Useful sawmill mods

[backwoods sawyer]

 
Not having a sawmill shed, I needed a place to keep all of my sawmill tools organized and together. I built this little 4'x 8' shed that I can move around with the forklift. When I am milling here at home the tools are all handy, when I am milling on the road I back up to the shed and load the truck up and then hook onto the mill and head down the road. I put in a shelve on each side if the doorway that is deep enough and stout enough to toss a couple off heavy toolboxes, 3 chainsaws, and still have room for grease and oil. All my long tools hang from the walls, and the floor is where the crates with the chains, fuel jugs, water jugs ect, all fit. About the only thing that goes with the sawmill that I do not keep in the shed is my saws. I have a couple hanging in there for home use but all my saws are kept in the shop with the sharpening equipment.

[bandmiller2]

Backwoods,add a 5 gal pail and you could turn it into a comfort inn.Nice shed sorta like your field headquarters.Frank C.

[DR Buck]

No r

Zopi,mentioned a dead deck for a stationary mill,why not for portable??I made two real heavy saw horses to use for a dead deck.One man can move them[actally one old duffer] yet they will hold several good logs.If you walk beside your mill leave a gap and use oak pieces to roll the logs on the mill.Frank C.

No reason why not, most guys I know that have portable WM's just put a couple bunks on the ground and roll the logs up to the loader arms...

Good idea if you have a loader of some sort at the customer site.   8 out of 10 of my customers are lucky to have equipment to stack their logs before I arrive.     I don't know how many of you guys that go portable take a loader along,  but that takes a 2nd truck or at least 2 round trips to get everything there and back.    I just roll the logs with a LOGRITE cant hook into the loader arms at ground level.

[zopi]

Good idea if you have a loader of some sort at the customer site.   8 out of 10 of my customers are lucky to have equipment to stack their logs before I arrive.     I don't know how many of you guys that go portable take a loader along,  but that takes a 2nd truck or at least 2 round trips to get everything there and back.    I just roll the logs with a LOGRITE cant hook into the loader arms at ground level.

I was just talking about two 6x6 or whatever next to the loadr arms to roll the logs up on to...if the ground is soft it helps get them up, and makes it easier to clean/trim, etc...

[Dan_Shade]

I've found with portable sawing, the less junk to haul around the better.

sometimes, depending on the setup, i'll toss a slab or two down near the arms to make the logs roll onto them better.

I've determined my biggest problem in portable sawing is getting short logs to line up right for the loader, bunk supports, and backstops.

[DR Buck]

I've determined my biggest problem in portable sawing is getting short logs to line up right for the loader, bunk supports, and backstops.

You should know by now that you can't get all 3 to line up.  Best is 2 out of 3.   :D :D :D

[Dan_Shade]

the easiest way is to just say "no".  That's not in my nature, though  :-[

[vadimo]

Hello, my mods on Oscar 28:


Little cuting on blade cover. Better saw dust lose. From this time i don`t must clean it and is still safe.



I weld the nut on top of the squaring arm on logdog. This is for adjusting/tune straight square.

[Coalsmoke]

Wow, great thread guys. This kept my spare reading time taken up over the last few days. :P I'll have to get a few of my mods on my Norwood posted in the coming days.

[Magicman]

I posted this somewhere, but not on the "mod" forum.

It's just a sticky back rubber sheet that I planted on the hydraulic cover.  It keeps "stuff" from sliding off (including me when I stand on it).  Came from Harbor Freight.

[DR Buck]

I posted this somewhere, but not on the "mod" forum.

It's just a sticky back rubber sheet that I planted on the hydraulic cover.  It keeps "stuff" from sliding off (including me when I stand on it).  Came from Harbor Freight.

Good idea. But, if you use a board drag-back, it will get torn off.   The boards slide across the top of the hydraulic box.

[Magicman]

Good idea. But, if you use a board drag-back, it will get torn off.   The boards slide across the top of the hydraulic box.

Good point if you use/have it.

We have to modify to meet our own needs.  I took that board dragback off of my mill so that I could cut a larger cant.  That's been over 7 1/2 years ago.  It won't be put back.  But, that's meeting my needs.

[DR Buck]

Good idea. But, if you use a board drag-back, it will get torn off.   The boards slide across the top of the hydraulic box.

Good point if you use/have it.

We have to modify to meet our own needs.  I took that board dragback off of my mill so that I could cut a larger cant.  That's been over 7 1/2 years ago.  It won't be put back.  But, that's meeting my needs.

You are correct.  What ever meet our needs.     I added the drag-back option to my mill and use it all the time.   I do most of my sawing by myself ans having the drag-back has probably doubled my speed and eliminates lots of walking around the mill.   I drag the board back, start the next cut into the cant and while the head is traveling, I stack the board and get back to the mill in time to drag back the next board. 

[Slingshot]

On the LT15 I bought recently the previous owner had put a one foot extension on each end of the
drive side held on with a short round bar stock bolted like the original joints. The mill has the two original
bed sections but these two short sections gave the mill 2 extra feet log capacity with no additions to the
idle side rail. The hind leg rolls out on the start end and the front leg rolls out on the other end. Here is what it looks like. He didn't bother to paint them......














