Hi there folks,
I recently was given a demo of a Timberking 1220 mill. First impression is that it well built but I was a bit concerned about the engine power. We were sawing a log of around 12inches & the engine was labouring quite badly, it almost stalled at one point. The engine was 18hp, (Kohler I think). The engine was misfiring a bit when opening up& backfired badly when throttled down. This is why I am wondering if the engine was just not set up right & also caused the underpower. It is a machine I would consider buying, if this problem was just a fault of one engine. Have any of you had a similar problem? I am in no way knocking TK as it was an engine problem. Just be good to confirm it was a one off.
Sure could be a engine problem, backfiring when slowing down is most times too much fuel getting in the muff and exploding. First check the air filter, new plugs and make sure it's hitting on both cylinders. What kind of 12 " wood, how fast are you sawing. 12" wide ash, white oak etc does not saw like butter with 18 hp. If you engine is making full power feed only fast enough to slow the engine down a little, it will get wavy if slowed down too much. Steve
Quote from: ladylake on December 22, 2012, 06:16:08 AM
Sure could be a engine problem, backfiring when slowing down is most times too much fuel getting in the muff and exploding. First check the air filter, new plugs and make sure it's hitting on both cylinders. What kind of 12 " wood, how fast are you sawing. 12" wide ash, white oak etc does not saw like butter with 18 hp. If you engine is making full power feed only fast enough to slow the engine down a little, it will get wavy if slowed down too much. Steve
Hi Steve,
This was on a new machine & as such (& as it did not belong to me) I did not want to get too involved with checking out the engine. The log was a Larch log & had been lying around for some time. I have milled lots of Larch & this log was if anything a bit softer than normal. I have milled similar sized logs using my Honda 13hp & was very surprised at how the 18hp was labouring in such (to me) a small log. If it was my machine I would have been getting that engine looked at.
What I was trying to find out was if other TK1220 owners had had a similar problem or was this a one off rogue engine. The owner did tell me that the latest 1220 comes with a 20hp engine.
Feed speed through the log when I tried it, was very slow in order not to labour the engine. My thought were that with the way the saw was built, this must be a bad engine. Just wanted to check if others had had the same problem.
I am considering the 1220 set up on concrete for sawing logs up to 20ft with a max dia of 20-24inch. This on an occasional basis & to compliment my busy fencing mill. As it will not be used daily, I do not want to go to hydraulics etc. Load logs with forklift & use forklift for turning etc.
Sure sound like something is wrong with engine.. If setting up for 20' if possible set up fo 30', you'll be in demand if you can saw longer than 20'. Steve
Sounds like an unhappy Kohler,
DGGrls
The Kohlers are bad about backfiring. Don't know about the bogging down. Was the blade sharp?
Quote from: ladylake on December 22, 2012, 06:53:32 AM
Sure sound like something is wrong with engine.. If setting up for 20' if possible set up fo 30', you'll be in demand if you can saw longer than 20'. Steve
Thanks for your thoughts re the engine. As to cutting longer than 20ft. You are spot on the mark too. I used to mill longer than 40ft on a regular basis. A good way to gain some extra money. I am in a major rethink with my mill set up at the moment, hence the question re the TK. The mill itself looks to be strongly built & I have an agent about an hour away.
Quote from: LeeB on December 22, 2012, 08:55:27 AM
The Kohlers are bad about backfiring. Don't know about the bogging down. Was the blade sharp?
The blade was fresh on & I would trust his sharpening. I am sure it was just the engine needing a tweek.
Don't forget to back off the choke if it was used to get it started. That can cause performance issues..... or so I've heard. ;)
sure sounds like the engine is goofy. any bandsaw with over 10hp should pretty much zip through 12" softwood. i've got a 16hp briggs and with a sharp band it would move through that log pretty quick. plus the build quality of the tk mills seems solid so wouldn't think it was a build issue.
cheers
Buying a smaller manual mill the first thing I'd look for is a stury frame. Steve