Goooooooood morning!!!
I am a very happy owner of a Timber King 1220 mill. Purchased with an extra set of rails and good for lengths up to 20' 4" if you get the log just right.
A totally manual mill, makes me work hard sometimes but this mill has certainly changed my life and opened up a lot of opportunities.
I am curious about other TK 1220 owners and modifications you made that improved your ease of work, output, or safety.
OK, now rime to go shovel some sawdust..........
wow!! I am so lucky to have a collectors item, the only TK 1220 in the world??? :)
On mod I'd make is to change out guide wheels, I think the 1220 uses 3 little bearing for guides which don't last long due to the small size. Some 3" flanged guides from TK or Cooks would be would be a big improvement. Steve
I agree with the above. I bought bearings by the sleeve when I had my 1220. Make sure the back of the blade isn't riding against the horizontal bearings.
I never liked the log dogs on the model that I had. They did okay, but if I were to have stayed with the 1220 I believe I would have eventually fabricated some similar to the ones on cooks manual mill.
Also, the lube tank that came on mine was constructed of fairly thin plastic. I didn't keep the mill under cover, and the plastic tank failed. I replaced it with a 5 gallon bucket which I outfitted with a hose bib.
Aside from these little things I can't think of any other mods I'd recommend. I was very pleased with my 1220 as it served me quite nicely.
For folks reading this thread it's worth noting that the 1220 guide roller design was changed a few years back to a true greasable 2" diameter flanged guide roller. Same roller we use on 1400 & 1600 mills. Water tank is now custom-fabricated for us out of very heavy, UV-protected plastic.
Will
Good to see TK is taking care of the couple of things that need it. Couldn't be happier with my B20 after more than 12000 hours. Steve
Well, opticsguy, since Will has given us a few details on the newer 1220's, I'd say you're good to go. It's a fine little mill. I simply outgrew mine and moved into a 2000.
Will, thanks for the updates.