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Log turner

Started by Lonely Sawer, September 07, 2016, 09:12:04 PM

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Lonely Sawer

Hey all. Looking for some vids or pic's of log turners. I'm building my own and need some ideas. I have a Norwood
LM29 and going to add hydraulics to it, and log turner is on the list. Help Me, please. thanks in advance.
Norwood LM29
Sthil 020 16" bar
Sthil 039  24" bar
Kubota L3130 HST W/Backhoe
78 Ford F-800 Boom truck
2017 Ram Laramie Longhorn 3500 Cummins 4x4 crew
Yamaha Viking SXS

ladylake


I'd build a chain turner as they work great turning those snarly logs. Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

fishfighter

Got this  :P. Looking to build one this winter.

sandsawmill14

the only problem with the chain turners is on  the smaller mills the bed rails are to  close together so the turner is to short to work good i ran into this on my hudson mill but the timberking and s & w both have chain turners and steve is right if there is room to get it in there thats what you want they work good and fast :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

Satamax

French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

AlaskaLes

I've got dual bi-directional chain turners on my mill and the only thing it ever has an issue with is the occasional small quarter of a log that is less than 6"wide with the round face down towards the turning arms. 
Once in a while I'll have to scoot the 1/4 log away from the knee rail and flip it 1/4 turn manually.  after that it gets a good grab/turn again. 
Other than that, they work great and I wouldn't really change a thing, as they run perfect about 99.5 percent of the time.
You can see Mt McKinley from our backyard...Up Close!!

Mighty Mite MK 4B, full-hyd, diesel bandmill
Kubota 4wd 3650GST w/FEL; Forks;
3pt Log Arm& Log trailer
Husky 394XP
Husky 371XP
Husky 353
Echo 330T
Nyle 200M
Robar RC-50 50BMG-just in case the trees get out of line

Lonely Sawer

But I don't see any vid's or pics. Chain roller ain't out, just need a visual.
Norwood LM29
Sthil 020 16" bar
Sthil 039  24" bar
Kubota L3130 HST W/Backhoe
78 Ford F-800 Boom truck
2017 Ram Laramie Longhorn 3500 Cummins 4x4 crew
Yamaha Viking SXS

ladylake

 
Go on youtube, most higher end mills are using chain turners.  Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

Ga Mtn Man

The Norwood HD36 has a chain turner option.  You can see it on the HD36 video, part 2.  Also Cook's, TimberKing and Wood-Mizer LT50,70.  As ladylake said, lots of videos on youtube.
"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.

ozarkgem

Here is what I built. Very simple and works very well. I have turned max size logs on my mill with it. I can operate the horizontal and vertical cylinders independently so I can move them as the log rolls. I have a swivel pin on the vertical cylinder that lets it pivot as the log rolls . works good. Anything small than 6" I turn by hand or with the movable dogs. I made a chain turner but just didn't have the room where it needed to go so saving it for my next build. I used a 10" stroke on the vertical cylinder.12" would work better but didn't have the room. The thing that improved the turning the most was putting bearings on the back stop. Amazing how something round can hang up. Not anymore. I would say it works perfect 98% of the time. Beats doing it by hand.

  

  

  

  

  
Mighty Mite Band Mill, Case Backhoe, 763 Bobcat, Ford 3400 w/FEL , 1962 Ford 4000, Int dump truck, Clark forklift, lots of trailers. Stihl 046 Magnum, 029 Stihl. complete machine shop to keep everything going.

sandsawmill14

Quote from: Satamax on September 08, 2016, 01:33:20 PM
Quote from: sandsawmill14 on September 08, 2016, 07:03:22 AMthats what you want they work good and fast :)

Even on cants?

mine works fine on cants down to 6" smaller than that its hit or miss but when they are that small the offbearer can usually flip with 1 hand anyway :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

pineywoods

Try this. Pretty good claw turner plus it functions very nicely as a log clamp

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,39860.0.html
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

fishfighter

Myself, I would like to stay with a 12v system using wenches. I just so happen to have a few laying around.

plowboyswr

Quote from: fishfighter on September 09, 2016, 06:05:37 AM
Myself, I would like to stay with a 12v system using wenches. I just so happen to have a few laying around.

@Yellowhammer had a turner that was powered by a winch on one of his past mills. A LT15 if I remember right.