Here is the Mod I am doing to it, building a 7 foot bed section. Putting in 3 bunks, 2 welded in and one bolt in
like the original. I have the one bolted in the center and the other 2 ready to weld in...









________________________________
Charles

[Coalsmoke]

Ok, I think I may have this photo posting figured out. My mill is a late model Norwood Lumbermate 2000. The previous owner bought it, ran a few logs through it and decided milling was too much work.

First is an hour meter that I added in order to have a good idea of maintenance intervals, component longevity, and board footage. I'm not sure why Norwood, who labels this as a commercial mill, would not include this.





Next up is an exhaust turn up with a flapper. The mill came with just the standard side mount exhaust, which exited right around head level. Instead of sucking fumes, this turn-up shoots the fumes up above head level.




The Honda is an excellent engine. Why Norwood has decided to discontinue it in their new machines is beyond me. It costs more, but has plenty of power and as most know, these little red engines run forever. It is however cold blooded and there is apparently a cold weather kit made by Honda for it. I made this up quick and dirty style and it works very well. The rags block off the cold air intake ports that are fan injected from the motor. It leaves open the 4 warm air intake ports on the hot side of the engine. I will leave it like this for all of winter and much of spring, until about April or May when temperatures stay above 10*C.






Here is a picture with the precleaner foam installed.





I have also disconnected the choke cable. The factory system uses a solid steel core with a wound steel sleeve choke cable which really does not work very well as it binds up in the dusty sawmill environment. I found that much of the problems were caused by the choke sticking on, even when it appeared to be off. This in turn caused a lot of cold weather idling and stalling problems and spark plug fouling. By removing the choke cable, I only use the choke for about 2 seconds when first starting the Honda, and it works like a charm. I was really pulling my hair out for a while there trying to get this mill to run in the cold and damp weather. Norwood was of little help, but they were sympathetic.

[Coalsmoke]

Another mod I made to the mill was the sawdust exit chute. Norwood had an open chute, that is to say, an open rectangular hole for the sawdust to exit at its own accord. They also had a very light gauge expanded metal screen in there, which I suppose is to stop a broken bade. I suspect a blade would go right through that screen. More importantly, that screen was constantly plugging up if you were sawing hard through spruce and fir, which are fibrous and tend to produce some little stringy bits in addition to the sawdust. The second problem with this screen is that when a blade does break and gets stuck in there, you have a bit of a mouse trap there to try and get everything all straightened out. Lastly, (yes, there is another problem with it), the open chute allows sawdust to be sprayed out up to 20' away. Its great to watch, but other than that, its not very practical and makes a bit of a mess of the mill site.

My solution was to remove the factory screen and replaced it with a heavy truck mudflap, made of chord impregnated rubber. It is ridged enough that it directs the sawdust into a neat little strip about 4' wide at the side of the mill, and it is flexible which is great because when a blade breaks, you merely lift the flap up, pull the band-wheel cover off, and remove the broken blade from the wood. Simple and effective.

[Slingshot]

  Coalsmoke;

    That mudflap looks like a good idea. That sawdust not only blows out 20 feet but on a windy day it showers
the sawmiller real good. 
     I need one of those on my LM 2000. I ripped the screen out of the chute opening the second time it crammed
full of stringy shavings sawing green poplar. I realized it was stopped up when the bandwheels started re-cycling
the saw dust back through the mill. 


__________________________
Charles

[Coalsmoke]

Thanks. I just held it in with a couple of pop rivets and fender washers. Works well and doesn't interfere with the aluminum covers.

[edwardj_]

I work at a honda shop and up here we have guys running engines down to minus 40*...  never seen the ports on the air cleaner blocked off before though...  our fix is fairly easy and red green would be proud of us.  We tape off at least half of the fan intake up to pretty much all of it depending on how cold it is.  The engines are designed to stay coolish at 40*C...  a little overkill for most areas.

[Coalsmoke]

I wasn't sure of the repercussions of blocking off the fan and how much might be too much. I was concerned with uneven cooling for the cylinders. However, I figured this way I'd just eliminate the cold air from the intake and not the rest of the engine. It works well for this application. If its gets really cold out here I'll contact you for specifics on the Red Green method 

[edwardj_]

Our rule of thumb for it is if it is below freezing block half of it off...   The cooling still seems to be even.  We block the lower half of it off.  Doesnt seem to matter what HP or application the engine is used on.

[Coalsmoke]

Ok, thanks for the information. I'll make note of it should I need it in the future.

[deeker]

I wasn't sure of the repercussions of blocking off the fan and how much might be too much. I was concerned with uneven cooling for the cylinders. However, I figured this way I'd just eliminate the cold air from the intake and not the rest of the engine. It works well for this application. If its gets really cold out here I'll contact you for specifics on the Red Green method 

Sawyer Rob is not on this site....but I am....now to cause trouble....

Kevin

[Coalsmoke]

He's no trouble, he just doesn't want to get too swayed (or corrupted) by us non-conformists is all :D

[deeker]

Robert and I have been friends for about four years.  Until now....he is mad at me.  Oh, well.  I don't like the new mill.  I will go to a bigger hydraulic next time.  The new one is a bit of a joke....with out my saying too much....you know what I mean.

Kevin