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Cooks AC36 production numbers?

Started by JB Griffin, July 28, 2017, 10:03:56 PM

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JB Griffin

Anyone running one? Will be sawing ties and grade. Before anyone asks I do know how to run a bandmill, I currently work full time running a Baker Dominator sawing 25-30mbf a wk. Thanks
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

4x4American

These guys like the ac 36 so much they got two...either that or theyre so slow that they need two to tango lol


https://youtu.be/8SZO9wnMPxU


I like the looks of the AC-36, I really do...whats your take on the Baker? 



Boy, back in my day..

kelLOGg

Yeah, those mills look slow and those Amish guys look lazy. ;D
Bob
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

John S

2018 LT40HDG38 Wide

WV Sawmiller

   I'd guess Mennonite from the equipment used like the skid steer. That is one busy helper keeping two mills loaded with logs and removing all the slabs and flitches as they come through. And he doesn't look like he's even in a hurry just steady.
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

JB Griffin

Anyone notice that video is sped up just a little like 25%. The noise of the chainsaw gave it away.

4x4, there are things that I like about the Baker like the setworks,  right side log squaring (opposite of WM), straight up and down backstops, 12.5 gpm hyd, etc.

The negatives are ball screw up and down spindles, nice and accurate but very expensive when they go out ( like $1500), rubber timing belts thet run the up down that have a tendency to break out of nowhere letting one side or the whole head drop, often ruining the aforementioned ball screws.
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

Ron Wenrich

Amish.  Mennonites don't necessarily have beards.  I worked with many a Mennonite and a few Amish.  The equipment used depends on their church.  One of the largest mills in the area is Amish owned.  Big trucks, electric mill, just like all the Englishers. 

I also think the video is sped up.  A little too jerky.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

WV Sawmiller

Ron,

   Good point. I have a young Amish farrier who does my mule's toenails. They use electricity, indoor plumbing and even hunt. This surprised me as I thought they were opposed to firearms but I have since learned many hunt and harvesting deer is just another work project for them.
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

drobertson

these mills will run just like the rest of them, maybe even better,, it does seem to me that with each manufacturer they just have different fingerprints, if this makes any sense,, I mean some orange will run flawless while others struggle with a multitude of issues, same with the blue bakers, and so on.  Log quality  and supply determine so much in regards to production, not even counting the material handling of the by products, so, once again a piece of equipment is just a bit of a gamble.  JMO>
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Banjo picker

That is just exactly how I run mine, just not hardly that fast.  I can't help you with production numbers, as I only work by myself anymore, since #2 son got a job he could actually make some money at.  Did you notice that the guys in the video had warped the gooseneck that the hydraulic, and control lines run in.  There are flow controls on the different functions to vary their speed.  I have mine set quite a bit slower than they do. The drag back arms on that machine are different than mine as well, guess they have changed a few things in the last 10 years or so.  They are good solid machines, I doubt you could wear out the mill itself.  I personally don't like the 62 horse perkins motor..had trouble out of it and its parts are expensive to replace.  The setworks on mine are problematic as well.  And as far as I know Cooks don't have a route to tune up their machines the way Woodmizer does.  That would be nice.  All in all though, I guess I still like my backwards mill.   ;) Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Kbeitz

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on July 30, 2017, 02:37:12 PM
Ron,

   Good point. I have a young Amish farrier who does my mule's toenails. They use electricity, indoor plumbing and even hunt. This surprised me as I thought they were opposed to firearms but I have since learned many hunt and harvesting deer is just another work project for them.

In my area the Amish learn to shoot real young.I seen them shooting a 12 ga. better that most grown ups.
One 12 year old shoots pigeons flying.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

JB Griffin

Banjo, what kind of setworks problems were you having? Do you remember any sort of number while you were sawing "big time";).
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

JB Griffin

The main reason I ask is I am not impressed with woodmizer. The customer service is great but I have had to call them too DanG often with  freaking electrical problems. Electric feed, electric up/down, electric hyd. pump, etc. Theres a reason you don't see all that crap on circle mills, it ain't cut out for sawmills.
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

4x4American

Quote from: JB Griffin on August 02, 2017, 09:08:50 PM
Banjo, what kind of setworks problems were you having? Do you remember any sort of number while you were sawing "big time" ;) .


I went and visited a forum member who had an ac36 and he said that the difference in hyd temperature from when it was cold to when it got warm would mess with the set...I'm really liking the looks of the new WM LX450 as soon as they make one with all regular dependable hydraulics, a 55hp yanmar diesel or bigger diesel, accuset two on a pedestal so you can move all around like the super 70, cant hold down clamps, hydraulic drive roller toeboards and an offbearing conveyor, I'll be trading in the ole 40
Boy, back in my day..

