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Lucas 8/20 '97-99 vintage

Started by dgdrls, March 09, 2013, 03:28:47 PM

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dgdrls

Reaching further from home to try and find a mill.
Found a listing for a 97-99 Lucas 8/20.
Re-powered with Honda Motor,
anyone have experience with these and what to look/ask for
when considering a purchase?

Thanks
DGDrls

Jay C. White Cloud

Howdy,

Owned a 96, just ask to see it operate in wood.  Ask how many hours are on the current engine.

What comes with it?

Regards,

jay
"To posses an open mind, is to hold a key to many doors, and the ability to created doors where there were none before."

"When it is all said and done, they will have said they did it themselves."-teams response under a good leader.

octam1

As stated above ask to see it operate and even spend a few minutes having the guy show you how everthing works...

look everything over, check the bearings on all of the track rollers if they need replacing I think they are about $30 ea and there are 8 of them. Swing the saw head verticle and horizontal a few times, check the gearbox out, see if it spins freely without any grinding or hangin up (gearboxes are pretty expensive if they have problems and I have been told they are not really serviceable they just replace them, personally if we have issues with ours we will tear into it and see about fixing it but knock on wood no issues as of yet), check the gearbox for leaks and see that it has the correct level of oil in it... I don't imagine most people check the oil levels all too often. Have the guy show you how to use the winches to raise and lower it a few times, if you aren't paying attention and hit the release lever at the wrong time the mill frame will start dropping and the crank handle will end up wacking you in the head or your arm and yes it will leave a mark... we have never had problems with the winches but I suppose the gears could get damaged if not operated correctly. check out the engine as with anything else, honda's usually hold up pretty well... check the cams that hold the rails to the frames and also check the aluminum rails themselfs for straightness and possible dents or dings on the tracks, dents, dings and bends on the rails can transpose thru to the wood you are cutting...

Ask about the possible extras that will go with it... xtra blades are $250 each so that adds up fast, the planer attachement is over $1000 and so is the slabber attachment... so if those kinds of things go with it don't forget to take that into consideration when figuring the value of the unit, purchased new that would be another $3k at least...

Pretty much everything is replaceable but finding the things that may need replacing before making a deal might prove to give you some wiggle room on the price... ours is a 99' model I think and cust very well... Good luck possibly making a deal on it. Hope that helps, any more questions dont hesitate to ask...

Charles.
KnottHead Custom Sawing & FabWorx
Ceres/Twain Harte CA.

WoodMizer LT40SHDG38 w/AS2 & Debarker
Lucas 8-20 Swinger w/60" Slabber & Planer
Solar/Dehumidifier Kiln in the worx
Stihl - 2x 026's, 044, 046, 2x 066, MS660, 2x 088 & 3x 075AV

m wood

Hey there dgdrls.  I've been wondering how your search is going.  Seeing a wanted ad in CL Rochester and figured that was you.  Hope your getting along well.  I keep thinking I'll see some swinging information to pass your way.
Mark
I am Mark
80 acre woodlot lots of hard and soft
modified nissan 4x4/welding rig
4x4 dodge plow truck
cat 931b track loader
Norwood mark IV
4' peavy
6' peavy
stihl 034
"her" wildthing limber saw
ALL the rustic furniture  woodworking stuff
check out FB

Ianab

Engine and gearbox are the expensive parts that are likely to wear out. As you say the engine has already been replaced, so how many hours on the new engine.

There are a few little wear parts, and the blades of course, but those aren't such a big deal. So yeah, engine and gearbox, and check everything else is straight and working.  There are no electrics, electronics, wiring harness or hydraulics to worry about. You can pretty much see how all the mechanisms work, and anything that might be worn or broken.

Even if the gearbox is worn out, it's not a deal breaker, you just need to factor it into the price you pay.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

dgdrls

Quote from: m wood on March 09, 2013, 07:51:09 PM
Hey there dgdrls.  I've been wondering how your search is going.  Seeing a wanted ad in CL Rochester and figured that was you.  Hope your getting along well.  I keep thinking I'll see some swinging information to pass your way.
Mark

M_Wood the search is dead slow right now,  have missed 3 swings and a MDS.
other units I have seen posted are premium $$ very close to new for 6 -10 yr old units,

So I remain patient, of-course this is the time of the year a young mans heart turns to Harley's  ;)
I'm a Former Big-Twin owner and have a shovel head build in my mind already,
so I hope a mill turns up sooner than later :D

will see where this one leads.

Thanks for the tips gent's 

DGDrls

m wood

Good going, slow and true.  Patience is a must, seems to work every time for us.  Yup... theres a Roadking somewhere out there in our future too, I always liked long miles.  The missus wants to see just a small fraction of this great country as I already have.  I wonder what kind of a tour-guide I will actually be :D
mark
I am Mark
80 acre woodlot lots of hard and soft
modified nissan 4x4/welding rig
4x4 dodge plow truck
cat 931b track loader
Norwood mark IV
4' peavy
6' peavy
stihl 034
"her" wildthing limber saw
ALL the rustic furniture  woodworking stuff
check out FB

sigidi

Dgdrls, mate all the above info is good.

One thing I'd add is with a mill of that age the gearbox/swingframe will be the older style powder coated green unit - this unit has a grease nipple for the hub bearing. The newer units have a cast aluminium swingframe/gearbox and that bottom bearing is encased in the gearbox and doesn't need greasing daily. If the previous owner hasn't kept the grease up to this bearing it will die on you and then it is a whole gearbox replacement - check for play in that bottom bearing. When you go and inspect the mill pay close attention to that grease nipple, it should be greased at the end of each days milling so any crud on it should only be a maximum of a day old (not built up over weeks of cutting) regardless of what the seller says about it - the evidence will be on the grease nipple itself

Oh and another thing, check the underside of the carriage where the brake works (from operators position - the carriage brake operated by your right hand) some people are known to tighten this brake up too much and have managed to crack the aluminium on the underside, must be somewhat common as Lucas guys specifically warn you about not over tightening that lock.

Good luck with it mate, let us know how you go
Always willing to help - Allan

dgdrls

Spoke with the owner, he is pulling the ad,  building a slabber and keeping it.

On to the next possibility.

DGDRLS

treeworkx

I've got on of those,works fine........well the clutch has been direct drive since I've owned,yep I should fix it but......
Last winter got a slabbing bar for it,I've maxed it out a few times and it still wants more.
Trying to get info on it I contacted baileys some time back with the serial no and they said it was before their time.
Think I paid 6500 2 years ago

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