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Blade tracking

Started by Southwood, December 10, 2017, 09:06:14 PM

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Southwood

I have had a woodland mills HM126 for 2 years now, warranty was up last week. Since day 1 have had nothing but problems with blade tracking. The follower side (non drive side) would always throw the blade back no matter what I tried & whatever suggestions their tech people gave me would not work. It is really frustrating when you have so much time & money invested to make no progress. Anyhow today I think I have finally found the problem, the threads of the tracking bolt & nut that it screws into are flattened & stripped (not sure why they didn't use a higher grade nut & bolt). The nut is welded to the carriage & cant be fixed without major fabrication. Anyone ever have this problem & if so how did you fix it? I'm gonna call woodland mills in the morning to see if it will be covered by warranty since it only ran out last week & that this has been an ongoing problem since day one. My last question is should the blade be sitting level? Mine has always had a backwards tilt to it. Changing the vertical tracking has no affect on the blade. Since I have had the mill I have had to replace wheel bearings, throttle cable, clutch, on & off switch, rollers & guides,  several drive belts, & way too many blades for very little saw time.

Southside

Hopefully they come good on fixing the issue.  But in the event they don't could you re-tap the nut either to a larger size or use a heli-coil kit to get holding thread and avoid replacing it?   
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

pineywoods

Where in arkansas ?   Blade tracking shouldn't be too complicated.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: pineywoods on December 10, 2017, 09:18:53 PM
Where in arkansas ?   Blade tracking shouldn't be too complicated.

Hey Y'all....watch this.....
( old saying )
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Southside

Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Southwood

I'm in mena arkansas. I doubt I could go with a bigger bolt, because the bolt is designed to sit in the tracking bar. The bar is drilled for 1 size bolt. I guess I could always try & tear it apart & drill the bar to accept a bigger size if I had to.

Kbeitz

Could you post a picture of your problem... ?
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Skipper11A

You finally found the problem...that was the hard part!  Fixing it is easy.  You'll need to cut off the old nuts with an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel and weld new nuts on.  You might also consider using a jam nut to lock in your adjustment and spread the load to more of the bolt's threads. Somebody you know can cut and weld steel.  Ask your friends. I'm thinking about farmers.  Also, Cook's saw has a lot of youtube  video's about sawblade alignment that may be helpful.

Kbeitz

Welding new nuts on is what I had in mind but I would like a picture
to see what you had. I you do weld a new nut on look into the long nuts.



 
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Den-Den

Sounds like a new nut and bolt will be required to fix what you found.  Consider the possibility that the stripped threads are not the cause of all your problems but only a symptom.  The blade should be level with the track, if it is not there is an alignment problem.
You may think that you can or may think you can't; either way, you are right.

drobertson

I agree with the skipper, once you get down to cutting/grinding off, and having the new hardware back on,,make arrangements for a tad bit longer adjusting bolt to allow for the locking/jam nuts.  I thought the same thing, jam nuts really help control things from working,
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,

Southwood

Will add photos when I figure out how to do it. I'm new to the forum so I'm still learning. Wish I could weld, but I have epilepsy & am unable to weld. Flashing lights can trigger my seizures. I got off the phone with woodland mills & have to wait for a decision. They said I may have to remove engine & replace whole assembly. Very frustrating since I don't even think I have milled 30 logs since owning it. Have wasted too many logs trying to troubleshoot a bad mill. I think my mill is a lemon. Since owning I've had to replace throttle cable, on/off switch, bandwheel bearings, guide rollers & bearings, clutch, & way too many blades. Now I'm expected to tear the whole mill apart. Very bad situation I'm in.

Southwood


DbltreeBelgians

Threads have gaulded up. Lack of lubrication and or too much force applied for the quality of material. You could cut the nut off and have someone weld on a new nut. Another option would be to drill it out oversized and retap next size up if there is enough material left to do so. I can't tell from the photo what size the bolt and nut are so the second option may not be feasible and I can't see what the bolt is pushing or pulling on. Others will surely chime in on other ideas that may be a better option.
Also working with Woodland Mills may be your best option seeing all the issues you mention that you've had. I've heard many good comment about them and I have no doubt they will work with you to make your mill function properly.
Good luck and let us know how things go.

