Central Kentucky portable bandsaw mill

[Leggman]

Finally, Finally, Finally got to use my sawmill after finishing it 18 months ago. Its on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMWGs69zcw

[gww]

leggman
I see you got it posted.  After using the guides you made and donated to me for my mill, I had no doubt at all that you would get it cutting.  Might not have took 18 months if you only did your own work and wasn't spending your build time makeing things for dummies like me.  Congradulation on you successful build.  Looks great.
Cheers
gww

[Ox]

Looks like she cuts pretty good, Leggman.  Congrats!  Why did it take you so long to get to cutting, if this isn't too personal of a question?  Those guides look exactly like the ones you made for gww.  He seems to be quite tickled with them so I'm betting you're happy with them too.  What size/make engine do you have?  How wide can you cut?  How big a log do you think you could do?  Are you happy with it as is or do you want to change something?  Most of us always want to change something.  Your side rails look like the same dimensions mine are.

[drobertson]

Nice!

[plowboyswr]

 smiley_clapping smiley_clapping 8)

[Leggman]

Looks like she cuts pretty good, Leggman.  Congrats!  Why did it take you so long to get to cutting, if this isn't too personal of a question?  Those guides look exactly like the ones you made for gww.  He seems to be quite tickled with them so I'm betting you're happy with them too.  What size/make engine do you have?  How wide can you cut?  How big a log do you think you could do?  Are you happy with it as is or do you want to change something?  Most of us always want to change something.  Your side rails look like the same dimensions mine are.

I can cut 17'3" long 32" wide  33" high Max
The guides are very similar and so far work great.
I don't have a lot of land here, only about four acres so not too much timber to cut. Right no I am cutting logs for a neighbor who is swapping out some dozer work with me.
If I could change anything it would be to make the push hydraulic. But that is expensive and I probably won't be using the saw that much.
It cuts great and it seems the bigger the log the smoother it cuts.

[Leggman]

The motor is a 13hp from harbor freight. Electric start brand new for less than 300 bills. Very pleased with it for what I payed.

[Ox]

The same engine I'm using as well!  I'm happy with mine, too.  It feels a bit stronger than 13hp, I would guess 14 or so maybe.  The Honda is 390cc and is rated 13hp, this is 420cc so it should be a little more.  I've never wished I had more power, it's never bogged in a cut and I had some monster 30" plus slabs coming off an old black cherry last year.

[gww]

Ox
The duromax 420cc motor is advertized at 16 hp for whatever that is worth.  Mine is a 440 cc that they call an 18 hp.  It has 20 ft lbs of tource which I would think is low for 18 horse and so unless you are smart I think there is some play with the rating system.  I am always just glad that wether it is rated correctly or not, that it does what I need it to do. 
Cheers
gww

[Ox]

I also think some of these ratings are screwy and I agree on engines doing what we need them to do.  I wouldn't care if it was a 3hp as long as it did its job reliably every time.

[larrydown60]

Nice job, glad you got it running. All good things take time. I am jealous, can't wait to get mine going soon.I love to see a mill cutting

[Leggman]

Just downloaded a walkaround on my sawmill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp6Nj7phY54
Special thanks to gww and pastor B Coy for the inspiration.

[Ox]

Looks well thought out and built - thanks for sharing!

[gww]

Leggman
I wish I had seen your walk around vidio before I had built mine.  It was a good walk around vidio and for those who did like me looking for insperation and did so by watching vidios of others mills, They will be helped by your vidio.  I really like your sliding motor and you know I like your guides.
Very nice
gww

[thecfarm]

Good things come to those who wait. Good job!!

[Kbeitz]

You need to put a belt guard along side of your belt to stop it from expanding.
If you do this when you release the clutch the belt will lift off the drive pulley.
It will make a big difference. Just two bolts one one each side of the belt
is all you need.

