Calling all Peterson owners!

Started by HSV, January 23, 2013, 05:38:53 PM

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HSV

Hi!

If you're a Peterson owner, you should have received an email this week regarding our new Owner's Network and the opportunity for you to earn credits toward spare part purchases. If you haven't got the email yet, please contact me at: marketing@petersonsawmills.com and I will forward it to you.

SPARE PARTS ONSHORE IN THE USA
We are very proud to announce our friends, and fellow Forestry Forum sponsors, Hud-Son Forest Products as our distribution warehouse for commonly used spares for the USA and Canada!

Orders will still be made through the Peterson office, but if the parts you are requiring are in stock at Hud-Son, they will be shipped directly from New York state saving you time and money on shipping!

If you already own a Peterson Sawmill, please visit the Owner's Only area of our website to order your parts.

tffhtf


I sure would like to get authorized as an owner so I could figure out where to get a new blade, and possibly some new rollers prior to trying to get my old saw dialed in and cutting a little better.  Also, a manual for my older model which has a single-piece half-moon.  I submitted the request last weekend and sent some follow-ups 24 hours ago.

In the interim, if anyone knows of a source for well made 8" blades in North America, I would be delighted to know of it.  The one which is fitted does not seem to want to cut more than 4 inches deep without diving and being weird.  It's got some blue spots.  I suspect it is as old as the saw (maybe 20 years?  It's a '27H')  I'm not even completely convinced that the blade is safe, and the other one which I have not yet tried has some light pitting in one area which looks like it may have been from being rusty at one time.  Sharpening my blade once I got my technique worked out helps as does slowing down to a crawl.  I've only just started using the machine myself although I've owned it for 10 years and had it on loan to a friend.

I'm doing Douglas fir at the moment so I believe that an original style blade is the way to go.  I would really like to be able to do 30' 8x16's, but that is completely unfeasible until I get the saw tuned up better.

Thanks,

- Tom
9" x 32' Peterson, 10 ton crane, lotsa big trees.

beenthere

tffhtf
Welcome to the Forestry Forum

Loaning out your sawmill and not knowing what all has really taken place, is frustrating for sure.

There are saw docs that could be contacted, and one good one is a sponsor on this forum (see left column) Menominee Saw.

You didn't say, but going directly to Peterson (also a Sponsor) as it wasn't clear what the history is of your Peterson mill. We'd be interested to know more about it, for better discussion of your situation.
Hope we can help you out.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

tffhtf

Thanks for the reply, beenthere.

History:  I went to work in an office job in the Bay area for 'a few years' and my friend found the saw not long after for a good deal.  A church group had it.  I bought it with the understanding that my friend would use it until I got done and needed it.  He is careful and treated it pretty well as the 'few years' stretched into 10.  He did not do production work, and I doubt the church group did either, but I don't know they bought it new or were the second owner or what.  Seems in pretty good shape as best I can judge, though it clearly needs some attention in the tuning department.

I think it unlikely that the machine was ever stolen, but would be happy to know for sure and looked forward to getting being an 'authorized owner' or whatever by Peterson as I assume the would check.  In the mean time, the serial number contains a '19' so if anyone knows of a list of thefts, I'd like to see it or hear from anyone who might have suspicions.  It's got a sticker on it.  'Baker' out of Montana as I recall.  I'll get that number and call them.

I do expect to locate a good saw doctor in the Pacific NW to hopefully avoid some of the shipping hassles, and have some leads.  I would, however, like to have at least one blade which I know the from-new history of.

I'd helped my friend use the saw occasionally when I was on vacation.  I always thought it was under-powered.  After flattening one top, I pulled a valve cover (20HP honda) to adjust the valves and noticed that the intake pushrod had popped!  Probably the valve was sticky when he got it and the pushrod popped at that time.  So, he never knew anything more than about 9HP!  He is competent, but having never know a full powered saw, I could see him not realizing the problem.  I resolved to buy a new engine when I got it, but it has good power now so I won't need to after all.  Happy days.  Anyway, some of the major cutting defects he noticed effect me also though perhaps less severely.  It won't flat-top a large log without riding on the center of the blade.  I think I can see the geometric adjustments which need to be made, but again, wish to have a known good blade before attacking that issue.

Thanks again for any interest and assistance!

- Tom
9" x 32' Peterson, 10 ton crane, lotsa big trees.

beenthere

Suggest you send that serial number and information to marketing@petersonsawmills.com (same link in member HSV's post above) and have them check this out for you. HSV is the mother of a new child so may or may not have time to get on this, but suspect she will know real quick what to do next.
Hope you keep us posted, as there are a lot of very knowledgable members here, and are willing to help get you up and 'making sawdust'.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

tffhtf

For those who are interested, Joyce sent me a nice note with lots of very useful info.  My mill shows no indication of being hot (stolen).  It was made in '97, so it was actually only 6 years old when I bought it. 

Joyce calls my mill a '9 inch'.  I'd labored under the assumption that it was an 8 inch.  Rather than overload this thread, I think I'll start a new one and ask some questions about blades.

My cutting today went a lot better as I learn the ropes and get things figured out.  I think that I'm now making improvements rather than screwing things up more as I sharpen the teeth, and that is probably a big help.  I also read that having trouble with a full 8in cut is not specific to me.  I made some real nice 6x8's today be doing the 8 inch cut in two passes and going nice and easy.
9" x 32' Peterson, 10 ton crane, lotsa big trees.

beenthere

Certainly good to hear, and speaks well of the fine people at Peterson.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

thecfarm

tffhtf,welcome to the forum. Good luck with the mill.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

tffhtf

Hi again all.  I'll try to make this the last time I spam this thread.

Peterson continues to be extremely helpful supporting me in getting my older saw figured out and working well.

I took some pics primarily to show Peterson certain things, but happen to have some general operations ones thrown in.  Anyone who digs these things is welcome to have a look.

  http://huppi.com/t/image_collections/mill_for_peterson_1_resized/index.html

There is one 'defect' photo which shows the extent of the blade dive which I had experienced.  I had not realized exactly what the problem was else I would have stopped pushing.  I'm lucky I didn't break the blade or something else.  Since then I have gotten my technique both of sharpening and cutting worked out a little better and the work is coming out as nicely as I had hoped for.  (I've run a Woodmizer a fair amount in the distant past and am finding the blade mill to be a different beast.)

I started out with a large butt which could have (and in fact did) have an odd scrap of metal in it having been next to an outbuilding in it's early life.  I swished to get that out of the way early and needed some timbers to set up for the real work.  Since then I have cut up the smaller tops seen in the earlier pics.  Some of them I experimented with flipping around to see how accurate I could be in doing so.  I've got the 30-something inch diameter 31' second cut logs yet to go, but I hope to be a little more proficient before I bite into those.

I do find it nice to flat-top a log then turn it over, but that is likely because I have the luxury of  having a crane.  I find that they sit nice and still without help even when I get to where there is not much left.  And I end up with a slab which I can hack clean with a chainsaw.

9" x 32' Peterson, 10 ton crane, lotsa big trees.

beenthere

tffhtf
Do us a favor and set up your own gallery (in your bio) for your pics, and then post them in your thread. Would really like to see what you are working with, and offer help if possible. Several with experience in both the Peterson mills as well as circular blades.

There is a help thread on the "Behind the Forum" forum found on the Home page.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others