Brent

Kbeitz

Since you don't weld you'r best bet would to tap it out to the next size.
I'm betting the next size up will be metric so you will need to change your
bolt also.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

goose63

Southwood a 4 inch grinder with a cut off wheel will get that nut off there.

Wish I were closer to you would only take a few minutes to fix that.
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
thank you to all the vets

drobertson

KB does have a good idea there, but rather than looking to metric, and not really knowing the bolt size, guessing 1/2-13?  I would be more inclined to get a reduced shank 33/64, .515 drill bit, they will fit a 1/2" drive, drill motor, then tap for a 9/16-18 fine thread, just me, but getting away from grinding and welding and all that, I"m all for that route, just lazy I reckon, you still have to get bolts and nuts, this way its bolts, and I still would get the lock/ jam nuts to hold it once the alignment is there,,old saying lots of cats and ways to skin'em
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,

Slingshot


   Came from China.......Probably metric......





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Southside

Quote from: Den-Den on December 11, 2017, 09:38:22 AM
Sounds like a new nut and bolt will be required to fix what you found.  Consider the possibility that the stripped threads are not the cause of all your problems but only a symptom.  The blade should be level with the track, if it is not there is an alignment problem.

Logically I would agree with that statement, but look to the owners manual and the manufacturer for that answer.  On my mill the non drive side is 1/16" higher than the driven side when doing a full alignment, per the WM owners manual.  I was surprised to see that but in the case of my mill the blade pulls down upon engagement with the log, so you set it 1/16" higher on that side. 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Southwood

The welder was here today & replaced that bad nut. I was excited to get it done. I figured I would be up & running today, but no luck. I went to adjust the drive side tracking & that nut & bolt are messed up as well. I called woodland mills & they want to send more parts to try & fix this 2 year old tracking problem. Upon further inspection I noticed my bandwheels are not spinning true. My question is could bad wheels be causing all my problems? My mill is like new & I have way to many problems to mention for only cutting 30 logs if I'm lucky. They will not replace the mill, but said I can resell it. Anyone wants to buy a mill  :-[?I need to find the problem & fix it

kelLOGg

I would go with Acme rod and nut for tensioning.
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

Den-Den

Quote from: Southwood on December 15, 2017, 04:47:32 PM
The welder was here today & replaced that bad nut. I was excited to get it done. I figured I would be up & running today, but no luck. I went to adjust the drive side tracking & that nut & bolt are messed up as well. I called woodland mills & they want to send more parts to try & fix this 2 year old tracking problem. Upon further inspection I noticed my bandwheels are not spinning true. My question is could bad wheels be causing all my problems? My mill is like new & I have way to many problems to mention for only cutting 30 logs if I'm lucky. Since they won't replace the mill, I need to find the problem & fix it

A slight (1/16" ??) side to side wobble should not be a problem, noticeable radial run-out would worry me.  You should also check for deflection (alignment changes) when blades are tensioned.
You may think that you can or may think you can't; either way, you are right.

sawmilljoe

I have had a Woodland's 126 for over 2 years so the same mill.  If you would take some videos of your wheels spinning with out a blade and with a and on I may be adle to help. Tracking on these mills I very basic to adjust some help should get you going. Message me if you want I will do my best to help

Peter Drouin

With the blade off, Set a piece of wood or something next to the wheel [1/32] away from the ones the blade rides on, spin it and look at the 1/32 space to see if the wheel is true. The 1/32 should be the same while the wheel it's turning. Just a thought.
Good luck.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

bandmiller2

To retain sanity it may be better to sell the mill as you have lost all confidence in it and it likely will continue to be a festering sore. Buy a brand name mill and enjoy yourself. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

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