set on a woodmizer lt40, looking for specifics....

[MotorSeven]

Paul are you sure a LT40 can only handle a 24" log? That does not sound right since my LT15 can handle that:

[Magicman]

The clamping pressure is not against the hydraulic cylinder or the rod.  The two hydraulic cylinders associated with the two plane clamp have (about) 1" rods and simply provide the pressure.  The actual load is exerted on two (about) 2" rods.  The clamp is bullet proof.

[barbender]

What Magic said- there are actually two rods running parrallel to each other for support. We need a picture, it's simple but hard to explain.

[Magicman]

This is a terrible log, but it was the first picture that I came to that showed the clamp. 


 
The hydraulic rod is the smaller one behind the large rod which actually supports the load.  Also notice the horizontal rod below the clamp.  The entire clamping assemble travels this larger rod and is powered by another hydraulic cylinder.

I hope this helps.  If not, I will look for another picture.   ;D

[Magicman]

This shows a different angle of the clamp, but still does not clearly show the large bottom rod that the clamp assembly travels on.


 

[paul case]

No I am certian that a LT40 WILL cut a 36'' log. I have done it.

It will however only cut something like a 24'' board between the backstops and the outside guide. The max width cut between the guides is something like 29''.

Hey I could be wrong. It dont give these specs on the website. These are the measurements on my machine.

PC

[Magicman]

I sawed a 39" last week and have several 42" under my belt.  Of course with those, a chainsaw is generally necessary to whittle it down to 36 anyway.   ;D  I do not remember what my largest was, but it was close to 50 inches and was a Pecan.  I recommend neither.   :-\

[Brucer]

I ran a '96 LT40 hydraulic for another guy for a season -- no options and it had the old-style clamp. I've owned a 2005 LT40 28 HP gas manual with no options, and I currently own a 2006 LT40 28 HP gas hydraulic with debarker, autoclutch, dragback, and a "poor man's" lubemizer.

The 2-axis clamp and the debarker are the two options I would absolutely go with on another mill.

At my age, and with a bum shoulder, the autoclutch is essentiall. It's an option you can add yourself at a later date -- I did.

The usefulness of the dragback depends entirely on the type of setup you have. Some folks have no use or need for them. I added mine only after my operation had evolved to the point where the dragback made sense.

My "lubemizer" is basically a solenoid valve that is open when carriage is set to move forward. I also have a switch on the control panel that shuts it off completely. This allows me to set the flow rate with the valve on the water tank, and then leave it alone. It turns off automatically when I'm returning the carriage and I can shut it down from the control panel when I want to.

The one thing I wish I had done differently, was to put a diesel on the mill, even a small one. Diesels are less sensitive to variations in load (e.g., hard knots in soft wood) and will reduce the chances of wavy boards.

I bought new both times but that was mainly because of time constraints. If you have time to shop, you may find a good deal on a used machine.

[Leigh Family Farm]

I ran a '96 LT40 hydraulic for another guy for a season -- no options and it had the old-style clamp. I've owned a 2005 LT40 28 HP gas manual with no options, and I currently own a 2006 LT40 28 HP gas hydraulic with debarker, autoclutch, dragback, and a "poor man's" lubemizer...

2:42am! Geez Brucer, couldn't sleep?!  ;)

[Chuck White]

The two plane clamp has a hydraulic cylinder that extends vertically, basicly the cylinder rod acts as the clamp, another cylinder provides the horizontal clamping motion. It's probably simpler than I make it sound : What's nice about it is the fact that you can use it to flip cants and help the claw turner turn logs. I have a hard time describing it, all I know is that I use the clamp turning things way more than the claw turner.

I didn't know that the 2-P clamp worked in conjunction or separately from the claw turner.

Actually I thought that the mill would come with either one, but not both!

Now I have something else to think about!  ;D

[pineywoods]

The claw turner could probably be added to a mill that doesn't have it, but I wouldn't recommend it. The clamp requires a major modification to the frame. The 2 features can be use together to do things that neither can do alone. In the hands of an experienced sawyer, the 2 can be an awesome thing to watch.
My mill is a pre 97 manual and I definitely couldn't afford to trade up, that's why I developed the pineywoods turner/clamp. Not as nice as the woodmizer option, but it sure beats a cant hook and muscle power

[Magicman]

Chuck, with the huge logs, it takes both the turner and the clamp working in conjunction with each other to turn them.  There is a learned trick to raising the log with the clamp and then dropping it on the turner.  The log's weight against the turner claw will then cause it to turn.  Both are valuable tools for log handling. 

[mikeb1079]

it was the first picture that I came to that showed the clamp. 

thanks mm (and others) i get it now, the clamp moves both in/out and up/down hence the "2 plane".  that does seem like it would be worthwhile.  an additional q:  on the older lt40s i would imagine that the claw turner is standard?

[Magicman]

I regularly use the two plane to help with turning especially large logs and cants, but there is also a claw log turner.  As far as I know, the claw turner has always been a standard feature on an LT40.

[MotorSeven]

Sorry Paul, I was thinking log size not board size....my usual constant state of confusion :D

[paul case]

No appology neccessary.
I think sometimes too. It is usually how to tell I am wrong. PC

[Brucer]

2:42am! Geez Brucer, couldn't sleep?!  ;)

I was up a tad late, but not that late :D.

The forum shows you your time when the post was made, not my time (which was 11:42 PM PST).

