woodmizer outriggers

[Dan_Shade]

I keep the roll behind the seat of my truck

[backwoods sawyer]

One thing to remember is that not all of use are running a WM mill just like what every one else has so the weight distribution is not the same on all mills. I use the same method as Dan Shade however I have 300 lb of tongue weight and step #9 just dose not quite happen.
Course it don't matter much which way the TP roll faces if it never gets used.
Same with the jacks on the mill if they never get used then it don't matter much, use them everyday and it don't take long to figure out that there is a better way of doing things. Kinda like stuffing pills down a horse's throat when you could just add it to the grain.

Something else about these jacks is there tendency to fail, especially the front jack. With the weight of the saw head on and off the front of the mill the pin works its way out and when the head comes back the front of the mill is sitting on the ground. This has happened to me once and to another mill locally. WM sent me some add on keepers that flip up and help to hold the pin. Even with them on I had a middle leg drop while towing the mill across a cow pasture.

Is there room for improvement on these jacks?
Absolutely.
Do the fine adjustment jacks address the issues that are being posted here?
No, they just replace a $5.00 wedge.     

[DR Buck]

I use Dan Shade's method as well.  It works great for me.    The only problem I've had with the outriggers is I've lost the cap off the front one twice now and it fills with sawdust and bark.  When that happens, the handle is hard to get into the holes and sometimes the pin will not seat.

Tonight while I was hooking up to the truck for a job tomorrow morning I raised the tongue end way up and removed the front outrigger completely to knock out the sawdust so I could adjust it.    It works great again.

[Magicman]

I keep a few caps on the truck.  Even with the caps on, I occasionally have to just remove the jack completely and wash them out.  That's just part of it.   ;)

[StephenRice]

Maybe I am just mistaken, but wouldn't it be a lot easier to just mount some HD trailer jacks mounted on swivel plates?  Of course, they couldn't be the cheap flimsy ones, but some of those heavy duty ones that could easily swivel up for transport sound like an easy solution to a seemingly big hassle of a setup process.  They might cost a little bit, but nowhere near the thousand dollars WM wants for their upgrade jacks. 

Harbor Freight has 2,000 lb. top-wind swivel mount jacks for sale for $19.99 each.  Seems like a simple solution to an aggravating problem to me.  Am I missing something here?

[Gary_C]

  Am I missing something here?

Yep. Try mounting one of those top-wind swivel mount jacks on that frame and not saw the top-wind mechanism off or bend it with the first large log you roll on the deck.

[customsawyer]

I have to go with woodbowl on this one in that I don't think there is a jack out there that would work any better or hold up as long. I have added a couple of extra jacks on the front of my stationary mill that have the side wind on them so that I wouldn't cut them off and I will just tell you that they don't hold up to the regular pounding that the WM jacks take. I don't think I own a single piece of equipment that I haven't made modifications on to make it work for me and the way that I use it.

[Bill Gaiche]

StephenRice, I have those very jacks on my home made mill, 6 ea. They arent the quality that i would use on a larger mill and especally if i was trying to make a living with it. They work just fine for me because its no way as heavy as the LT28 and larger. But they have jacks on the market that will work. Just cost more $$.bg

[Bill Gaiche]

Did i just miss some kind of warning? bg

[Bodger]

Magicman, do you take the whole assembly off to remove the jack post? 

[Magicman]

Magicman, do you take the whole assembly off to remove the jack post? 

Yes,  there are only 4 bolts holding the jack assembly on.  Really, that is the only way that you can empty the inside 4 jacks.  There is a hole in the bottom of the jack pad which aids with washing them out.

I saw 100% portable, and I have no problem with the WM jacks.  Sure, sometimes I have to dig down, sometimes I have to slip a board under one, sometimes I even have to pull a tire up on a 2X12.  but that is no big deal.  I carry several and don't always find all of them when I move.



I remove a square plug which is saved and returned to the hole when I finish the saw job.

[DR Buck]

Magicman,    Looks like the Wood-Mizer could use  a little paint.  smiley_safety_glasses

[StephenRice]

StephenRice, I have those very jacks on my home made mill, 6 ea. They arent the quality that i would use on a larger mill and especally if i was trying to make a living with it. They work just fine for me because its no way as heavy as the LT28 and larger. But they have jacks on the market that will work. Just cost more $$.bg

Obviously, the right jacks would have to be used.  I think that they would have to be at least 2,000#, I would imagine.  The 1,000# jacks would be too flimsy.  I have a 5,000# jack on my dump trailer, and that would be more than strong enough, even massive overkill.  That is the size used on large gooseneck trailers.

