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Home made sawmill mods.

Started by Clover, February 27, 2017, 10:26:52 PM

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Clover

I'm doing some changes to my mill and I thought I'd share them with the forum.
To give some background info I built the mill about 9 or 10 years ago. I ran it for about 20 hours then did some major mods to it and ran it for another 20 before basically abandoning it until this winter.
It's got a 13hp hydraulic power pack and a 30 hp Kohler engine. I've almost got 90 hours on it now and I'm doing some more upgrades. The drive pully is 3" and the driven is 12 with a 21" trailer tire for the wheels. The band speed is a bit lower than recommend and that 3" pully makes it hard to properly tension two B belts. So I've ordered a 5" driver and a 16" driven pully set to help out in that speed and tension department.
I'm also putting hydraulics to raise and lower the head and tension the motor. I will also have a switch that will run a solenoid for the throttle and turn the lube off and on.
This will make the machine much faster as I'm using a winch currently and it can be aggravating to set the proper cut on the log scales. It's also slower and I need to shut the blade down manually.
Here are a few pictures to start one is of the old handle to engage the belts and the others are of the hydraulic cylinder to tension the belts.
Tomorrow I install the solenoid for the throttle.



Sorry if they are not upright tomorrow I will remember to hold the phone correctly LOL
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

gww

Cool, more pictures tomorrow.
Cheers
gww

Clover

I've got a few more things done to the mill. My new drive pulleys are on and also the new throttle solenoid installed. Removed the winch that was used to raise and lower the head and started to mock up the new bearing locations for the lift chains and hydraulic motor. 

Old throttle

New solenoid

New pulleys


Old winch

New bearing block

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Clover

Since I'm going to be able to get more tension on my pulleys I've been thinking about that upgrade that woodmizer has. It's the flange bearing that mounts on the engine to take some stress off of the motor crank shaft and bushings. Does woodmizer make one for the Kohler engine? It would be easier than making one and quicker as I'm making everything else up. I'm a bit concerned about loosing my engine to bearing failure and the work and cost to repair it.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Rougespear

May I ask what you used for a throttle-up solenoid?  I am thinking of a similar mod... I can't tell from your pictures the setup.  Thanks, and you'll be very happy with the new chain lift you are fabbing.
Custom built Cook's-style hydraulic bandmill.

Clover

It's a Kohler throttle solenoid made for the 18 to 25 hp engines. Mine is the 30 but I think it's just a little bigger carb. It went on just fine. It took a couple hours as I've never done one before and the instructions were not worth the paper they were written on. Messing with governors can screw up an engine fast so I was extra carful. I also trimmed the bracket with a zip wheel as the governor arm hit it. The instructions said to bend the arm but it would not have worked as I saw it. All my parts are done to start the chain lift so I will have more pictures tomorrow.
I'll see if I can find the part number for the solenoid 
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

DDW_OR

"let the machines do the work"

Clover

Made some more progress today. Lots of drilling and tapping I'm not welding anything on. Those cordless drills can almost rip your hand off drilling into quarter inch steel.
This is the lower idler/takeup sprockets and brackets.

This is the hydraulic motor and drive shaft for the #60 chain lifts.


The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Clover

Hopefully my calculations for the head speed is correct. I'm actually worried it will be to slow.
I will also be changing the final drive sprocket for the head carriage travel speed. It's currently a 19 tooth sprocket I'm going to 22 to speed up the return rate.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

DDW_OR

put a flow control on the feed to the feed motor

Left lever is carriage movement.
first rotate flow control (Feed speed) to zero, then push lever left lever all the way forward, now rotate the flow control to move the carriage forward.
when the cut is complete leave the flow control where it is pull the left lever to move the carriage back to the start location

 

  
"let the machines do the work"

Clover

Thanks for the pictures DDW. How is the flow control plumbed? I've got a flow control on my mill but it will slow the flow of oil in both directions. I was going to just remove it as it is always wide open and I just feather the control valve to get the best cutting speed. On the return I pull back all the way.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Clover

More progress today. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up my hydraulic hoses. This is going to hurt, four hoses at 64' each. I still need to wire in my solenoid and lube pump to a switch and solenoid setup. I'm going to also wire in a master off switch. I need the solenoid switch to be spring loaded so if I go to far with the hydraulic cylinder to declutch the motor it won't get damaged.





