WM bed design

[JVK]

I've had the new LT50 for a year and a half now. I like it a lot and learning new ways to push it harder to produce. The bed design has me a little baffled sometimes. There are 4 heavy duty bed rails in the middle 8' section of the mill frame leaving only 2 smaller swinging rails to share the rest of the 13' of log and cant support. It's not an issue cutting 16' and shorter logs but I cut 20' plus 1" and 2" material. When the two swinging rails are moved toward the ends of the cant there is 2' of unsupported wood. I get thick and thin at the ends. My previous bandmill had a welded bed rail every 4'. Good support to 31'.

With all the time saver features this mill has, cutting long logs is a bit tricky sometimes.

[Bibbyman]

 

ElectricAl added an old style short swinging bed at each end of his new LT50.

[mikeb1079]

jvk are your longer cants bowing up/down on you?

[JVK]

Cutting timbers is not a problem when not supported. A stack of 1" and 2" cutting to the deck the ends always droop down if the bed rail is 2' from the end. I'm not a big fan of these small swinging rails. As the pics shows, the mill frame has a dimple from a log or a big cant rolling around. Not sure how I'll fix that. It wouldn't take long to wipe out the small support rail Bibbyman posted. When I started using this mill I didn't pay close attention to these swing rails. I do now!

 

[Leigh Family Farm]

Have you talked to WM about a solution? They seem to be pretty ingenious people and might have an answer for you.

[scully]

I did a repair on an LT 70 that was near new and the swing suports had rounded the bed frames in like shown ,I welded 1/4 stainless plate on the suport surface for the rail leg to slide on there was plenty of adjustment for the bed rail with the added thickness . I saw the mill a couple years later and that repair looked like the day I did it ! I can't say the same for the mill it was rode hard and put away wet !

[JVK]

Dealer said to fill with weld and grind flat. Scully nailed it. Stainless slide plate is a great idea. That would spread the load on the mill frame. There is a lot of pounds per sq. in. on that swing bed bolt when a heavy log or cant is crashing around on the mill deck.

[JustinW_NZ]

I have the same problem, the rail has pushed down and now the little swing arms don't level out right.
I also like the idea of inserting a stainless slide plate.

I was going to crack out the TIG and fill with weld otherwise and grind up flat, but I haven't yet as i'm slightly worried about heating the rail and having sawdust burn in the frame, anyone had that happen?

Cheers
Justin

[isawlogs]

 Theres a healthy reply from a dealer if ever I heard one.. :   Filling with weld won't help or fix the issue, you need to put a plate there and weld it, if you fill that with weld and grind it flat it is only a matter of time before that beam cracks at the edge.... Who ever told you to weld it and gring it has little knowledge of how steel reacts.
I would sujest a 1/2'' plate if you have enough space to adjust the swing arm after it is in place.

[Bibbyman]

Pardon my question but what are you sawing or how are you using your mill to inflict this kind of damage?  Our 2002 LT40 frame is substantial the same and we use it hard but never had this kind of damage.

We ran a 1994 model LT40 with even lighter frame and swinging bed supports for over 7 years and never had this damage.

[isawlogs]

 I don't beleive its a usage issue but more a design flaw as there are three different mills on this thread alone with that same problem, I doubt that three different owners are abusing there mills....  Maybe, but unlikely.

[wwsjr]

I have never had this problem bending frame tubing on 3 mills, 02 LT40 Manual, 04 LT40 HD, and 06 LT40 Super in the past 10 years. I have loaded several 40" X 16' logs, SYP and cypress. Had to help claw turner with FEL forks. I have never had a problem with up to 20' logs "drooping" on the ends. Of course relieving stress causes cant to move if flat sawing at times. I leave the movable bed support at 90* from main rail until I saw to a cant, I then raise cant with toeboards, swing toward rail and backstops. With a 20' long 12" X 12" cant I can support up to 17', only leaves 1 1/2' on each end. Smaller cants a few more inches.

[isawlogs]

 Not the same design.  ;)

[SAWMILL BUDDY]

When I picked up my mill and Marty was going over everything, I was told to swing those arms out of the way when loading big logs. I mill logs over 40" die all the time and I don't have any damage.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Thick and thin on the ends of 20' flexible lumber (1", 2") can be a different problem than the same with stiff beams.  The alignment procedure is to adjust the bed rails to the blade which will take care of the former. Mill setup to jack the crown out of the main rail takes care of the latter. We tend to think of our mill beds as long straightedges, but they're not, unless set up to be so.  The properly aligned mill will cut boards of uniform thickness , but it takes this and a straight frame to cut uniformly thick very long beams.