[backwoods sawyer]

The biggest hassle with the jacks is that the front jack is used several times during the set up process and with the added weight of the command control on the front of the mill it can take a couple try's to get it to lift just one hole. Installing a hydraulic cylinder that swivels out of the way just for the purpose of lifting and lowering the front of the mill during set up would make set up of the larger heavier mills much easier and safer. Let that bar slip out of the hole and see how quick the front of the mill is sitting in the dirt! However to be able to use the hydraulics the head has to be at the front of the mill. However that issue could be taken care of in a couple of way as has been discussed in other posts by adding a second hot rail or running a heavy duty battery wire thru the agus track. The over all cost to do the up grade would be relatively inexpensive. Not to mention that the front jack would not have wallered out holes that allows the pins to fail because they cannot sit squarely in the holes. Besides they are touted as being hydraulic mills and yet the set up is still very much manual.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Would just putting a fine adjust outrigger on front help out with most of the problems?    I think the jacks are very effective for what they are.  However my biggest difficulty is probably with the second (inside) one from the front on the main  rail, if I have to apply much force to it then the angle for me makes operating it very difficult.  Also I have to use the front one on the outside sometimes to raise and lower the front of the mill, if the ground is sloping towards the back of the mill, the front outrigger needs to be set very close to the ground and runs out of holes. Seems like both problems would be solved by being able to crank the very front one up and down over its full length.  Still leaves the problem of having to dig out enough for the second ones back so they go below the bed rails.

[customsawyer]

Backwoods Sawyer I don't know about your mill since it is a prototype mill but on the remote LT70 I have there is a ground strip on the back of the mill so you can operate your hyd. from the both ends.

[backwoods sawyer]

Backwoods Sawyer I don't know about your mill since it is a prototype mill but on the remote LT70 I have there is a ground strip on the back of the mill so you can operate your hyd. from the both ends.

That was a feature that was added after mine was built. Although a full-length hot rail would solve the issue as well, and they are available in 20' sections from local sawmill scrap yards.

[StephenRice]

Pardon me if I am wrong, but from looking closely at the pics of those fine adjust outriggers in the WM catalog, they are nothing more than top-wind jacks with adjustable (extendable) legs.

[Magicman]

A little more than that.   The initial adjustment is "quick set" as seen in the last part of the video.  That is one heavy duty jack. 

http://www.woodmizer.com/us/sawmills/options/fineadjustoutriggers.aspx

[Qweaver]

I looked at the WM jacks today and they are good looking units.  But at $209 each X 6 = $1254 plus shipping...I think I'll just put a top wind 5000 lb drop leg jack on each end of the saw.  This will make it very easy to adjust the standard outriggers.  I ordered 2 of them today @ $85 each with free shipping.

[StephenRice]

Not really, MM.  I just looked at the video and they worked exactly like they looked in the picture.  They are like mini versions of the jack that I have on the front of my dump trailer.  My jack is a 5K#.  The ones on the WM FAO look to be maybe half of that.  Someone is manufacturing those jacks, and I doubt that they are doing it just for WM.

[D Hagens]

Hi guys, I just watched a vid of an LT 50 with fine adjustments, looks pretty slick and simple.
So I can better understand the way your outriggers are and what the differences between the old and new are can someone explain?

   Hello guys Can we back up the boat a bit and give me an answer here please

[Qweaver]

Hi guys, I just watched a vid of an LT 50 with fine adjustments, looks pretty slick and simple.
So I can better understand the way your outriggers are and what the differences between the old and new are can someone explain?

   Hello guys Can we back up the boat a bit and give me an answer here please

The easiest thing for you to do would be to go to the WM online site and look at the pictures.

[D Hagens]

I did but an explanation from one that uses them and has issues about them would be better. On the site they don't knock their own products. :D Hence the reason for asking here.

[StephenRice]

I have to make a humble pie retraction here.  I just went out to look at my dump trailer jack, and it is a massive Fulton 12K# unit, NOT a 5K# jack as I thought.  I also did a little looking around on the net, and it appears that the WM FAO setup is made up of Bulldog top wind jacks in the 5K, 8K, or 10K class, or something similar.  The 10K jacks can be purchased online for about $111 each from Trailer Parts Superstore.