JB Griffin

Are they using a hyd. motor or cylinders?
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

JB Griffin

I kinda like the look of that mill too, but I'm too *pithed at wm to buy one.
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

4x4American

Quote from: JB Griffin on August 02, 2017, 09:28:34 PM
I kinda like the look of that mill too, but I'm too *pithed at wm to buy one.



I'm not sure what its got.. but I've been really impressed with my wmz it's not had an easy life I can get pretty rammynjammy sometimes and it just loves it.  I do know that when I took it easy with it it was never happy, so maybe try to take it less easy on your wmz :D .  I been on the fence between wmz and baker for my next mill (not gonna
[size=78%]be anytime soon but I'm always thinking about it) and I'm kinda settling in on WMz..the engineering is there, and the customer support is there...could use some better parts or at least an option for higher quality like napa gives you. Baker makes some decent stuff but as for support they kinda just left me in the dark.  Their manual said one thing, and when I called with questions I got different wrong answers that made my problems much worse and.l now the guy who straightened me out just quit!  [/size][/font]
Boy, back in my day..

JB Griffin

If you call Baker the only guy to talk to is Brad.
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

4x4American

I'll keep that in mind thanks I think I had called during amateur hour lol
Boy, back in my day..

Banjo picker

Problem with set works is that it blinks and it loses its settings.  It started doing that right after i got it.  Cooks had a man working for them at the time that tried to help me figure out what the problem was but he retired or quit before we got it worked out.  I have just used the scale since then.  It would be nice to have the set works actually work ..especially when some body asks for some off the wall dimensions.   It would be helpful if Cooks had a service route like Woodmizer has.  My problem may be a ground somewhere,  but i have checked everything i know to check.  I am retiring from the state job i am presently working in 8 months and i hope to fig a little deeper into the problem then.  The maintaince guy where my # 2 son works is pretty sharp on electrial issues and has shown interest in helping me with it.  I bought this mill new, and for the money spent i sm very disappointed with the set works.  I would not have said anything about it if I had not given Cooks a chance to fix it.  Thats my take on it.  Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Kbeitz

Quote from: Banjo picker on August 03, 2017, 10:47:18 AM
Problem with set works is that it blinks and it loses its settings.  It started doing that right after i got it.  Cooks had a man working for them at the time that tried to help me figure out what the problem was but he retired or quit before we got it worked out.  I have just used the scale since then.  It would be nice to have the set works actually work ..especially when some body asks for some off the wall dimensions.   It would be helpful if Cooks had a service route like Woodmizer has.  My problem may be a ground somewhere,  but i have checked everything i know to check.  I am retiring from the state job i am presently working in 8 months and i hope to fig a little deeper into the problem then.  The maintaince guy where my # 2 son works is pretty sharp on electrial issues and has shown interest in helping me with it.  I bought this mill new, and for the money spent i sm very disappointed with the set works.  I would not have said anything about it if I had not given Cooks a chance to fix it.  Thats my take on it.  Banjo

What I would try is to run a new ground and hot wire. Bypass everything. Just try running it on your
new wires and see what happens.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

ladylake

 
   That's what I would try.  Bango  how does the wiring get from the controls to the head on your mill.  Steve


   
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Banjo picker

The computer controls are in two different places.   The control box is located on an arm that swings out, that arm has the hydraulic levers that turn, clamp, and dog the log as well as the levers and loading arms.  That is all on the right side of the mill.  The box that controls the computer is behind the mill on a cable that you can walk around with.  There are a couple junction boxrs that the wires are connected to.  All those wires run to the power supply through the flexable gooseneck.  Thats a fair distance.   Bsnjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Banjo picker

I just got home and went to the mill and took a couple of shots of what I was talking about in the previous post.

 

That is the set works on the swing arm.  This swing arm is quite nice, as when you are edging on the mill you can move it into position where you can reach your boards and controls at the same time.

Here is the pict of the remote control on the cable...it can be put in the vacant box on the right of the screen, but I usually leave it at the location behind the mill.

  

 

This shows the gooseneck that the hydraulic lines and electrical contorl cable run through. I appreciate the feed back on trying to come up with a fix. Banjo
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Bruno of NH

Do any folks that work at Cooks read the forum ?
I like the looks of a Cooks mill
It would be nice to have set works
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

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