HP for an edger

[WoodenHead]

I'm looking around for an edger that can handle 1" and 2" material.  Some machines I have seen use anywhere from 13HP gas engines up through to almost 30HP diesels.  I came across one that used a 7.5HP 3 phase electric motor.  What is the minimum HP you would recommend for an edger?  Does anyone have a 13HP gas edger and wish they had more HP?

[hamish]

Rough equation for gas to electric is about a 1 to 3 ratio, so a 7.5 3phase is darn near 25hp gas!

I have used an older Norwood edger with a 13hp honda on it, never had the chance to run any 2" through it but itate up all the 4/4 and 5/4 faster than you could feed it.

[delvis]

That 13 horse would probably be enough.  Our old no-name edger has a 20hp Onan horizontal twin that doesn't even flinch on the 1" stuff and comes into the governor on the 2".  I've been trying to figure out for years why anyone would need a diesel on an edger, or why an edger should cost more than half the price of a $30,000 sawmill when it only does (and only will ever do) exactly one thing:  Take the bark off the sides of a board.   

[Brucer]

How many blades, and how fast is the feed? Those are critical questions.

I have a 22 HP Kubota diesel on my twin-blade edger. It was originally set up on the slow feed rate (55 FPM) and it would take whatever I could throw at it. With 1" Douglas-Fir the engine didn't even "notice" when the wood hit the blade. With 2" D-Fir the engine would just lug down a bit and start working.

Since I was edging mostly 1" I set it on the higher feed rate (70 FPM) which involved removing 2 pulleys and swapping them around. It still didn't notice the 1" stuff. Once in a while I'd feed a 2" piece through and the motor would really have to work at it. I finally put through a piece of knotty 2" and that stalled the engine :(.

A diesel is far less likely to stall if you're pushing it close to its limit. Unless you can vary the feed rate while the motor is on full throttle, this can be pretty important.

[delvis]

Brucer is right about the feed rate and I guess that explains as much about using a diesel as anything.  Our edger has no variable feed rate or even a belted feed, but rather two knurled powered rollers.  The feed is slower, but matched to the 20 horse pretty well.

[WoodenHead]

Thanks guys for the comments!  I'm looking for a twin blade edger (new or used).  I'm not sure what feed rate would be suitable, but if I can edge a 16' long 1" board (both sides) in around a minute I would be very happy.  Right now I average about 3 minutes per board on the mill (but that includes clean-up and handling).

What about hardwoods?  Is oak or maple much tougher to edge?

[Peter Drouin]

I have a WM that has 26 hp cat. one time I was doing some 2" oak and hit the oto off buttin. it stop haff way in the board. now you cant pull it out, so I was going to cut it out with my chansaw

I did not want to hit the WM with the saw, so I just started the edger that cat turned over 1 time and started, and pulled the oak with the blade in the oak . so I say buy all hp you can get :D

[Brucer]

It's a pain, but you actually can pull a stuck board back out of a WM twin blade edger.

The engine should be switched off  (even if its not running) and the key in your pocket.

Open the cover and with a 3' crowbar (or even a strong board), pry up one of the pressure rollers and slip a piece of wood between the pressure rollers. Repeat with the other pressure roller. The board should be about 1/4" thicker than what you were sawing. I've used shims when I didn't have anything thicker than the board. It helps to have 3 hands to do this but you can do it with 2 in a pinch.

Use a rope, bungee cord, or a helper to hold down the lever that lifts the kickback pawls off the board.

Pull the board back out. It's tricky because the kerf has to be exactly lined up with the blade.

Remove the shims blocking,  shims, straps, and whatever else and close up the cover.

The main reasons for having to do this is A) accidentally bump the emergency stop button; B) feed in a board before you notice the flare at the back end of the board; C) feed something that's too much for the engine to handle. I've tried all three  :(.

[Peter Drouin]

It's a pain, but you actually can pull a stuck board back out of a WM twin blade edger.

The engine should be switched off  (even if its not running) and the key in your pocket.

Open the cover and with a 3' crowbar (or even a strong board), pry up one of the pressure rollers and slip a piece of wood between the pressure rollers. Repeat with the other pressure roller. The board should be about 1/4" thicker than what you were sawing. I've used shims when I didn't have anything thicker than the board. It helps to have 3 hands to do this but you can do it with 2 in a pinch.

Use a rope, bungee cord, or a helper to hold down the lever that lifts the kickback pawls off the board.

Pull the board back out. It's tricky because the kerf has to be exactly lined up with the blade.

Remove the shims blocking,  shims, straps, and whatever else and close up the cover.

The main reasons for having to do this is A) accidentally bump the emergency stop button; B) feed in a board before you notice the flare at the back end of the board; C) feed something that's too much for the engine to handle. I've tried all three  :(.


yes that will work Brucer, but it only happen one time. so now im carefull :D