know this to be the case,  but Onan was bought out by Cummins(?) some time back and they moved the manufacturing of the Onan engines to Canada.  The engine I had was bought through northern toolhttps://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=position"> Note:Please read the Forestry Forum's postion on this company and was made in Canada.

[MM]

I've been busy! Not much wood sawing. It's slowed down here for me. That's ok. I've got my dozer in small pieces. Lot's to do.

[SawInIt CA]

Mark,

If you would like to see a lt 40 super in action I am 60 miles east of Sacramento on I 80. Feel free to call me as well if you have any un answered questions

Dave
530 389 8669

[isawlogs]

Bib
   Was that on the onan or the brigs that lost the comp.?

[Bibbyman]

Onan.

[isawlogs]

Bib
  How did you fair out with Onan ... did they waranty the motor?

[Bibbyman]

It was out of waratee so I didn't even bother.  I put the old Briggs back on and sold the mill.

[Pank]

High horsepower, higher rim speed, thicker blade, with proper blade tension and blade guides means:

more performance(higher feed rates with higher cut quality).

[Bibbyman]

Hay Pank.  Where'd you come from?  Welcome to the FF.  

[newguy]

Hello all WM owners,

Does WM still use cam followers mounted at 45 degree angles on the round bar to run their carriage back and forth?  I know they did that on earlier models but I wasn't sure if they still do that or if they had gone to a v-groove type wheel.  

I am building a mill and I am trying to decide which way to go.  Does anyone have any input on the WM carriage design?  Is it pretty trouble free?

Thanks,

Newguy

[Bibbyman]

The cam followers set at 45 degree were on the older WM mills until a few years ago.  The newer mills have the same cam followers on top and horizontal.  The cam followers one the new LT70 series are about twice the size as the ones on the LT40 series.

No V-grove have been used to my knowledge.

[newguy]

Bibbyman,

Thanks.  I am not sure I know what you mean though.  One lays across the top of the round bar and one rides up against the side?  Do they have one on each side of the round bar?

[Bibbyman]

I'm pretty sure there is one on top and one on the left side on the top side of the rail.  Just one on the inside of the bar on the bottom side.  

There are a set in front and back of the headrig – making 6 cam bearings total.  

[newguy]

Thanks for the help Bibbyman.  Wish I could afford to just go buy a WM but it aint in the cards right now.

[Fla._Deadheader]

There's an older model WM on the For Sale Page. 1990 Model

[JRC]

And tomorrow it will have a brand new 25HP Command Kohler on it. The block has cracked on the Onan, about the same Hours and same place as the first Onan. If intrested contact me.

[newguy]

I'd like to have it JRC but I am half way into building my own.  Got too much time and $$ in to quit now.