Wood-Mizer claw turner question

[Ga Mtn Man]

Has anyone added a second hydraulic cylinder in place of the springs on the WM claw?  Those pineywoods turner/clamps are pretty slick. :laugh:

[Dave Shepard]

I haven't seen it done. I'm personally trying to figure out if I can turn my 40 into a 50. :D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Y'all better leave well enough alone and focus on sawing lumber.  :D :D :D

[Chuck White]

I don't exactly understand why you would want to add another hydraulic cyl to the turner unless it's to hold the claw out so you could engage a log a little higher up on the side instead of near the bottom.

MagicMan put a rope on his turner to hold it out manually until the turner was higher up.

Seems to work quite well for him!

[drobertson]

I never have seen the need for an extra cylinder,  I have found that the clamp will turn faster once a decent flat has been made.    david

[rmack]

I have run into issues with big logs with a lot of sweep, but for the most part mine works pretty good now that I have figured out how to use it in conjunction with the dual plane clamp. 

[Nomad]

I haven't seen it done. I'm personally trying to figure out if I can turn my 40 into a 50. :D

Easy.  Just feed it some grits.  (Okay.  I'll duck now...)

[pineywoods]

If you look at the pineywoods turner/clamp, you will see that it is very similar to the woodmizer claw turner, except it has a hydraulic cylinder where the mizer has a couple of springs. It indeed does make a pretty decent clamp, but it's nowhere near as nice as the mizer. There are some limitations that aren't present on the mizer. The big advantage is cost and adaptability to just about any mill. If I had one of the old wm flap type clamps, I'd replace the springs on the claw turner with a hydraulic cylinder.

[Magicman]

 

 


 
It works for me on odd shaped logs, etc.

[Brucer]

My system's like Magicman's, only I don't have the fancy hook (yet) ;D.

[customsawyer]

Once you get the hang of it you can turn a log with a flat side lots faster with the clamp then you can with the turner. I even use the clamp on 40' logs lots of times.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Once you get the hang of it you can turn a log with a flat side lots faster with the clamp then you can with the turner. I even use the clamp on 40' logs lots of times.

You can also use the clamp to reverse roll your log. It does it pretty quick.
Good point Jake.

[GDinMaine]

I haven't seen it done. I'm personally trying to figure out if I can turn my 40 into a 50. :D

Easy.  Just feed it some grits.  (Okay.  I'll duck now...)

:D :D :D :D :D Good one-liner!

....also... Thanks Magicman and Brucer for the rope tip!

[Finn1903]

Not sure how much more of an improvement adding a hydraulic cylinder in place of the springs will give.  For me, that would only work less than 5% of the time. 

Now I have wrestled with the claw turner.  One time I was milling a giant cedar for a guy, he didn't exactly cut all the limbs flush and when I went to turn that monster I could not get the claw to grip the log soon enough before it extended. I could only partially roll the log and when I released the claw the log back rolled and launched off the mill.  Pretty scarry, glad no one was standing on the side of the mill.   

My vote would be to add a chain turner.  The claw is better then a cant hook, but a chain turner would be the best.  MM's rope idea looks like an easy upgrade, going to try that one.

Like everyone said, I too use the clamp once I have 3 sides opened on the log.

[rmack]

this is the most trouble I ever had with a log, probably less than 10 hours on the mill or the sawyer. wouldn't you know, caught it for posterity.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2CYrhkOXE

[GDinMaine]

this is the most trouble I ever had with a log, probably less than 10 hours on the mill or the sawyer. wouldn't you know, caught it for posterity.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2CYrhkOXE

A cant hook would have solved that problem in 10 seconds.  Sometimes we over-complicate things.  I have been in the same shoes.

[rmack]

this is the most trouble I ever had with a log, probably less than 10 hours on the mill or the sawyer. wouldn't you know, caught it for posterity.  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2CYrhkOXE

A cant hook would have solved that problem in 10 seconds.  Sometimes we over-complicate things.  I have been in the same shoes.

I was determined to do it just using the mill, I was vaguely cognizant of murphy's law at the time, much more in retrospect. I do have a 4' logrite, but I very rarely use the way I am setup now... my wooden handled hookaroon on the other hand... rarely start the mill without it. 

[Finn1903]

I was determined to do it just using the mill, I was vaguely cognizant of murphy's law at the time, much more in retrospect. I do have a 4' logrite, but I very rarely use the way I am setup now... my wooden handled hookaroon on the other hand... rarely start the mill without it. 

I grab the hookaroon more then I grab my logrite.  Those things are just the best around the mill or around the firewood pile.  Lets just say the hookaroon is great to have around when working with large chucks of wood.

Your logs looks as ugly as the cedar I had fly off the mill.  Wish I had my camera set up to catch that one. 

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

I was determined to do it just using the mill, I was vaguely cognizant of murphy's law at the time, much more in retrospect. I do have a 4' logrite, but I very rarely use the way I am setup now... my wooden handled hookaroon on the other hand... rarely start the mill without it. 

I grab the hookaroon more then I grab my logrite.  Those things are just the best around the mill or around the firewood pile.  Lets just say the hookaroon is great to have around when working with large chucks of wood.

Your logs looks as ugly as the cedar I had fly off the mill.  Wish I had my camera set up to catch that one.

Of course, you could buy a Logrite Hookaroon and have the best of both worlds!

Herb