Mobile dimension

[mometal77]

I still have yet to put my electric mill together first.  Made a 30 foot trailer and made a new carriage over the old one was bent. 
Now working on if i should actually keep the thing or switch to something better.

I bought the thing over i have a few acres in northern washington was going to build a cabin. Was looking into a sing log home. Building one.
Having a mill is cheaper than buying a kit and the local loggers i can have any kind of logs i want dropped off. 

So the issue with powering the unit.
People i first talked to said a rotary phase converter would be the thing to have just I dont have a 200 amp service.  Was going to build one over to buy one to run a mill is 1500.  Now I am thinking of a 3 phase generator diesel.  Its about that price all you have to do is hook up the sawmill.  And in the back of my one ton it would be portable.

I keep seeing on craigslist or the world wide web mobile dimensions "gas" for half the price as new ones.
I am thinking portable and thinking which would be better.  Should i sell the one i have and invest a little money into one that is gas or..? 

Which would be better in the long run if i sawed everything i wanted and wanted to sell the thing after i am done which would sell faster?
This thread was started a while back on the old forum.

Just any ideas would be great.
Thanks
robert

[DKinWA]

Are there any farms around that might be willing to rent some space and power to you?  Most farms have 3 phase and there's always lots of room.  There's several farms near us that are hurting right now and I'm thinking this might be a win-win for a farmer looking to make a few bucks.  I'm looking to upgrade to an LT40 next summer and I'd like it to go electric and this is the route I've been thinking about.

[Sprucegum]

I don't know anything about your mill or your future cabin plans - if it was me ,I would buy the diesel generater.
You can always sell it and the mill later as a unit or sell the mill and use the genset as backup for your solar powered cabin  ;)

[mometal77]

D kin i got it for 3k from a guy that had it under cover for ten years and it only cut big old growth cedar and some fir.  I got a big cross cut dewalt made back in the day that was included in the selling of the mill.

Its a md 127. i saw a gas unit online for 14 500 near me .. a generator though takes quite a bit of amps to run i remember from the old forum to run a 30 horse ten and twenty edger and blade is about 100 amps.. I found a generator 18kw but that divided by 1.73 to figure out the amps isnt all that much.
Farmers i have went around asking them about setting my mill up.. ironically anyone around there that knows about electrical and is near a farm even with plumbing is offered a min wage job..  I declined the idea really quick.  Might be a good job starting out but i am worth more per hour.  Most farmers around here have more into there farms then they have in the banks. 

[StorminN]

Mo Metal,

If I were you, first thing I'd do would be to call Ron at Mobile Mfg... if you have an electric MD mill, that's much more rare than the gas version, and if you want a gas one, Ron or the folks there might know of someone in the NW that wants an electric one... so they could put you in touch so you could swap, or swap powerheads...

-Norm.

[DanG]

Norm's giving you good advice, Bob.  But if you have any way to get power to it, you should do it.  Ron tells me that the electric version will cut much faster than the gas unit.  If you can get commercial power to it, a 200 amp service and a Phase Converter would be the way to go, IMO.

[sawdust]

I am collecting parts for a rotary converter, I have the big pieces. It had not occured to me that my 100 amp service might not be enough. I was going to run my blade with 10 horses, Dangerous dan seems to be doing OK with that. Any idea at what point my 100 amp will be insufficient?

sawdust

[beenthere]

.............. Any idea at what point my 100 amp will be insufficient?

sawdust

When you demand more than 100 amps ??  or is this a trick question... ;D

[sawdust]

No trick! I'm pretty good with a shovel, only thing i really know about electricity... 60hz means when I grab the wire its gonna hurt me 60 times per second.

I could rephrase my question. will my 100 amp service carry a 10 hp electric motor? How bout 15hp?
I was planning on using a 20hp motor for the RPC. A 20hp rpc is able to power a 20 hp motor, so if I only put a 10 hp on it will the rpc draw much more than 10hp worth?

confused? I am!    :D

sawdust

[oakiemac]

Sawdust,

Look at the name plate data that should be listed on the side of the motor. You should look for FLA which stands for full load amps. This will tell you the current that the motor will draw. However the starting current will be many times that amount for a second or two so if you are close to your max then the starting surge will put you over and trip the breaker. Make sure that you have a proper motor protection like a good motor starter, don't rely on the breaker because it wont protect the motor.

[MattWatson]

Most 10HP motors are around 40 amps give or take, and the 15HPs are around 70 those are single phase numbers, so if all else fails you could get your 3phase motor rewound to single.

[sawmill_john]

The 10 hp motor we used on the mobile dimension was rated @ 24.5 FLA  @ 230 volt 3 phase.
The 20 hp motor is rated 50FLA @ 230 volt 3 phase.  We set up the control panels with a 5 second delay between the main motor and the edger motor, that way the start up requirements would not blow the circut.  We had very few problems with the rotary phase converters, and for several years we had a local company assemble them from used parts, it was a real sweet deal for about half the price of a new one, the way the mill works the motors are very seldom at full lock rotor power requirements, with periodic maintenance they never wear out.  Oakiemac is right the name plate should have all the info, we'll hope it's still there. 

