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Wood-Mizer's new choice

Started by DDobbs, March 28, 2017, 02:00:27 PM

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rjwoelk

Perhaps the rod is to pin the fingers in a up position during travel so they don't swing back and forth
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

tacks Y

WM does a super job of custom fit and finish. Not sure how the rollers raise? A motor and chain?

Stuart Caruk

Well, I finally got to see the new LX450 up close and personal. I went to the Woodmizer open house / training event in PDX over the weekend. Frankly for me the marketing seminar and training was a waste of $$$. And if you advertise a $40 fee for those that sign up online, you should charge that, rather than the $50 you charged at the door... Apparently the $40 fee required prepayment, yet there was no way to prepay online. I'll just make sure they take $50 off my next mill purchase and I'll be happy.

On the plus side, they had the entire range of mills available. This was great, sicne it allowed me to grab a tape and see how big a log I could really stuff through the mill. I bought my LT35HYD because it suited my needs at the time and after running manual mills, I wanted the hydraulic log handling. After running it for a while, it was obvious that I needed to be able to handle larger logs. I was planning on upgrading last year, but got sidelined when I went into Hepatic /Renal failure and spent 6 months in and out of the hospital, ultimately ending up with a dual transplant. Liver and Kidney ver 2.0 are doing fine, and now there are more options on the table, and it's time to upgrade.

The biggest drawback to me is the size of the logs I have available to me. My LT35 is ideal for 18 - 24" logs. Squeezing 40"+ logs is possible, but I spend a lot of time whittling the sucker down to where I can work with it. The stated capacity of the mill isn't as advertised either. I can only cut 23" between the blade guides on my machine, and then only a 4" slab or so before the diagonal brace gets in the way.

My plan was to upgrade to an LT40 to get a bit more room. Now with the LT40 wide version, I'd never consider the standard version. The extra 6" is really nice. Interestingly, the LT40,50, and 70 wide all have the same drawbacks. They are limited in cut width by the distance between the blade guides, and the throat. If you add the board dragback option you lose 2 1/2" under the throat. The LX450 has the most space available of all the machines I looked at if I want to cut a big cant. It can easily cut 34" widths (measured between the blade guides), which is an inch more than I measured on all the other models. It can fit 17" under the throat, and they mounted the dragback arms in front of the frame, so if you pin them up, you don't lose any available room.

I often lower my back stops and hang the log past them, balanced on the log turner and clamp to gain a wee bit of extra cutting room. This trick works on all the machines I saw, but the cantilever design definitely lets you hang an oddball shaped log off the side. Still, I think the LX450 would handle the largest log of any of the mills that I looked at. The real limit is what will clear the frame, which means I could stuff a log 51" tall x 45" wide through this mill before having to resort to whittling it down with a chainsaw. I'm sold.... I know what I want now.

If I wanted a portable mill, I'd stick with a cantilever design. Since my needs are more of a stationary mill, the LX450 fits the bill. I plan to order one up as soon as the debarker and diesel option are available. I can build my own rail extensions, in fact it's much easier with this mill than a cantilever design.

So what's a lightly used (under 100 hours) LT35 hyd worth with a debarker, extra backstops, spare gas tanks, and a couple dozen blades...?
Stuart Caruk
Wood-Mizer LX450 Diesel w/ debarker and home brewed extension, live log deck and outfeed rolls. Woodmizer twin blade edger, Barko 450 log loader, Clark 666 Grapple Skidder w/ 200' of mainline. Bobcats and forklifts.

Dave Shepard

Do you get many oval shaped logs? The log diameter capacity of the LT mills is not the width of the rollers, it is the diameter of log that will fit on the mill without a lot of hassle. I've sawn many 40" and bigger logs on my LT40 with alog capacity of 36", but it's better to quarter them with a chainsaw first if I'm not making a timber.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Darrel

Just reread this thread from the start and several times I noticed questions/comments about why the sawdust shoot was on the same side as the operator. Just so everyone knows, the sawdust shoot in relationship to the operator station is no different in the LX450 than it is in any other walk along control station from Wood-Mizer, LT15 right up through LT70. The sawdust blows out past the operator, in front of and to his/her left.  Never a problem unless the wind is wrong and if it did go the other way it would still be a problem if the wind was wrong.

Also, as there has always been, the two rail system vs monorail system has pluses and minuses either way. As a sawyer, we make our choice as to what best meets our needs. I commend Wood-Mizer for making a business decision that will ultimately meet the needs of more of us. 

That being said, the monorail system still does the best job of meeting my needs.
1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Peter Drouin

Quote from: Darrel on April 24, 2017, 10:38:34 PM
, the monorail system still does the best job of meeting my needs.



Keep  the mill you have, The new 450 don't cut much faster then the mill you have.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Darrel

1992 LT40HD

If I don't pick myself up by my own bootstraps, nobody else will.

Stuart Caruk

I'll go with the upgrade, since it cuts a wider slab than all the others, and I'm tired of farting around whittling down logs that are too big. The mill is also beefier for the big logs. Perfect for a stationary setup. Like I said, I'd prefer to keep the monorail if I was doing portable milling though.

I may have scored a huge log deck today. Just need to figure out how to break it down to get it home.
Stuart Caruk
Wood-Mizer LX450 Diesel w/ debarker and home brewed extension, live log deck and outfeed rolls. Woodmizer twin blade edger, Barko 450 log loader, Clark 666 Grapple Skidder w/ 200' of mainline. Bobcats and forklifts.

D6c

Quote from: Darrel on April 24, 2017, 10:38:34 PM
........ the sawdust shoot in relationship to the operator station is no different in the LX450 than it is in any other walk along control station from Wood-Mizer, LT15 right up through LT70. The sawdust blows out past the operator, in front of and to his/her left.  Never a problem unless the wind is wrong and if it did go the other way it would still be a problem if the wind was wrong........

My original comment on the dust dumping right in front of the operator comes from the fact that where I live the wind is almost always blowing, and generally in your face or swirling around the mill....any distance you can get it away from you would help.  Unless I wear goggles I can barely see after a day of sawing.
Biggest issue of moving the operator station to the other side would be the loader arms....not too much of a problem when down but I'm guessing most leave them part way up to hold flitches for edging.

As stated....the remote control station is probably the best soluion.

Dave Shepard

Yes, remote is the only way to get away from the dust, and wireless is the best of the remotes. The sawdust must blow away from the loading arms, and the operator must not walk on the loading arm side. That leaves the operator on the sawdust side. I leave my sawdust chute up on my 40, and it blows a long ways away from the mill, about 25 feet.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

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