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=104020

Bingo found it. :)
Just an ole farm boy takin one day at a time.
Steve

YellowHammer

Quote from: fishfighter on September 09, 2016, 06:05:37 AM
Myself, I would like to stay with a 12v system using wenches. I just so happen to have a few laying around.
This claw turner was very easy to build and worked great.  It would roll some monsters, like this big white oak.  I ran it on a 3,000 lb, lightweight 12V winch, and I once installed it, hardly ever had to use a cant hook.  I made the horizontal arm with a pulley on the end, and it would almost go all the way across the bed section.  Then I made the claw arm so it would be adjustable back and forth until I found the sweet spot for turning most logs and pinned it and rarely ever moved it again.  The cable was set so it would go back to the winch and I never burnt out a winch or broke a cable.  You can see the claw engaging the log in the picture getting ready to turn it.
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

4x4American

Quote from: sandsawmill14 on September 08, 2016, 06:59:28 PM
Quote from: Satamax on September 08, 2016, 01:33:20 PM
Quote from: sandsawmill14 on September 08, 2016, 07:03:22 AMthats what you want they work good and fast :)

Even on cants?

mine works fine on cants down to 6" smaller than that its hit or miss but when they are that small the offbearer can usually flip with 1 hand anyway :)

Thats where having a two plane clamp (that goes above the bed high enough) works great.  I think I use my clamp to turn/flip more than the claw turner.  I've grown accoustomed to the claw turner, but, if I had an option, I would put a chain turner on it.  And vertical stops.  I should have bought a 50 lol
Boy, back in my day..

fishfighter

Quote from: plowboyswr on September 09, 2016, 09:21:42 PM
Quote from: fishfighter on September 09, 2016, 06:05:37 AM
Myself, I would like to stay with a 12v system using wenches. I just so happen to have a few laying around.

@Yellowhammer had a turner that was powered by a winch on one of his past mills. A LT15 if I remember right.

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=104020

Bingo found it. :)

Thanks, that is what I was looking for.

Yellowhammer, anymore close up pictures of it? Thanks.

Also love your log deck.

sandsawmill14

i have never used the claw turners but the only problem i  can see from the videos is it is to slow for me i wouldnt have the patience for  :-\  but if i wasnt production sawing i think it would fine :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

YellowHammer




The claw turners aren't the fastest, but they sure beat a cant hook.  Also, the speed will be dependent on the winch, the faster the winch, the faster the operation. 

You can see from the picture where the cable loops to the turner, just run it through the pulleys and hook it on.  No mods needed for the winch.

The spring keeps the teeth pressed against the log to allow it to get successive bites.

I also made a hydraulic 2 plane clamp, the pics are in my gallery.  However, it started as a simple winch drive clamp that shuttled back and forth on the crossbar.  So I could rotate the logs with one winch, then clamp the log with the other.  I eventually just took the manual sawmill clamps off and used the winch clamp all the time. 
Only later did I add the up/down to the clamp to turn it into a 2 plane.  This is a view from the bottom of the shuttle clamp, after I added the hydraulic ram.  However if you ignore all that extra hardware hanging down, you can see how the shuttle moves back and forth on the crossbar.  I got the idea from watching my garage door opener, and imagining that the attachment that clips to the garge door, was a log clamp.  Press the winch button one way, the clamps moves inward, press the winch button the other way, the clamp moves outward. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Percy

Just wish list stuff, but dual bi-directional turners would be the bomb. My chain turner works great but the log has to be properly positioned on the mill, too far forward or back makes the job a bit more tedious. Im just being picky.... One thing I noticed about the claw turners is by their design,method, whatever of turning, once you have a cant, they prertty much clean the bunks off as you are turning it. My chain turner leaves crap on the bunks always and... as you know,  you gotta clean it off or make wrongsized lumber.... ;D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

fishfighter

Thanks again Yellowhammer.

sandsawmill14

Quote from: Percy on September 10, 2016, 11:56:01 AM
Just wish list stuff, but dual bi-directional turners would be the bomb. My chain turner works great but the log has to be properly positioned on the mill, too far forward or back makes the job a bit more tedious. Im just being picky.... One thing I noticed about the claw turners is by their design,method, whatever of turning, once you have a cant, they prertty much clean the bunks off as you are turning it. My chain turner leaves crap on the bunks always and... as you know,  you gotta clean it off or make wrongsized lumber.... ;D

that is a problem with the chain turners especially in the late spring when the bark is loose  :-\ swell butts also give some trouble because it just picks up 1 end and the log doesnt want to roll just ride up an down ::)  i think the best setup would be twin chain turners with a claw turner in the center between them ;D  but not very cost effective though :(
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

4x4American

That would be a good setup, Sands.  But don't ya think a twin chain turner could turn just about anything?
Boy, back in my day..

bandmiller2

I built a two plain clamp/turner much like Ozarkgem's. Mine has the spike that turns the log flush with the top of the square upright tube which allows me to clamp and cut a 1" board. My two plain does all my clamping. To level a log on the bed I will lift it with the two plain and put a piece of sticking under it. A chain turner is faster but involves a lot of expensive machinery. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

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