Edger Capacity

[Horselog]

Does anyone have any input on edger capacity?  Wood-mizer only does up to 8/4 and only has 2 fixed feed speeds. And only does up to 15". Baker has a 12" blade option that goes up to 3.25" thick, has infinite adjustment between 0 and 100 FPM, and goes up to 18" wide. Cook's has an option to go up to 4" thick, has infinitely adjustable feed, and goes up to 21" wide. And is the cheapest.

How often do you use capacity over 2"?  I know the bulk of what I'm doing will be 2" and under, but having that larger capability feels like a good idea.

Any other thoughts on these 3 edgers?

[Banjo picker]

Big heavy timbers would be better edged on the mill, it seems to me.  I work by myself, and don't use the edger as much as i thought i would.  Just my opinion.  Banjo

[Ron Wenrich]

Depends on your orders.  I used a vertical edger, so thickness didn't play too much of an issue.  We also had a horizontal edger that went to 4" and had a 50hp electric on it.  We used it as a resaw on some thicker pieces that needed to be made into squares.  It worked OK.

Our normal cutting patterns in oak, ash and birch were no heavier than 8/4.  The edger handled that thickness, no sweat.  We also cut tulip poplar up to 16/4.  These were often in 16' logs.  The weight of the material is a little more than one guy can handle.  I usually sawed so there wouldn't be any edging on really big pieces.  My men thanked me.

[YoungStump]

 We have a Cook's edger I like the 4" capacity, we make a lot of 3.5" thick cants it really speeds us up when we're in bigger low grade logs as we'll make 3.5" flitches and send them thru the edger.
I think Woodmizer makes a good edger but I would personally hate to be limited to 15" wide, we have an extra saw collar on ours so depending what we are cutting we will set 2 of the saws 6" apart for our 1x6 and 3.5x6's and still be able to edge up to 15" grade boards between the other 2 saws.

[Horselog]

YoungStump, which engine do yo have on your edger?  And if it's a gas job, are you happy with it?

[YoungStump]

 The 34 hp Perkins diesel, I would definitely not want any less power it does ok but it's a workout if you're doing thick stuff, you need to slow it down quite a bit.

If at all possible I would go three phase, more power plus the diesel creates enough vibration that we have had some trouble with welds breaking etc. some of this can be remedied by speeding up the idle but I still think an electric would be far superior.

[Brucer]

I've heard of someone modifying the WM edger so it would saw 3" thick. The problem with that is the anti-kickback fingers had to be removed so safety would be an issue.

I tried edging some 2" Douglas-Fir on my WM and found it was too hard on the body handling that amount of weight. I use mine only for 1" and 1-1/2" material. The motor will handle the highest feed speed just fine with those thicknesses. Anything thicker I would cut on the mill.

I was never limited by the width. The 15" capacity is the maximum distance between blades. The actual opening is 24", which is the same as the maximum width my saw will cut.

I think the capacities you actually need will depend a lot on your own operation and how you intend to handle material. I wouldn't want to be handling a lot of 2" material without a full-length roller table feeding the edger.

[Dave Shepard]

Your mill should have 28.5" between rollers, and 24.5" from outside roller to the side supports.

I would like more width from my WM, but I just do that stuff on the mill. I would probably build an edger, if I was to upgrade.

[Horselog]

The 34 hp Perkins diesel, I would definitely not want any less power it does ok but it's a workout if you're doing thick stuff, you need to slow it down quite a bit.

If at all possible I would go three phase, more power plus the diesel creates enough vibration that we have had some trouble with welds breaking etc. some of this can be remedied by speeding up the idle but I still think an electric would be far superior.

So you're saying that the diesel at idle vibrates enough that there's some welds cracking?  Where and how many?

And what is the "etc." referring to?  Is there something happening other than welds breaking?

[YoungStump]

 The belt guard brackets broke, and we have had some bolts vibrate lose and fall out, also have had sprockets shake lose and come off the shaft.
The edger is a pretty basic piece of equipment so there's not much anyone with a welder and a some basic knowledge can't fix.

Also the Perkins is kinda cold blooded so your gonna want to put a block heater on it if your running it in cold weather.

[Dave Shepard]

My 26 HP CAT/Perkapiller vibrates badly as well. Had to put an updated flywheel bolt kit on, and the belt gaurd broke loose.

[Peter Drouin]

How many HRS on the edger Dave?
And tell me about the flywheel kit.

[Dave Shepard]

125 approximately. WM just sent the kit not long after we got it. . I think it was just longer bolts.

[Peter Drouin]

Is it a 2008 or newer?

[Dave Shepard]

April '08.

[Alyeska Pete]

We run a Cook's edger with 2-14" Strobe saws and a 34 horse Perkins. Our's vibrated at idle but was quickly remedied by lowering the idle speed a few RPMs. Would stick with the 14" blades even if we never ran 4" through it because they stay sharp longer and give you a little more rim speed over the 12" blades.  There have been a few times I wish it would do more than 21". We shove a lot of 2" and some 3" and 4" white and red oak through it and you have to hustle to keep it fed. No lack of power. I think a 3rd blade would slow it some. Not mention that it will bury itself in sawdust by the end of the day.

[Brad_S.]

To me, method of feed trumped depth or width restrictions. The roller feed machine (customers) I used tended to pull to the side resulting in a curved board. At the very least, I felt like I had to babysit the flitch more than when feeding my conveyor fed machine.

[4x4American]

Anyone here have or used the Baker edger?  Wonder how it stacks up. 

[Horselog]

To me, method of feed trumped depth or width restrictions. The roller feed machine (customers) I used tended to pull to the side resulting in a curved board. At the very least, I felt like I had to babysit the flitch more than when feeding my conveyor fed machine.

Who makes the roller feed machine you're talking about?

[Brad_S.]

The one I used was a Marathon. I have been out of the business for a while and not sure if they still exist. I thought WM was a roller feed too?

Edit: I just looked it up. WM is an example of a roller feed machine. Perhaps the Marathon I used was not properly aligned but it tended to pull as it fed.

[280 rem]

Anyone here have or used the Baker edger?  Wonder how it stacks up.

I run a baker edger, it performs fine, and has been great. Mine I bought used and was a few years old. The original owner must have ordered it heavy duty, as it has a 20 HP 3 phase (that baker doesn't even list as option). Has the 12" blades and the throat opened up to max. It will feed apx 3 1/8" thick and wish it would do over 4. Seems like you always need bigger than you expected. Edgeing 12/4 gets a little tricky and wish we could run our 16/4 through it. Width has hindered us a few times as well. I will upgrade to a lot bigger edger in the very near future, I think we need something with more capabilities and heavier, and think the roller in feed is superior to belt in feed like this has. It's a great machine made by a great company and does what it was designed for very well. Oh....and it will feed 8/4 walnut turned up to max speed, both blades cutting, like piece of cake.

[Lewisman]

I have the Baker with 20hp electric - plenty of power.  I rarely saw any material over 2" thickness.  I occasionally saw a few 12/4 and 16/4 slabs from exceptional logs - I edge those on the mill.  I would buy the Baker again in a heartbeat.