I currently operate a manual mill, MX34, and am considering upgrading to a hydraulic mill. I have narrowed it down to either the LT40 Woodmizer or the Timber King 2000. Both have pros and cons but I'm leaning more toward the LT40. I am wandering if anyone operating a Woodmizer mill has had any problems with the canterlever head. Competition condemns the canterlever design claiming you can't get accurate cuts but I would think Woodmizer would have enough sense to change their design if there were any issues with it.
There is only about a million (maybe more) LT40's out there working every day. The reputation and reliability of that mill is tried and true many times over.
Both mills you asked about will saw great lumber, it comes down to personal preference.
Got two of em and they both saw good lumber....Woodmizer Rocks! smiley_thumbsup
No, I like it. Never tried a 4 post though.
Folks that bad mouth the cantilever head have never run a woodmizer. It not only works well, but has some distinct advantages over a 4 post mill.
I don't know why timberking keeps beating on that dead horse claim of theirs that a cantilievered head doesn't cut straight lumber. Its Stupid.
nothing wrong with the timber king mill. Well built and does a good job but I went LT40 HDG28 WoodMizer because off bearing is just a lot less stress on the body and I find maintenance to be easier because you dont have any real tough reaching to do to get at things. Have not regretted the decision to date. Service is awesome too. Never had a problem with straight sawing at all. Timber King really needs to get over that one already and find something that really is a genuine advantage in their mill. Its a four poster and it cuts well! Its just not a Woodmizer.
Sorta like John Deere and Case IH. Both good tractors but the red one just aint Green.
A friend of mine has an LT40 and i have an EZ Boardwalk model 40. He has watched mine saw and I have seen his saw. We both came to the conclusion that the gripe on either mill is simply NOT TRUE. PC
The fact is they are both good sawmills, just different designs. I imagine that most owners have not tried the other and it doesn't matter anyway. I say, dance with the one that brought you. :)
Yeah...that original cantilever design has been sawing lumber for pushing thirty years now...woodmizer seems to be the generic term among non mill owners for bandsaw mill...one of the first questions I usually get...is it a woodmizer?
I wouldn't pay much attention to Timberkings sales techniques on whose design is better. The most important thing you should be thinking about is what sawmill will fit your needs. if you can afford all the bells and whistles you have to be able to understand them and be able to work on them because you will have problems and lots of them. A new mill will only cut straight for so long. warranty parts will run out, you will have exspensive motors, relays, switches,bearings and chains to replace as hours add up on your mill. Make sure you pick the mill that you can see yourself tearing into and repairing or replaceing parts as needed. Most of the sawmill companys will have great technical support over the phone and a few will have actual mechanics come to your mill but sooner or later its just going to be you working on it.
I second what redbeard says, red or orange both mills cut lumber. its the service behind the sale that makes life,s little pain in the backside,s easier to deal with and Woodmizer is one of the best companies around for customer support. Tim
Quote from: tazz on October 17, 2011, 08:55:09 PM
I currently operate a manual mill, MX34, and am considering upgrading to a hydraulic mill. I have narrowed it down to either the LT40 Woodmizer or the Timber King 2000. Both have pros and cons but I'm leaning more toward the LT40. I am wandering if anyone operating a Woodmizer mill has had any problems with the canterlever head. Competition condemns the canterlever design claiming you can't get accurate cuts but I would think Woodmizer would have enough sense to change their design if there were any issues with it.
can't get accurate cuts ???? your kidding right? Sat I was cutting 15" wide pine,shaved off a piece about 1/8 thick just to show the guy how thin it could cut.
Same size on both sides of the board,and 12' long. And thats on a 1984 woodmizer LT30.How much more accurate can you get with wood??
much more
Another thought would be maintenance.
I don't saw through the winter, my mill is parked in the garage.
On nice days throughout the winter, I will be out there doing a complete alignment on the mill.
Even though it has already been aligned, something could be off. Going through the alignment, the process is explained step-by-step in the manual. The whole process doesn't take long at all.
I've watched a TK owner saw with his mill (he had it 2 years at the time). It just didn't look like it operated as smooth as my WM.
As already stated, both mills are good, the only difference is in the design.
I have a 1992 LT 40 No problems. The other thing I really like is the service from Woodmizer. I bought mine used & they have helped me alot. Good luck
jim
Back in the 80's when Cedarworks first contacted us about sawing cants, I said no, I didn't want to saw cants, but would saw 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 for their mailbox post markets. They said they couldn't use bandsawn posts as they weren't square coming from bandmills. I said, I would make a few and bring them over. Sure enough they were square and we never had a problem keeping them square. Over the years we sawed for them, we probably sent them over a million posts. Squareness was never an issue because we maintained squareness. Not only on the WM, but the Baker scragg as well. Both can get out of square and it is up to us to regularly check. That is why there is a little square next to the mill.
We currently own a 4 post mill, and two Woodmizers. We started with another woodmizer. I would take the design of the woodmizer any day over the 4 poster. Properly aligned, they both cut straight lumber. But I think the WM is easier to align. Easier to offbear. Easier to edge on when you are working with long heavy stuff. Easier to change blades.
