The Forestry Forum

Well, it happened again.....my log clamp stayed 'up'  despite  the lever telling it to go down.   So I  a) reversed (180 degrees) the  little piston attached to the lever   b)made sure the  hose to the  clamp piston was  flexing  c) greased every nipple in the area  and   d) removed the  clamp piston  from the  clamp assembly.
    The piston worked perfectly once I detached it. So the fault was in the  big cylinder with the  clamp on top.  I assume that it should move up and down  freely, but it did not. I could back it down, about 1/2" at a time by banging in it with a a pipe wrench, but  that  seems like an extreme and possibly destructive strategy.
   I was left wondering if somehow I had gotten an ever-so-slight  bend in the cylinder which cause it to bind in that  square metal housing  which it passes through in its  up or down travels.
   So, hoping for a miracle,  I rebolted the  piston to the clamp, and now the  unit works (although sometimes I have to go up  before  it goes down).
     Isn't that big piston supposed to slide  freely through its housing?  What's in that housing?  Snakes?   I'm afraid to open it up!

   

What mill is this on?

OOps!  I meant to mention...it's my  Woodmizer  HD40.

When I had the same problem with the horizontal tube, ATF helped a lot. There is nothing special in the clamp box, just brass tubes and seals.

My clamp sticks once in a while, up/down usually, side-to-side sometimes. I spray them with a dry teflon lube when it happens (or whenever I grease the mill) and the problem goes away.

Sounds like pitch residue on the cylinder . I always have a squirt bottle of ATF , but if yours is that stuck I would soak it in blue creeper first .  It's not a serious problem just a part that needs a little lube now and then .

Thanks, guys.  I figured it was  just seals but was amazed how stuck the  part was.  I'll try dry lube first....