new mill preventive maintenance

[Finn1903]

I just picked up my new mill, a 2012 WM LT40 SH, and have it set up in my make shift log yard. 
Now that I have my investment at home and ready to work, what suggestions would you all have to make sure my mill will give me the years of reliable service?  Tip and tricks for maintenance on a new mill right from the factory?
I have a console cover, and a good tarp for when the mill is not being used, plus a bottle of ATF to spray down the mill.  Any thing else you have found useful?
I have the rest of the year off from my day job to run the mill and learn.  If I mill up all the logs I have then I can start on the pole barn or mending fences, but not as fun as running the mill.

[mikeb1079]

man a brand new super hydraulic.  too cool. 

for starters read this thread:

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,19439.0.html

lots of good info there.

[Magicman]

Wow Finn1903, you hit the ground running for sure, and congratulations on the new WM.  I would not change anything that WM recommended as far as general upkeep and service. 

A leaf blower is a good item to clean the sawmill after a day's sawing.  Wet clinging sawdust is holding moisture as well as the acids, etc. that are in the log.  This will promote rust, etc, which will gradually erode any metal that it clings to.  A good hosing down is good, but I find that my sawmill is seldom close to a source of water.

I try to schedule a factory service every 3 years, and have already done so for March, 2013.

[Bibbyman]

Start off with good grease.  I used cheap general purpose grease and soon found most of the zerts clogged.  If Wood-Mizer is still using the pressed in zerts, they can't be removed and cleaned out. Put enough pressure on them and they will blow out. I'm collecting them like baby teeth. I only have a few that will take grease, I need to go through the mill and drill and tap and replace with threaded zerts. And use good grease.

[thecfarm]

Finn1903,congrats on the new mill. Ever been around a mill before? Building a barn and fences with the mill I see. What else?

[bandmiller2]

Finn,the first and best thing you can do is build a roof over your mill,it can be a simple open sided shed.If you keep the sun,rain and snow off it it will have a long happy life.As suggested keep it blown off damp or wet sawdust will rust,especially in the pockets. Any mill worth having is worth a roof. Frank C.

[Kingcha]

When I order my mill I am also going to get one of these to set mine up under.   http://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/versatubes-carports-shelters/metal-carports-shelters-frame-only/c-5865.htm

This way if I need to move the shed I it can be done rather easy.

[Chuck White]

First off, Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Finn 1903

Congratulations on your new mill!

Here's another good Forestry Forum thread for you to review, lots of good info.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,16303.0.html

Almost Forgot:  There should be a Maintenance Log in your operators manual, keep that updated.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I suggest you blow the frame full of red pepper and skip over any mouse problems.   An ounce or two at each frame opening front and back, and on the sides, with gentle puffs from a leaf blower or air hose.  Once a year or so.

http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Appeal-Cayenne-Pepper-80-Ounce/dp/B003YEYX5W/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1356355194&sr=8-15&keywords=cayenne+pepper

[harrymontana]

Wow Finn1903, you hit the ground running for sure, and congratulations on the new WM.  I would not change anything that WM recommended as far as general upkeep and service. 

A leaf blower is a good item to clean the sawmill after a day's sawing.  Wet clinging sawdust is holding moisture as well as the acids, etc. that are in the log.  This will promote rust, etc, which will gradually erode any metal that it clings to.  A good hosing down is good, but I find that my sawmill is seldom close to a source of water.

I try to schedule a factory service every 3 years, and have already done so for March, 2013.

we don't use a portible sawmill but the principles are the same:
while sawing we spray constantly with a hose water on the sawing blade not just for cleaning but when you have clinging sawdust this is also bad for the quality of your boards (thick will start to vay between boards and within the same board). So it is for maintenance and quality of your baords.
Then I ready something about greasing, that is true, but don't forget that sawdust together with grease overtime is really very very hard cook to be removed

[Chuck White]

In the manual for my mill, it lists intervals for greasing.

Most of the greasing is for 50 hour intervals.

Just grease until you see old grease start to move out!

If you over-grease, you will have sawdust clinging all over your mill!

[drobertson]

Merry Christmas Finn! I have read all the post and agree with all of them, and I have to say, I am quite sure that you did not but this mill without some knowledge of equipment.  this said, follow the specs for lube requirements. I did the same as you, and bought a 30'X50' tarp to cover mine. it took two years before I built a shed, and a shed is the way to go.  I made a few mistakes on the log entry opening, so if you build one make sure to allow for the slight offset on the log loading of the mill. Meaning, the opening will have to be more to the operator side by about two feet,  and by this I mean for cutting 20'+ logs, otherwise  there is no real issue,
:christmas: david

[Jasperfield]

Get a wheel boot and some insurance for the mill.

Congratulations on the new saw!