You guys hardly need me any more... :'(
AWW, don't feel left out Bibby.
Quote from: Bibbyman on October 18, 2011, 08:10:38 AM
You guys hardly need me any more... :'(
That is simply not true either! smiley_old_guy PC
Ya we do Bibby.
Without you here, we wouldn't have a Wood-Mizer guru! ;D
Quote from: Chuck White on October 18, 2011, 08:47:01 AM
Ya we do Bibby.
Without you here, we wouldn't have a Wood-Mizer guru! ;D
I hardly think I'm "guru" statutes. The guys at the headquarters at Indy (and around their field offices) are the gurus. I'm maybe one of their loyal minions.
Or... or ... maybe the court jester. smiley_jester
Bandmill (from any manufacture) will only saw has good as the mill is maintained and sharp blades are used. Not usually the fault of the mill. Much depends on the sawyer.
Ron
Thanks for all the comments fellas. Like I said, I'm leaning more toward the LT40 and am glad to hear there are no issues.
Gday
This is like the Lucas/peterson debate There are reasons why WoodMizer has sold over 30000 mills and Lucas 12000 mills and the ones that do the baging are usually just trying to get a sale which imho is not the way to do it the numbers speak for themselves ;)
All Well Built Sawmills wil only Saw as good as The Sawyer (or bloke operating it ;) ) and there is a big difference between being a Sawyer and being able to use a sawmill :) ;)
Like I say to everyone you have to buy a mill you are happy to own and I think you have already made your mind up Mate ;)
Regards Chris
I could echo Tazz's question, have had a Kasco 4 post for 20yrs+ and not hardly any maintenence, saws accurate, but is hand turn and slow 16hp. Want to upgrade to a much larger WM or TK. So my question is how much time do you WM guys put in keeping your mill adjusted etc.? (TK too since I never ran one)
I spent about 1 hr at 50 hrs operation, maybe 2 1/2 hrs at 250 hrs unless I find a big problem on my WM LT40 Super with remote,debarker, lubemizer. I have mill factory aligned by WM tech on site once a year. If I stick to the 50 hr and 250 hr schedule I seldom make any adjustments in between. I use the mill manual maintenance list with recommended tasks on each interval.
Willie
I check the adjustments when I change out the blade guide rollers or head cam bearings. Other than that, I just twink it now and then when I see something not right.
We were sawing the other day and Mary complained that some boards were coming out a little thinner on one side. I knew they were and knew why but it wasn't enough to cause a problem sawing 4/4 flooring lumber. But, since she mentioned it, I got out my tools and checked the idle side blade guide assembly. I knew it was pointing the blade down a little. It gets knocked pretty hard at times running into knots and such on the off side.
After I made the adjustment, it seemed I could saw a bit faster. I checked a couple of boards coming off and the resulting cant and they were right on.
This was just a slight adjustment to the guide roller assembly. I don't remember the last time I actually had to align anything on the head. We have over 5,000 hours on this mill.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wsbladetiltadj20100916a.JPG)
Here is a picture of how I check the blade level. This is before adjusting.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wsbladetiltadj20100916b.JPG)
This is after adjusting.
Is that in the Tips and Tricks thread Bibby? That's way easier than moving the head back and forth to measure the ends of the LTBGAT
Quote from: Dave Shepard on October 18, 2011, 05:57:32 PM
Is that in the Tips and Tricks thread Bibby? That's way easier than moving the head back and forth to measure the ends of the LTBGAT
Here is a link to that topic..
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,19439.0.html
ok, Bibbyman, what ya got there? A straight edge, and I'm guessing, a little clip to the blade, against the level? My Kasco goes like this, if the bed is level,( I do it once a year with a transit) then I just measure blade to bed, both sides. Adjust guides to fit. Nice concept tho, I'm trying to figure out if that would help me. But then again I don't have an accuracy problem, just a slow as death problem, hahahaha. Serious about up-grade tho' big WM or TK is the ? Oh yeah I don't move the mill.
This tool helps check the blade to see if its running level - not how far the blade is above the bed. For that I just park the head where the blade is over a bunk and measure one side next to the guide and then the other side.
I built a small jig to hold a straightedge against the blade to level it with the sawmill bed. Its a piece of square tubing with one of the four side cut out. I then drilled a hole on top welded a nut over the hole and then inserted a bolt. Next I cut two slots on each side for the straight edge to slide through. When you tighten the bolt it will tighten the blade flat against the straightedge.
GF
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11029/296/Guide.jpg)
Thats a pretty dull blade there in the illustration...might be time to put on a new one. :D :D
exellent idea, by the way.
Didnt want to spend the time to draw the teeth. Actually the blade is spinning so fast you cant see the teeth :)
I don't compete on price, I compete on quality. Square timbers, no wane, no wavy surfaces. The cantilever head hasn't given me any problem.
I spend and hour every 50 hours of operation greasing things and checking for loose bolts. Half a day every 100 hours greasing, changing oil & filters, belt tensions, etc. At the start of every season I check the alignment and adjust as needed.
At 1800 hours I had to change a guide roller bearing so I did the complete alignment procedure on the mill. Took me a day, but it was the first time I'd done it.
Look after your mill and it will look after you.