[sawdust]

Thank-you all! sorry to hijack the thread.
I am still collecting switches and stuff, I have quite a number of suitable motors. The last one I got is a 10 horse, 3500 rpm, brandnew, never wired up. ten dollars, had a brand new oilfield pump on the end of it. The local fall auction is quite large.

sawdust

[D._Frederick]

Starting current is about 3 times FLA, so your 100 amp service is on the low side.

[mometal77]

Good advice.. all around .. i did talk to ron a decade ago it seems like .. summer before last when i bought the thing.  Ex fiance was telling me not too buy thing thing over and over again.  But got it for 3000 along with the biggest cross cut dewalt you have ever seen in your life.  Not a bad deal.  Has a 10 hp three phase.  Was run by an old cat motor.  Sat under cover for 10 yrs and only cut old growth cedar i was told.    Still needs work done to it.
Ron said with the electric mill when it runs produces 160hp even through its a 10 hp for the edger and 20 hp for the main blade. 

I have a site how to build a phase converter.  A guy off of ebay a while back i almost had a 40 horse rotary phase converter bought and even talked to the guy.  He said he had a set up at 125 amps the lights went dim and then everything ran fine after that.  I was also told that if i wanted to run anything to start one motor at a time with two phase converters. 

I dont have mds tele number anymore i could look it up.

Here are a few use ful sites.
Also i did buy a 30 horse nice three phase motor to make a phase converter with the help from my dad and a machinist i just found out made his own down the road. 

I find most dont even know what a phase converter is in the corner unless someone dies they put it on ebay for sale not knowing what they are. 

http://www.kc9aop.net/Doc/link_pages/electrical_conversions.htm
Also one out there called electrical contractor forget the http.
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=88488

http://www.metalwebnews.com/
has plans and pics on building a phase converter i would after reading do a rotary converter.

Thanks for the good information.  I still have yet to learn to put pictures up on this or i would add a few.
bob

[Hi-Country Orange]

Robert   
      with sawdust & woodchips being so addictive what makes you think you can sell it once you have (sawed all you want) :D   

[mometal77]

Time will tell its just been a pain in the keister.. Trying to find everything to make it work at a good price.  I could sell the cross cut to get everything to make it work but was told by a friend that does timber frame.  To hold onto it its the biggest one he has ever seen.  I just wanted to first build a cabin on the property and then see what happens.

Reminds me of a guy in alaska i went to visit family friends.  He bought a new woodmizer to build a cabin.. a nice one and after he built the cabin he really didnt use the sawmill.  I think back now what a waist but what is a few logs time and a mill that you buy for 30k when homes go for  rediculous price. 

I look at some of the cars down here people drive and the asking price.  A guy could buy a nice spred in idaho and build a small  house for which one of these cars go for.

[sawdust]

Mo, what size blade does your Dewalt have?
Those machines will do amazing things. You can put shaper heads into them, sizeable ones even.

sawdust

[arkansas]

I was reading here and seen something that I thought I might have alittle input on.  When I built my band mill, I was given the chance to go electric, only problem, no three phase power.  I got to reading and talking to different people.  I came up with 50hp and 25hp electric motors.  So being the tinker I am, I am now running the 50 for a converter and the 25 on the mill with a 1 1/2 hp pony motor on a 100 amp service.  Seems to work pretty good unless I load the 25hp too heavy in a cut and over amp my breakers.  I realize this is not the best set up nor as safe, as it should be, but with alittle fine tuning a 10hp shouldn't be too hard to run on a 100 amp service.

Michael

[sawdust]

The kit is on the way from the states. I am buying one of those kits for 100.00.
The rest of the mill is a long way from done. I am trying to think of a rail system that will prevent the carriage from "jumping" off the track if I hit something hard.

sawdust

[mometal77]

I havent heard of a pony motor for a long time.  The term i mean.  I did learn how to start a diesel one on a side boom/dozer last year. Great learning experience.

Sawdust.. i think the saw blade on that is three feet if not a few more inches.  I know when showing a friend of mine after buying the mill he was drooling ..

I see a few on ebay not as big and online go for a lot I have yet to find the year on the dewalt.  I was told it is around the time of korea. If not earlier.

[blueduck]

....... 

I look at some of the cars down here people drive and the asking price.  A guy could buy a nice spred in idaho and build a small  house for which one of these cars go for.

I guess you have not checked Idaho realestate prices lately eh?  A friends farm near Sandpoint is listed at over $7 million, 1200 acres that he barely was able to run 200 cows on..... ridciulous....  And here in  central Idaho the millionaires who are being pushed out by the billionaires have discovered this place, and are keeping the prices outside the limits of normalcy and wanting to put folks who manufacture wood products out of business cause they are not "green"...... yes I am ready to lock and load.....

William

[mometal77]

Maybe the export of tp should have something that itches.  I think they should make the dollar worth more then everyone can be rich and kick the middle man out. 

Just in seattle the building i am welding the space is smaller than an outhouse and just the land is worth 7 million.

Down the road 60 acres three yrs ago went for 185k and the woman sat on it for a long time. 

I think even in canada is not as great.. lower mainland developing all the land.  Farming .. its becoming a mess and they dont have all the man power to do anything.  Lot of lumber in those houses.