Where in NC are you? From the photo's it looks like you're East of the Fall Line. The land of the Longleaf Pine.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
we see many customers miss the grease fitting that is for the clutch piviot. It should be greased every 50 hours. The engine drive belt is also an area that needs to be checked after the first 5 hours then every 50 hours from that point. If you do not have a drive belt tension tool it would be a great investment. Rotate the wheel belts every 50 hours from drive to idle side and turn so the outside is now the inside edge. The other thing I see is customers forget to back off the blade tension before they put the mill away. This sometimes makes the gauge read 500 + when there is not pressure on the blade,  so it is not acurate.
Hope this helps. Enjoy your new mill.
Marty

[customsawyer]

Congrats on the new mill.

[Banjo picker]

If there is ANYWHERE that the hyd lines rub the frame , each other etc. I would wrap them with somekind of wrap....heater hose anything that could prevent premature failure....Banjo

[Finn1903]

Thanks for all the tips, links and pointers.  I milled with a friend up the road  who has a WM super, picked up the bug from him.  My plans are to use the mill to continue building our farm from what I started milling with him. 
The mill is quickly becoming the most rewarding piece of equipment on our farm.

Where in NC are you? From the photo's it looks like you're East of the Fall Line. The land of the Longleaf Pine.

We are near Durham. Land of sweet gum, pine and oak.

[Leigh Family Farm]

I suggest you blow the frame full of red pepper and skip over any mouse problems.   An ounce or two at each frame opening front and back, and on the sides, with gentle puffs from a leaf blower or air hose.  Once a year or so.

TT, I'm gonna have to remember this one. $5 at Costco and I can get a all the chili powder I need for my mill.

[Magicman]

I have never ever eaten a sawmill roasted peppered mouse.   ;D

[Brucer]

Your sawmill manual should have a chapter on maintenance. If it's at all like mine, the sections are organized by different sections of the mill. That's great for telling you in detail what has to be done when. It's not a good way to organize a maintenance checklist. At the end of the maintenance chapter there's a table that summarizes what has to be done at what intervals. It's a much better way to organize a checklist but it doesn't give enough detail. It also doesn't include the maintenance that has to be done on optional accessories, or on the engine. So here's a suggestion ...

Using a spreadsheet or word processor, make up your own checklist. Try to fit it on one page, using both sides if you have to. Put enough information on it that you won't have to keep referring to the manual after the first few maintenance intervals. Bring together all the information from all your manuals -- mill, engine, accessories.

Here's a few lines from my checklist ...

Sawmill Maintenance Schedule

               

Frequency	Task	Reference	Comment	Lubricant / Part #	Done
Daily	Clean & lubricate track rails	5.4.1		ATF
	Check & adjust track scrapers	5.4.3
	Clean loader cylinder lower hydraulic fittings	5.3
50 hr	Lubricate drum switches	5.6		W/M contact grease
	Inspect power feed belt & check tension	5.15.1	1/8" @ 7 lb
	Inspect up/down drive belt & check tension	5.14.2	3/8" @ 7 lb
	Lubricate debarker rod & springs	D3.4.5		Gunk L508
	Grease autoclutch  pivot	5.7.4	1 point	NLGI #2
	Grease tension adjuster	5.8.2	1 point	NLGI #2
	Grease loading arm	5.7.4	6 points	NLGI #2

First of all, I sorted the tasks by frequency, with the most frequent tasks listed first. I've only shown a couple of frequencies in the example. The full chart has daily, annual, 25 hour, 50 hour, 100 hour, 200 hour, 400 hour, etc.

The first two columns are self-explanatory. Under Reference I list the section number in the manual, in case I need to look it up. If you look at the debarker listing (4 up from the bottom) you'll see a "D" in front of the section number -- that indicates the information is in the Debarker manual.

Under the Comment column I list a couple of different things. For belts, I list the pressure and deflection that I should read with my belt tension tool. Saves me looking it up in the manual every time. When the task is to grease something, I list the total number of grease fittings for that task. Most of the time this will be self evident; if you overlook a fitting once, though, you may overlook it again and after a while it's forgotten.

Under the Lubricant / Part # column I list two things as well. When something has to be lubricated, I list what I normally use. When something has to be replaced (like a filter) I list the part number. That makes it simple to order replacements -- no need to look them up in the parts book.

Finally, there is a Done column that I check off when each task is complete.



When I have a lot of tasks done at the same frequency, I try to organize them in the order I will probably want to do them in. For example, all my greasing tasks are listed next to each other so I can pick up the grease gun once and run down that part of the list. Same thing with belt tensions -- pull all the covers off, then pick up the tension tool and go down the list.

Once I made up my list and tried it out a few times, I printed a dozen copies or so. A few are in my sawmill manual, the others in my truck for quick reference. When a service is coming due, I take a quick look at my list to make sure I remember what has to be done and what parts I need (e.g. filters). If I don't remember something, or if I don't have a part, I deal with it before I actually start the service.

Doing things this way gives me one page to look at and provides most of the useful information I would need in the manual. It saves me having to flip through pages and risk missing something. Saves a lot of wear and tear on the manual, too.

This example shows you roughly how my checklist is organized. The real thing has vertical lines separating the columns and horizontal lines each time I change to a new frequency. The whole point is to make it practical and easy to read.