I made the Jump!

[texican]

I've been lurking here for almost two months....

I had a neighbor, that's in his late 70's, that operated a WM LT-40 with full hydraulics for over a decade.  I could get all my logs sawn by him at very low rates (for years, just 20c/ft, late 2009 25c/ft) and get logs done on halfs.  Had a good working arrangement... found some good deals and we'd split the costs.  Got 4k feet of cypress in the barn on one deal, no cost, just diesel and labor.

Well, like all good things, he retired, after a cylinder failed on his backhoe, a log shifted the wrong way and buggered his shoulder up.  At the time, I didn't have the cash to buy him out.  So he sold out, and I had to go cold turkey on lumber cutting for over a year.

My work as an oil/gas landman slowed down with nat. gas prices crashing, and I decided I really needed my own mill.  Was still in the 'wishing' part of it all, when back in Sept. I noticed a lot of my large SYP started dying because of the drought.  Found another guy with a bandsaw mill, but it was close to an hour away, one way, and he was getting 35c/ft.  Hmmmmm.  A fella over on Homesteading Today told me about this site, and I started getting knowledged up.

I'm 'allergic' to debt, otherwise I'd went straight for a minimum of fully hydraulic bandsaw (the LT-35).  Ended up deciding on a WM LT-15.  Worked out my finances, so I could use cash.  And then hesitated and hesitated.  Luckily, I hesitated long enough... Woodmizer had a special, whereby diesel upgrades were half price.  I knew I was getting a diesel engine anyhow, as I have a diesel truck and tractor, and there's a diesel tank on the property.  But when I could get the 18hp diesel for about what the smaller diesel engine was going to originally cost, I made the jump, and put the order in.

Sat wrapped up for a week, before I had time off from my work, to put her together.  The manual could be a little more explicit... had to 'figger' a lot of it out.  The hard way.  Didn't get through a couple of logs before figgering out what wasn't working... took a while to figger out how to fix them problems.  Actually started dialing the WM guys for help, but I knew my father would'a worked on the problem more, before crying 'uncle'.  Reread the manual, and found some 'a'has'.

One reason I went manual was the lower price, and to see whether my 53 old bad knee could handle it.  Turns out the knees could, but the back balked at all the bending over to offload wood.  So, with not 5 hours on it, I lifted it up on crossties, to be at a more comfortable height.

I do have one mini question.......  It was at the end of the day, I'd offloaded a 16' 6"x6" beam, and moved the log dogs all the way 'out' before returning the sawhead back to the starting point.  Of course I hit the log dog handle.  Wasn't that big of a collision, as I was pushing back slowly.  Pushed both logdogs back in, so they'd clear.  Next cut, noticed cutting forward, the sawhead had a little wobble in it.  Looked at the "off side" log loading side of the frame, and all I could see was a little ding on the sawdust 'brush'.  Straightened that back up.  Cut smooth, but every now and then has that shake.

Would that shake/wobble be something related to the ding? or maybe just the log that was mostly dry, and hitting knots?  Had the water flowing...

This mill is a huge investment and I just don't want to hurt her.

I'm building a house, and know I'm going to need at least 7 or 8k more of 1x12 material, and lots of large beams.

Kicker of the whole deal is... bought the mill cause my neighbor 'retired'.  Week after the mill arrived, and I'd started assembling it, he 'unretired'... seemed his shoulder got better, and he got his second wind, and another mill, that he'd sold years before to another fella.  Believe he's turning 80 sometimes this year... know when his shoulder wasn't bothering him, he could work me into the ground!!!

[Bibbyman]

Welcome to the Forum....

I got to get back to bed... my foot's a bothering me. 

