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woodmizer hydraulic mod / bypass

Started by j_d, February 19, 2017, 10:57:12 AM

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j_d

Gentlemen,  I am having issues with oxidation on the strip and bottom rail that allow the hydraulics to function on my woodmizer.  I know scotchbrite and elbow grease is on option but I seem to have read about a bypass that would prevent this from being an issue.  Has any body tried this?
Thanks,
Josh
God, Family, Tribe

Ohio_Bill

Josh, unless your mill is remote with an energy chain I don't think there is a way to bypass the power strip.
Bill
USAF Veteran  C141 Loadmaster
LT 40 HDD42-RA   , Allis Chalmers I 500 Forklift , Allis Chalmers 840 Loader , International 4300 , Zetor 6245 Tractor – Loader ,Bob Cat 763 , Riehl Steel Edger

Dave Shepard

Making sure the head is completely stopped before activating the hydraulics will almost completely eliminate contact strip issues. My mill has been outside since new, almost nine years, and I haven't had any corrosion issues, but I am not taking it on the road in the salt.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Bandmill Bandit

 

 

Add a second Marine battery on the ground under the hydraulic box that is wire direct to the hydraulic solenoids with 2 OO welding cable and a 200 amp forklift connector. Works like a charm and your hydraulics are live ALL the time. there is a picture or 2 in the use full mods thread.
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Magicman

Remember if making the mod as BB describes above that the "pony" battery will only receive charging from the sawmill alternator when the saw head is on the power strip.

You can bypass the power strip with a heavy gauge welding lead, but you will need to fabricate a means of supporting it as the saw head travels.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WV Sawmiller

j_d,

   Before you do anything else be sure the contacts are properly adjusted. It may be as simple as just tightening/loosening a couple of screws/bolts on the plastic contact head. The last time I had issues with mine that fixed it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Bandmill Bandit

I was a bit pressed for time when I wrote the above post.

YES magicman the extras battery in my system ALSO presented some issues that I had already decided to address at the same time as I did all the up grade mods to get mill as close to an LT40 Super as was reasonably possible. That includes my little genset that charges the second battery AND adds a LOT of additional volume of electrical energy to my system.

Josh; an effective means of dealing with the  lower rail AND the copper strip that has worked for me is a very fine brass wire wheel on my small angle grinder to get them cleaned real well and then a GOOD spraying of those sections with a DeOx spray. I have used Amsoil Metal protectant   
a few times now to test the effectiveness of it and so far it seems to be working well. Make sure you clean and coat  the moving contact parts as well.

Applying the DeOx or some such product is a part of my weekly maintenance routine. Have had no issues since I adopted the practise.   
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Kbeitz

Would it hurt to put some electrically conductive grease on the
strip to stop corrosion issues?
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Bandmill Bandit

I did try that and it does work for awhile till there is enough dirt mixed in to the grease making it less and less effective as time passes.

Thats the reason for the spray as it has a dry silicone lubricant as well and does not attract dirt. 
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

YellowHammer

As said, if you have a remote control station, then some welding cable will give you trouble free and full time hydraulics very easily. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Brucer

I had a bit of trouble with poor contact after the first year. A very small adjustment to the contact shoe will increase the pressure enough to overcome this. I've had to adjust mine twice in the past 9 years ;D.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Peter Drouin

Quote from: Brucer on February 19, 2017, 11:39:34 PM
I had a bit of trouble with poor contact after the first year. A very small adjustment to the contact shoe will increase the pressure enough to overcome this. I've had to adjust mine twice in the past 9 years ;D.


Yes, the shoe is not rubbing hard enough on the strip is all.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

slider

When i bought my LT 70 used in O7 it was already modded with the welding cable for full time hydraulics.The problem was they used the cheep cable ends at the battery with the strap on top holding the cables to the connector.I changed this to the connector with the stud and soldered copper connectors to the cables.This solved lots of grounding problems for me.
al glenn

scully

I did the cable mod on my super ,  From what you are saying it seems like maybe your contact shoe needs adjusting . I had great luck with a 3-m pad keeping the strip clean .
I bleed orange  .

Magicman

I know nothing about salt and corrosion, but I have never had a problem with the strip.  The contact is kept tight and I occasionally brighten the strip up with emery cloth, etc.  I also never operate the hydraulics with the head moving.  In over 14 years of sawing, I am probably on my 3rd contact.  Yes, I have a spare.   ;D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Bandmill Bandit

Ive not had any issues with my strip but then the gentleman that taught me how to saw also taught me the best care of the mill for good and reliable service in the field.

The Contacts points/strips were stressed as potential problem areas if not maintained regularly and thoroughly.

I Did have a bit of trouble last spring with the slider blocks on the bottom rail. Thats how I discovered that dielectric grease is not the best for that location. Had to remove the blocks and give them a good cleaning. 
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

Ga Mtn Man

"blocks"?...my mill has only one on the bottom rail.
"If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy." - Red Green


2012 LT40HDG29 with "Superized" hydraulics,  2 LogRite cant hooks, home-built log arch.

Bandmill Bandit

Quote from: Ga Mtn Man on February 20, 2017, 11:26:06 AM
"blocks"?...my mill has only one on the bottom rail.

I meant the one that contacts the copper strip too. You know that do-ma-hinky thing with the spring behind it.
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

caveman

For those of you who have added the hydraulics anywhere option to your mills, what do you recommend?  We have considered adding contact strips or adding another battery to run hydraulics while the head is off of the strip.  If we had the cat track it would just involve adding welding leads but that is not an option for us.

If you have done either, please comment and post pictures of the extra battery placement.  We are hoping to go from hydraulics nowhere (lt-28 ) to hydraulics anywhere Lt-50.  I dread having to back out of a cut because I misjudged clamp or backstop height.


Thanks,
Kyle
Caveman

Magicman

In the rare occasions when that happens, connect your Jump Box to the strip and move the offending clamp or side support.  Works for me.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Dave Shepard

I ran cables up into my hydraulic box for an extra battery. I only used it for unclamping so I could use the dragback, but it could work for adjusting the clamp, or whatever.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

YellowHammer

I have the cat track, which isn't an option for you, and power anywhere is absolutely the best mod to do, but with a walk along mill, I would do a hybrid.  

I would install a second power strip at the end of the mill much like some of the LT70 configurations.  My LT40 mill has even been predrilled to accept an end of track power strip as an option.  Attach the power strip, run a wire to the first strip and tie them together.

Then I would add an extra battery to the hydraulic pump, under the pump box, in parallel and tied in to the existing battery relay along with the wire to the engine battery.  I would keep the existing power strip installed, and that would allow me to set the mill head at either end of track's power strip to keep both batteries charged.

Although I sometimes need to use the hydraulics mid cycle, when moving a clamp or such, most times I use it is when I'm at either end of the track to rotate logs, flip cants etc.  So having a power strip at either end would provide charging to keeps the batteries maintained for most of the hydraulic functions, but having the second battery would also allow hydraulics mid cycle, and add extra electrical capacity.  Both mods would be very easy to do, and would give the best of both worlds.      
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: Bandmill Bandit on February 19, 2017, 08:10:56 PM
Applying the DeOx or some such product is a part of my weekly maintenance routine. Have had no issues since I adopted the practise.
Where do you buy DeOx spray?
Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

terrifictimbersllc

I removed hydraulics everywhere recently. What I miss most is being able to leave the head over the center of the mill when doing a hard pull sideways with the clamp and chain/hook, to keep the mill from moving.
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

Ga Mtn Man

"If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy." - Red Green


2012 LT40HDG29 with "Superized" hydraulics,  2 LogRite cant hooks, home-built log arch.

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