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hydraulic circle mill carrage drive help!

Started by Reddog sawmill, July 04, 2017, 09:12:31 AM

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Reddog sawmill

Hello forrestry forum friends i just bought an old farquar (sp?) circle mill for dirt cheap! Problem is it is in 1000 pieces and it did not come with all of the friction feed components. All of the important pieces i have like the carrage, arbor, pulleys for each end of the track, board splitter, blade guide and cable drum. I would like to just make the carrage drive hydraulic but my problem is i have absolutely no idea about hydraulics! What kind of pump and motor should i be looking for? A link to the perfect set up on surplus center would be great! Oh and the pump is also going to need to run a chain turner.

york

Hi,you are talking about a serious hydraulic setup....There is a lot of info on youtube on hyd. and your local library....

Its good to see Members who are not afraid of hydraulics....
Albert

sealark37

Start with the basics.  You need a small tank for return fluid, a pump to send enough fluid to the motor and cylinder for timely actuation, a two spindle valve that is spring loaded to the center position, (with a relief valve), a motor that matches your pump output for sufficient  power and speed, a cylinder with enough diameter and stroke to turn a log, a roll of hydraulic hose of the correct size, and a basket of assorted hydraulic fittings.  All of these pieces are available at Surplus Center.  Now, you need to study the problem and figure out what sizes of all this stuff you need.  Be ready for some trial and error engineering.       Regards, Clark

Ron Wenrich

We converted an old hand mill over to a hydraulic feed.  Its been a good number of years ago when we did it.  We did contact a hydraulic shop about doing it, and they supplied the parts and matched up what we needed.  Sure was a lot easier than trying to piece things together.  We used an Amish hydraulic shop near Lancaster, PA. 

We used a set of saddlebag tanks as our hydraulic tank.  It was a bit of overkill for size.  The pump was run off of the arbor shaft.  There was a fairly large motor that was mounted on the husk.  A heavy chain sprocket ran to a smaller sprocket on the carriage cable drive.  Control was a single valve bank.  We didn't have a log turner.   I know that its pretty important to get the motor speeds to match up with what you're trying to do.  Too much speed, and you won't be able to control your feed rates.  A flow control valve will help out for that.  We ran that setup until we went over to an automatic mill. 

We eventually run a bigger pump off of the mill diesel and ran our edger with a hydraulic motor.  You'll have to match your tank capacity so you don't get too much heat buildup.  We had to run coolers when we got to a bigger system.  A lot would depend on how much you are planning to use the mill.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Reddog sawmill

Thanks for all the answers so far guys. I guess what i should do is look at the pumps and cable drum hydro motor on our meadows at work ( dont ask why i didnt think of that earlier) but i am happy i have a place to turn for questions like this. Im sure i will have PLENTY more questions. I really need to figure out how to post photos on here because i have a question about my dogs and headblocks but i dont think i can explane it without pictures

miro

I found this source of information about Hydraulics to be some of the best on the web.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/296-hydraulics/262534-principles-hydraulics.html

It has older manuals and related sources.
It will take some reading but the self education will be worth it.
miro

stefan

One thing i would like to point out besides that the flow and power of the system should be sized to suit your needs is that the valve that controls the carriage should have a "open center".

That way when you let go of the lever that controls the carriage it will slowly stop instead of immeaditly, witch may hurt the pump and motor.

bandmiller2

Reddog, a lot depends on what your going to do with your mill. Commercial mills have some serious hydraulics for continuous operation at high speed. If your planning part time sawing that big stuff is not needed. If you have a large engine run the pump from it, if not run the pump from an electric motor. It is handy to have the pump separate from the engine as you can run things and move the carriage without the engine running.
A gearotor type motor is good, chain sprockets to the drum, and a pump same gpm as the motor give or take a little. It doesn't take a big pump or motor to feed the carriage if your not going 90 miles per hour. They make needle valves that restrict the flow to feed but allow full speed gigback. Advice from Stefan is good an open center spool valve would be best. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Mooseherder

Here is the pump on mine.  Pretty much set up as Ron described.   I have a 50 gallon tank for the hydraulic fluid.


  

  

 

Reddog sawmill

Could you tell me more about the pump and motor you are using moosehearder?

Mooseherder

My best advise is to run away and get a bandmill. ;D
If not, then here you go. ;)
http://www.surpluscenter.com/Brands/CRS/4-93-cu-in-CRS-TC-24-125-100-B-CW-HYD-VANE-PUMP-9-1217-CW.axd
The Pump is running off the arbor shaft via belts and pulleys.  The pump then feeds a bank of valves for the cable drum and all the carriage functions.  Mine isn't complete yet.  I need a couple more years at this rate.

Reddog sawmill

Ok the link is helpful but i guess what i really need is to start with the basics and understand why you picked that Particular pump and how do i know what motor to choose for this application. If it were electric power or engine power it wouldnt be a problem for me but hydraulics go way over my head lol. Why wouldnt a drive motor out of a skid loader work to drive the cable drum?

moodnacreek

If you chained a hydrolic motor to the cable drum and got the gig back speed right you would put a flow control valve on the feed side to slow it down.  This flow control would be an excess flow to tank style on an open system.  Also I think you need a motor spool valve.

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