[delvis]

Mike,  I had a 2007 Timber Harvester which I bought brand new.  It was all hydraulic and it felt like a good mill at the time.  I am thinking my mill was one of the very last two that company made before going bankrupt.  I look back on it feeling fortunate they didn't take my $5,000 down payment and run. 

Last year, we sold the mill and my father and I bought a new Woodmizer LT40 hydraulic.  Having had the other mill we already knew a good deal about what we wanted for sure versus what we could live without.  I wanted more power than the old mill had with its 27 hp Kohler, so we opted for the 38 horse Kohler on this mill.  This motor has more than enough power for 90% of all the sawing we do which is softwood.  A 50+/- horse diesel would be nice but at $4500+/- and a lot more weight, I didn't see it being the right fit for us.  I haven't regretted it, but you don't truly know about something you don't have either.  The new hydraulic mills come with the auto clutch which works very nicely.  Flip a switch and the engine tilts up, comes up to speed, and the blade starts spinning.  Pretty ingenious the way they rigged that all up.  I had a board drag back on the old mill and never used it so we saved $500 bucks there.  I had an extra hydraulic log post on the other mill and it worked great until you got something with just enough crook in it to fetch up on the post.  We opted to stick with the standard two powered post and two manual post.  I'm glad we did, the only time I use the manual post(s) is when I get a short log on the deck and need something to clamp it against.  Would like to see WM put the same posts the LT50 and 70 use on all their hydraulic mills.  The straight up and down would be better then the sweeping action the standard posts have which can catch on knots and crooks and slide a log right off whichever taper you have it on.  As others have said the new style clamp is awesome.  It has enough pressure to break softwood boards if you're not careful and can easily flip over very large cants.  The clamp is used for almost every turn I make except maybe the first two.  The claw works well enough but the chain turner I had on the old mill spoiled me. 

WM had a special when we ordered the mill and the debarker was thrown in, but we would have ordered it regardless after not having one for 4 plus years.  That thing is amazing and now WM has just introduced a wider bit blade for it that will take a larger swath out of that dirty wood.  We upgraded from the simple set setworks to the accuset when ordering for only a few hundred dollars and it may have been the best choice we made on the mill.  I can't say enough good about how much easier and faster that setworks makes sawing accurate lumber.  I highly recommend this item whether buying new or used.  Having said that, my particular computer hiccups now and then and I have to cycle power to get it to reset.  It will just quit working in the pattern or auto mode though I can still put it in manual and keep sawing.  I will be the first to admit that I have not called Woodmizer yey so I can't say what they have to think about it.  Look for a post in the forum asking about this though. 

The old mill was operated from one end of the mill and I knew I had no interest in doing the sawdust shuffle with the new mill so we went with the stationary control center at the front of the mill.  This also raises the hydraulic controls a little higher to within more convenient reach.  However, if you think you will want to travel to customers job sites with this setup, the caterpillar tray for the wire bundle does hang down quite a bit and lessens ground clearance more so than a walk behind model does. 

Another thing I suggest to everyone that asks me, spend the money and buy the 6 screw jacks to replace the standard jacks that WM provides.  The screw jacks allow for way more adjustability and the four in the middle will never be in danger of sticking up above the bed like the standard jacks can.  I would have WM start putting these jacks on their mills standard with an option to put on the basic jacks if the customer would rather not spend the money.  The jacks are too much money at a grand but they are built quite strong and they do work much better than the standard setup.

After messing around on the old mill trying to get the blade lube gravity drip system to work just right, and having to constantly adjust it, we went with the lubemizer without even thinking about it.  $700 bucks sounds like a lot, but the system works as well as everything else on the mill.  It can be run intermittently or full on depending on what your sawing and how much pitch buildup you get on the blade.  A huge plus is that it hits both sides of the blade when it sprays.  You just need to remember to run windshield washer through it before putting it away for the night during the winter if you live in colder climates. 

The one modification we made shortly after buying the mill was to bypass the feature that only allows the hydraulic functions to work when the sawhead is at or near the front of the mill.  We saw a lot of 8-12 foot pine logs and it is much easier to operate all the hydraulics on these shorter logs when the head is at the tail end of the mill rather than sitting in front of you blocking your view.  The process wasn't too hard, just took a long enough piece of heavy guage welding wire and ran it the length of the caterpillar and back to the battery box.  Now, the mill has hydraulics regardless of where the sawhead is.  I understand that it is probably because of liability that WM makes them from the factory the way they do, but I also believe that anyone in Indiana that changed their own mill over would be quite happy with it.  ;) 

Other things I would change about the mill are minor indeed.  We are going to make a better caterpillar tray support bracket.  (without the stationary command center none of this applies)By better, I mean easier to install and take off when getting ready to travel.  I would like to see a better way for the middle track oiler felt to be attached to its cover.  After messing the first one up trying to reinstall it, we ended up buying a whole new cover which comes with the felt installed.  The difference in price is 22 bucks or so for the cover and felt versus about 5 bucks for just the felt.  The good news is that I now have a spare cover which to experiment on.  I am thinking if the tabs were knocked flat or ground off, some glue would hold that felt on well enough until it was time to change it out again.

I don't think I can say enough times how much I love my Woodmizer.  I work a regular job on a rotating swing shift and in the year since we bought the mill, sawing on my days off, we have sawed close to 70,000 bd ft.  This mill will keep you plenty busy even part time.