[Leggman]

I really don't understand. Can you elaborate?
Thanks

[gww]

I could be absolutly wrong but believe that K is saying that when you slide your motor to release tension on your belt, your belt just gets wider keeping it touching your motor pully on the back side.  If you put a bolt on each side of the belt at the front of the drive pully and you slide the motor to release the tension the belt would hit those bolts stopping it from getting wider and this would force the belt off the back of the motor pully.

I may not explain well and this might not be what was ment but is what he wrote says to me.
I looked for a picture but could not find one.

I hope this helps.
Good luck
gww

[Kbeitz]

I could be absolutly wrong but believe that K is saying that when you slide your motor to release tension on your belt, your belt just gets wider keeping it touching your motor pully on the back side.  If you put a bolt on each side of the belt at the front of the drive pully and you slide the motor to release the tension the belt would hit those bolts stopping it from getting wider and this would force the belt off the back of the motor pully.

I may not explain well and this might not be what was ment but is what he wrote says to me.
I looked for a picture but could not find one.

I hope this helps.
Good luck
gww

Yep... You got it...

I learned that years ago when I took the belt guard off one of
my garden tractors. I was very hard to get it in gear and then
you could not get the tractor to stop. With your set up your belt
wont last very long. You will find out that maybe you never needed
your braking system.

[Leggman]

I understand what you are saying but when I release the tension all the way there is almost too much slack and there is no pressure on the belt at all. I am chewing up belts but I believe that is because of the horsepower I am pushing through a single 1/2" drive belt. I have ordered new pulleys and am going to a double belt drive thinking twice the belts will lessen the force on the belts and lengthen their life. The downside is I think I am going to have to get/make a new longer shaft going to the driven wheel to allow for the extra pulley.
Motor shaft is plenty long and will get a 2-1/2" pulley where drive shaft pulley is 8".

[gww]

I wish I had a way to put a double belt on mine.  Belt problims are my biggest on going issue.  I had to work on it again today and so got one log cut but it is not stickered yet.  The other issue is blade life.  It takes a lot of time milking as much as I can out of them.  I still like your sliding motor set up.  Double belts should make it even better.
Good luck
gww

[Leggman]

New photos of the log arch and me getting a brute up onto the sawmill.
The cheap little electric winch is a joke and wouldn't pick itself up so I am going to have to do something else there.

[gww]

Leggman
How long was that log?  I put a chain under the logs and hook to a little electric winch and use it to roll the log sideways and it usually does the job.  Your mill is so much taller then mine that I could see running out of cable before it was rolled all the way up though.

Is that your home made cant hook laying on the back of the flat bed?

The log arch looks stable side to side.  You might have to invest in a drop ball hitch for the truck.

I see some boards in the back ground, Have you been playing with the mill?  Have you cut anything worth stckering and saving yet or just working the bugs out? 

I had one of the nuts back off of one of the guides you made me.  They are still working great great great.  I do say though that if you ever go from cutting good to bad really fast and it has you baffled, look at the blade guide bearings or if one of the nuts come lose in any part of the guide system.  It is usually very easy to find and fix if you are looking for it.  This is not a put down of something that works just great but more proof that they work so good that when they get a little lose cause of a poor operator, it is really noticable.

The guides are still the only reason I can get any real boards out of my mill. I still can't thank you enough for them.

That trailer in the back ground would be the thing to haul your logs on if it was heavy enough.  I see that the wheel on it does not go above the trailer bed.  I have a big one made from a house trailer (live in type) frame that is about 20 foot long and you can just roll the logs off of it and even though the logs will roll onto the wheels of the trailer before hitting the ground, it doesn't hurt them.  It looks almost the same hight as the mill.  Of course getting the log on the trailer might be just as hard as getting it on the mill.  Just throwing ideals out.

When not having a lot of equiptment for log move ment, cutting is hard and takes a lot longer.  I wish I could try your log arch behind my atv.

The sawdust by the mill looks like cedar.

I bet you neibors look at what you have going on with envy.
Cheers
gww

[Ox]

Good little operation and good ideas going on there - thanks for sharing!