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

And Welcome to The Forum Texican  ;) ;D 8) The lt15 will be a good milll for you and I do not see it taking to long to get a return on the investment with your hose project and other things you have planed to do with it Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8)  I am like yourself about dept but it is needed sometimes for the rite reasons Mate   ;)

Regards Chris

[weisyboy]

congrats, you should be happy with it, i have no personal experiance with them bandsaws but from what iv read there a good little mill.

im sure you can upgrade the mill with extras to make life easier as you can afford to.

iv always worked on the pricipal if you cant afford it dotn buy it.

it has been good, over the last 5 years i have managed to acumulate a good deal of equipment, and if work dies off i dont have the bank hammering me for money.

as soon as i owe someone some money i dont sleep.

i must say this way of working have left me a bit tight at times but wev never gone without to feed the giant.

i know plenty of people that owe that much money that they will be flat out ever paying it back.

my uncle on just paid his mortgage off cos he kept borrowing on it, hes 82.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Welcome Texican, and congratulations on the new mill.  Don't know the LT-15 but if you say there's new wobble,  then find it,  I expect everything on it will be adjustable.  Be careful & enjoy building your house. 

[weisyboy]

why not give mizer a ring, im sure your not the first to get the mystery wobble. and if you are when you find it let them know so they can help others

[glenn molenaar]

Texican,
Good to see you on here, looking for some more of your interesting posts. Welcome to another Great site.
Glenn

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, texican.  Chances are your vibration may just be a particular log or the blade, but it never hurts to go back through your alignment procedure.  During normal sawing there is wear that you don't have yet, but being very familiar with, understanding, and making all alignments is mandatory.  

[Meadows Miller]

Gday again  ;) with the semi cantilever heads (my first  bandmill was a little jonsered setup similar to the lt10) if you knocked them about or had  the head hold down system fail when your doing 50 mph down the road whilst watching the head unit sailing of into the scrub in the mirrors   >:( >:( #$@! if your out rigger guides get alittle out of parralel to the track the wheels  can bind causing  the carriage to get a jerky feed going i would check that first as they are only a lite setup to carry the weight of the head and are pretty simple to get back and running true again Mate  ;)

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Texican!

[Texas Ranger]

Hey, Texican, welcome to the board.  Being a Texan I am curious to where you call home, fill in some of your profile so we can get a look at cha.

[KyTreeFarmer]

Welcome to the Forum Texican. I have that same little wobble sometimes. I keep a whisk broom handy to sweep of the rails and around those wipers. Also try to keep the rails wiped down with transmission fluid. Seems to cure it for me. I love my LT15, am sure you will enjoy yours.
KTF

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Welcome Tex.....I've been on here a little over a week. Check this site everyday. You'll be surprised what you can learn. I was and learn something new everyday!

[Buck]

Welcome Texican from just downstream a lil bit

[AndyC]

Welcome and Congratulations on the mill ..... it has to feel great  8)  - I am just coming out of the wishing and hesitation parts you mentioned so I can undertand and can't wait to pull the trigger (within 2 months).  Good luck and have fun. 

[fred in montana]

I have an LT 15 and hve wacked the handle a few times while rolling. It never seemed to have hurt anything.

Since I don't have hydraulics, I am doing everything I can to minimize the wear and tear on the body.

I mostly cut log cabin timbers.

Mill up at a comfortable height.
Log deck level with the bed gets loaded with tractor front end loader.
Slab pile positioned to allow me to slide the slabs down the cant and pivot toward the stack then continue sliding. Avoid carrying them.
I am adding winch powered clamp, turner, leveler, and back stops.

[Warren]

Texican,

Welcome to the forum.  I started out with an LT15 with a 10 hp Yanmar diesel and it cut everything I asked it to. Without a problem.  The 18hp diesel oughta be the real deal on an LT15.

Regarding the wiggle/wobble/vibration...  One quick and easy check on a Woodmizer (or any other band mill) is to swap out the blade with a new one.  If the problem goes away, you know it was the blade.  If not, you are only out 5 minutes time to swap the blade.

Good luck on tracking it down...

Warren
 

[taw6243]

Check for junk in the v belt groove

[Slingshot]

   texican, I doubt that your bump would have harmed the mill even a little. I owned an Lt15 and
know they are a tough mill.
   Anytime we bump something, drop something or ding something we always expect damage
and will notice every little move looking for it and notice things we never noticed before even
though they were always there. Your little wobble is probably, like you said, just the dry wood
and knots.  Keep on cuttin' that wood!   smiley_chop

______________________
Charles