The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Clover

Once I'm done this upgrade I'll start putting together parts for a chain turner. I have a claw turner/clamp now but having that extra "hand" on the mill will make life that much easier. It's either that or a set of two plane clamps.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

thecfarm

Clover,you are a busy guy
Hey can I help you out with the pictures??  ;D

 




 




 


Notice the "white" space between the pictures that I posted? I hit the enter key 3 times to bring the picture down and leave some white space,than I hit the Preview key to make sure it looked good.
Not being picky,just easier to look at.  :)
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ga Mtn Man

Quote from: thecfarm on March 04, 2017, 09:29:43 PM
Clover,you are a busy guy
Hey can I help you out with the pictures??  ;D

 




 





 


Notice the "white" space between the pictures that I posted? I hit the enter key 3 times to bring the picture down and leave some white space,than I hit the Preview key to make sure it looked good.
Not being picky,just easier to look at.  :)

I was going to offer the same suggestion.  Thanks for being the "bad guy",  thecfarm.   :)

Really enjoying following your re-build, Clover.
"If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy." - Red Green


2012 LT40HDG29 with "Superized" hydraulics,  2 LogRite cant hooks, home-built log arch.

Clover

That's much better c-farm, no bad guys here LOL. I noticed yesterday that if I didn't leave a comment between each photo that they become very hard to look at.

Nothing better than learning something new everyday  :P
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Rougespear

Clover: how are you addressing downward creep of the hyd motor?  In similar setups to yours, I have seen a 30:1 gearbox used to help hold the weight of the head from creeping downward.  Even in a closed circuit, there can minute amounts of oil weeping past seals and such that may allow the height to fall... just a thought.  I really like your setup!
Custom built Cook's-style hydraulic bandmill.

york

I agree,should use an right angle drive,with an 30 to 1 ratio-that is what cook uses on there mills,theirs is made by Cleveland ...When your oil get hot,you will get saw head creep...Your setup now look`s too fast...Reason i know the ratio,i have the Cleveland rt/angle gear drive..
Albert

Clover

Thanks for the input gentlemen. I'm not one to try and reinvent the wheel, but when it comes to hydraulics I do have a working understanding of them.

Right angle drives do have some advantages as they allow you to eliminate the chain drive at the motor and to also use a smaller less powerful motor to raise the head. They also remove all side load on a motor. Most smaller high speed motors can't take any side load, mine is capable of high side loads at low rpm's.  A hydraulic motor turning 750 rpm's will only be turning 25 rpm's with a 30-1 gear reducer. My motor is 23.3 cubic inches. With my power pack that works out to 25 rpm's (if my memory is correct) with a further reduction at the final chain drive. This will be VERY powerful and have plenty of holding power. As for creep that's anyone's guess until it's actually in operation. I'm not thinking it's going to be a big problem for a 15-20 second cut. In the event it is I will add in a pilot check valve. The description follows

"Use to lock a hydraulic cylinder in one direction. It will hold up a load and prevent it from drifting down. Also prevents the load from falling if a hose fails. Place in between the directional control valve and cylinder. When the control valve is in neutral and the check closes the cylinder will be locked in position."

As for speed the directional valves also work as flow control allowing me to send a little or a lot of oil to control the travel speed.

I hope this clears my madness up a little. I'm not one to slap parts together and hope for the best. It's usually a few hours thinking stuff through to get it right the first time.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Ljohnsaw

Quote from: Clover on March 05, 2017, 06:06:35 PM
...In the event it is I will add in a pilot check valve. The description follows

"Use to lock a hydraulic cylinder in one direction. It will hold up a load and prevent it from drifting down. Also prevents the load from falling if a hose fails. Place in between the directional control valve and cylinder. When the control valve is in neutral and the check closes the cylinder will be locked in position."

So how does this pilot check valve allow you to actually lower the head when you want to?  Does it have an internal relief valve so when you have high pressure it allows it to pass?  Really curious about that.

Also, depending on how you are "inserting" your pictures...  If you use the "Insert image into post" button way at the bottom of the Gallery view page, you will get an automatic two html Break characters < br > at the beginning and I usually delete the first one to save space on my posting.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Clover

Yes it does have an internal check valve. Depending on the type or model the pressure it takes to overcome the check is different and or adjustable. They also have the benefit of not allowing a hydraulic motor to drop when opening a valve and the pressure and flow is to low.

Having a working knowledge doesn't mean I'm a hydraulic specialist LOL. I still get nervous I've got it right until that second it's actually in operation.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Clover

Thanks kbeitz. I was thinking of a single valve pilot just on the lowering side of the motor. They are a lot cheaper  :-\
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

Kbeitz

Quote from: Clover on March 05, 2017, 10:00:00 PM
Thanks kbeitz. I was thinking of a single valve pilot just on the lowering side of the motor. They are a lot cheaper  :-\

Could be hard on things if you forget to open it.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Clover

It opens automatically with the opening of the spool valve. You don't even know it's there it just holds the load in place until it hits a preset presure. The one I'm looking at, if I even need it, is preset at 75 psi to release.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Home made 30 hp sawmill all hydraulic, stihl 026, 170, pioneer 65, John Deere 955 with home made forks. And a whole slew of other tools

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