[Peter Drouin]

Cutting timbers is not a problem when not supported. A stack of 1" and 2" cutting to the deck the ends always droop down if the bed rail is 2' from the end. I'm not a big fan of these small swinging rails. As the pics shows, the mill frame has a dimple from a log or a big cant rolling around. Not sure how I'll fix that. It wouldn't take long to wipe out the small support rail Bibbyman posted. When I started using this mill I didn't pay close attention to these swing rails. I do now!

 

Thats from dropping logs on the mill and not using the loader, I have had 3 WM for over 24 years and never saw that, all I can say is WOW :

[barbender]

I know that the previous owner of my mill abused it plenty, he built log houses and used the mill to flatten big logs that were longer than the bed. And yet, no dents like that. What part of the story isn't being told here?

[JustinW_NZ]

I can only speak about my mill.
The previous owner well, all I can say that's nice he picked a nice mill to buy...  :'(

I suspect he was dropping logs onto the deck hard and leaving the two swing rails out so they got hit hard and bent things.
Mine are no where near as bent as the ones in the photo first off.
I've since loaded and cut "monster logs" and not bent them any further as far as I can see, so I think careless operator/s are to blame smiley_dizzy

So I don't think if I would call it a "mill issue" as opposed to operator error or abuse?

I'm just keen to figure out the best way to tweak things back into that perfect alignment  :P

Cheers
Justin

[Brucer]

Wood-Mizer says to swing the end supports in parallel to the main frame when loading a log. Once in a long while I've forgotten -- the butt end of the log definitely tries to drive down that supporting bolt. I can see where doing this over and over will bend the tube.

I estimated that I've put about 3000 logs onto my present mill, ones long enough to sit on the end supports. There is no sign of the frame being distorted.

It's a nuisance swinging those supports out of the way each time you load a log, especially if you're working alone, but in the end it's worth it.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to swing them in and out remotely (but not with hydraulics).

[JVK]

I have no idea when that dent happened. It's in the 90 degree position and I did not know about moving them out of the way when loading logs. I've been milling lumber for over 30 years and I know a little bit about it. This new LT50 with the hyd, remote control, Accuset and such however was a new experience for me. Picture me turning a big log for the first few times. Do you think it's possible I messed up at first? Just when I thought I had it figured, I would move the lever in when I should have moved it out. What ever I was moving, would come crashing down and we get to try agian. I didn't drop a log from 30,000'. Could a flare butt or a knot at just the right place, hitting that swinging support bolt do this? Maybe this dent occured when I lowered the mill head down without swinging the debarker out of the way.

 
Look at this photo. Log is 22' and with the bed ex I can put the butt on a heavy duty bed rail. There is 9' 6" between the mill main rail and the bed ex rail. The only support in that space is a swinger rail. Take 2' off the log and no bed ex. That swing rail has a lot of work to do, don't you think?

[jcbrotz]

Seriously did you break the bolts that hold the swing arm to the main frame. If the swing arm did that then the had to have stretched pretty good, bend at the main frame or bend the pivot arm, something else had to suffer the some consiquences also for a hit or several large hits like that. Lastly is that damage only on one end or are both swings damages? I quess this ?? is for any of the 3 with this issue.

[bandmiller2]

I believe the problem is caused by large logs butt swell when loaded and turned.The swingers are not needed until you get to overhanging boards and are best left in their folded position until needed.In the years I ran the LT-70 I don't recall ever using them or needing them as the long stuff was dimention and self supporting. Frank C.

[Peter Drouin]

Ya your loading from the back side with the lull and dropping the log. next you will be hitting the back sawports and bending them, Is what I see, 30 years, good luck with the mill

[Leigh Family Farm]

So a lot of responses are "How could you do that? I've never done that on mine." and others are "You did something wrong, because the machine is great." Maybe its just me and my way of thinking, but we all should be focusing on a solution, not the problem. The rail is bent, so let's fix the rail first then worry about how it got that way.

My apologies if this comment irks you, but it irks me when only two comments give a solution to the original question. Provide a viable solution first then you can make all the comments you want about the problem.

[scully]

I have seen 100's of used and old mills go through WM ,I have been called on to do weld repairs on many ! I have only ever plate that kind of damage on 1 mill ! It was my call on how to do it and choice of material . I chose stainless for obvious reasons . The mill I did this to was abused in no small manor ! Logs were dropped hard on the deck from when it was new ! The swing supports were left out and never considered when loading ! I would not even consider filling the indent with weld ! that is not the right repair ! It comes down to one simple solution ,be careful when loading big stuff ! There is no flaw in the WM bed ,it's a portable saw mill not a stationary made out of railroad iron !