shoe adjustment

[Ralph]

I  have had issue with the shoe and the contact strip arching and pitting the shoe and strip, which leads to the hyd to not function properly. I checked my manuel fo shoe adjustment, and could not find instructions. The screws that hold the shoe to the piece of [plastic?] are tight. Is tight right, or do I loosen the screws to adjust pressure against the copper strip? Lt35HD25. Also, the shoe seems to be making contact only on the rear  half of the shoe. [return side of shoe]. Thanks

[drobertson]

I've had that happen a few times, mine was from wear, dust in the springs, causing lack of travel for a good connection.   I took mine loose, cleaned out so the contact pad would make good contact, its just a trial and error on getting the right amount of pressure without having too much, which can cause damage,  a good scotch pad or Emory paper will restore the strip.

[Chuck White]

One way to eliminate a lot of the arcing is to make sure that the sawhead is stopped before activating any of the hydraulics!

[WV Sawmiller]

Ralph,

    I'm real interested in this thread. My LT35 has just started having minor issues with dead spots when using my hydraulics and have to move the head forward or back to make contact. I have 90 hours and 11,000 bf cut on it since I started. Next 50 hours service will be due this week when I finish current job so I'll be sure to clean and scrub the strip good to see if that helps.

Marty,

    I'm hoping you're watching this thread and can pass along to WM HQ and your counterpart dealers/trainers to be sure to remind users to stop the head completely before engaging hydraulics. I know I was guilty of rushing and trying to turn logs and such as soon as possible and I am sure before the head was stopped. I just re-checked the manual and did not see any such warning about moving head while using hydraulics causing arcing and dead spot.

[pineywoods]

Hey fellas,don't forget there are TWO brushes.The other one is under the bottom of the frame and rides on the bottom of the lower rail..If it doesn't make contact. the hydraulics will still work but the current returns through the head support rollers, not good for beariings, and hydraulics will be a bit flakey.  I recently encountered a situation where the hydraulics just didn't seem to work properly when the head was stopped at one particular spot.Turned out to be a spot of paint (probably overspray) on the bottom of the lower rail. .

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
   There is a black bracket that holds the Hot contact button. There are two 3/8 bolts that hold the bracket they have round heads and a ny lock nut on the bottom. You can loosen these bolts and use a vice grips to move easier and get the adjustment on. You are looking for the shoulder bolts the one with the springs and allen head. When you move the saw head from non contact to contact you should see the shoulder bolts come out about 1/16 to 1/8". There is also an adjustment for moving the button up and down. I have seen the tube be indented a little and the contact strip can be shimmed if the arcing is only in one place. This also can be where you stop every time.
Also if the battery wire lug hits because the contact button is worn it will cause more severe arching. They should last a long time.

The LT35 does not have a solenoid so it has power all the time or hot. You may want to remove the battery cable when working on this contact. The LT40 does have a solenoid so you can turn the switch off and it will not have power.
After reading the post below I thought I should mention this.


Hope this helps.

Marty

[Brucer]

The parts manual for my LT40 has a good diagram of the contact assembly. In my book it's listed in the Hydraulic System section. The diagram clearly shows the two sets of slotted holes for adjusting the shoe.

This, again, is how the LT40 is arranged. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same system on the LT35.

There is a bracket mounted onto the carriage with two carriage bolts (which point downward). The bolts are in slotted holes and this allows you to move the entire bracket in and out. That's how you adjust the pressure of the shoe on the strip.

Attached to the bracket is a plastic (insulating) block. The mounting bolts for the plastic block are on the right edge of the block, one above the other. These bolts mount in vertical slots in the bracket and allow you to  adjust the block up and down. You shouldn't need to adjust this very often, if ever.

The shoe itself is held in place as Marty described, with two shoulder bolts that can slide in and out through holes in the plastic block. The shoulder bolts go through a couple of springs (which you can't normally see) mounted between the shoe and the plastic block. You want the shoulder bolts to be snug.

The heavy battery wire that connects to the shoe passes through the centre of the plastic block, between the show shoulder bolts.

Marty described how the lug on the battery wire can hit the contact strip if the shoe is very worn. That just started to happen on my mill at 2400 hours. The lug is mounted on the top of the shoe and it began leaving a thin line in the copper strip at the top of the contact area.

It's normal for the end of the shoe nearest the control panel to wear more. That's the end that has to ride up and onto the copper strip. Once the entire shoe is up and riding on the strip, the contact area is much larger and there is less wear over the rest of the shoe.

Remember, the battery wire is positive and it's live when the key is switched on (and on older mills it's always live). If the wire or the shoe touches the frame (or the bracket, or the carriage) when the wire is live, you will cause a direct short with a lot of current available. Think of an arc welder. (If you manage to touch one of the shoulder bolts and the bracket at the same time when the battery wire is live, you will burn off the tip of your screwdriver -- first hand experience there :().

[petefrom bearswamp]

If contact is already made with the strip why would there be any arcing?
Please educate me.

[Chuck White]

If contact is already made with the strip why would there be any arcing?
Please educate me.

Likely, arching could be caused by corrosion or dirt on the power strip or the button itself may not be making a solid connection with the power strip when the sawhead is moving.

The button may be making "some" contact with the power strip, but not a good solid contact, and needs adjusting.

Stopping the sawhead movement before activating the hydraulic controls usually works.

[WV Sawmiller]

    I finished cutting about 2700 bf of hemlock for a client today and brought my mill home. I washed it good and the spots on the contact strip are real obvious with the sawdust gone. Hopefully the scrubby pad and emery cloth will restore contact as mentioned above by DRobertson.

    Its nearly time for my 100 hour service anyway. Probably cut some scrappy poplar tops for stickers to run out the hours.

[petefrom bearswamp]

So i guess that attention should be paid to the contact strip on a regular basis.
Mine looks really good as i looked today and have had no issues so  far, knock on wood.

[drobertson]

I'm going out on a limb here, so you all take this with a grain of salt, but several years ago, I ran into the very same condition.  It was partly due to dirt and dust build up on the shoulder bolts and springs that restricted the full movement of the shoe contactor.  On about the third check I noticed the wear on the brass pad and the bolt heads that hold the assembly were beginning to hit and show wear,  I happened to have a piece of wear plate gib material from my mold making days and made on from it, its' an alloy that plane flat don't wear for the most part, no issues ever since. now the bottom pad has to be checked the same for dust and dirt and corrosion on the bottom rail, so keep that in mind too.