Newbie introduction

[IowaDave]

Hi All!

IowaDave here... Dave... in Iowa...

I'm a total newbie to sawmills and milling... I kinda 'fell into' this situation as a result of helping a friend rehab an old house... he's a fine hand-chisel/plane type fancy woodworker.  If it needs to be precisely fit, finished, and beautiful, he's the guy.

I, on the other hand, am a 'big stuff' guy.  If it weighs over several tons, requires something large and loud to accomplish, involves a very large mess, heavy equipment, a crane, backhoe, forklift, if it requires cutting and welding, ferrous or non-ferrous to 0.0001", or involves interface circuitry to a microprocessor, uses radio frequency energy, common motor fuels, hydraulic hose, encoders, ballscrews, multi-row chains or toothed belts... that's my realm.

So a friend of mine passed away last winter.  I was called upon to assist in sorting things out, and buried in the back of a building was the Wood-Mizer LT40HD he purchased just around new year's day of 2000.  He bought it for a specific task-  Cut up 70ft long bridge timbers 12x24" into smaller pieces to build new boat docks for his marina.  They ran it exactly 140 hours from January 7th through 22nd.  They completed the build, then got on a plane that deployed his unit to the Middle East for two years.

25 years later, I pulled it out of the back of the shed, wrestled everything into a transportable state, fitted a new set of wheels and tires, and towed it 300 miles to my farm.

I spent about three weeks of evenings getting everything un-stuck, pulled all the covers and shrouds, removed a dozen mice nests, a birds nest, lots of mud-dauber nests, cleaned out the air filter housing and carb, changed the engine oil and filter, removed and discarded the (cracked and broken, but bottom coated-with-shellac-sludge) fuel tank... never found the water tank, so I made new ones for each... cleaned out the blade lube sprayers, line, and pump... found a big solenoid by the battery totally welded-seized from being saturated in two decades of mouse urine, so all new cables, and (having no solenoid) replaced it with a marine-type battery safety switch.

Had a few interesting initial finds:

The main foreward/reverse drive did not function.  The belt was hanging on the side of the battery box with a zip-tie...  Motor was a little sticky from sitting, I pulled it apart, scrubbed everything out good, rubbed a little corrosion off the commutator, cleaned up and lubed the bearings, put it back together, and it'd run in reverse, but not forward. <shrug>

I found one hydraulic hose... for the front toe-board extension side... fitting broken off.  Looks like the hose got snagged.  Fitting remains was jammed in the hose-side too tight to back out, so had a new hose made at the shop down the hill... after that, all the hydraulics worked fine.

After checking all the bearings (replacing a rotted-away clear hose and refilling the submerged oil bearing shell on the drive journal) and a few testing spin-ups, I gave it a test-cut through an old pine landscape timber (checking first for nails or screws).  I had to push it by hand, but it made the cut... the blade DID want to drift DOWN really bad.  After finishing, I was cycling the functions, and had the blade-guide chain break.

I had my local shop make up a replacement blade, which cut beautifully.  I dug out a new length of #25 chain and a master link, cussed the blade guide drive geometry for a bit, 'till I finally got that back together... I scrubbed the running surface with some ScotchBrite, then applied some wax lubricant, and it works mostly fine now.. every once'n a while, it'll stick, if I cycle it back and forth, it'll move again.

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

Sounds like a true score! What are you gonna do with this saw? Got logs? Just having fun? Sawmills are an addiction. keep us posted!

[IowaDave]

So the next part to tackle, was the drive.

After some searching, downloading a few different (mostly wrong, but close enough) docs, I found the horizontal axis drive circuit - a diagram that seemed to match the drum switch connections, and a service bulletin about the PWM drive system for the PMDC motor.  In reverse, the drum switch sends full 12vdc through the PMDC motor in one polarity (for reverse, at full speed), and.  The motor drive major electronics are all located on the back panel of the control box, so disconnect 3 large, one small, and three wires to the speed control pot, and the bulk of the works carried into my radio shop for some investigation.

I pulled out my multimeter, looked up the JDEC part number on the primary MOSFETS.  There's an array of FZ44NS mosfets on a circuit board, all the sources and drains tied together (source goes to system ground, Drains go to the drum switch's - terminal in forward).  Each MOSFET's GATE terminal has a 15 ohm SMD resistor, all tied together, and the whole line is shunted to ground with a 10 SMD resistor.  I did a typical forward/reverse test on the junctions of each MOSFET, and they all passed fine.  I noted that the MOSFET board has pads on the circuit board for a suppressor (A Metal Oxide Varistor, probably), but there was none present.

I DID find the ultimate culprit.  There's a little encapsulated circuit board in the back, has some diagnostic LEDs, and three wires going up to a potentiometer on the front panel.  When I put it all back up to test, I noted that this little board had a fault light that illuminated as soon as I put it in FORWARD.

I verified that the MOSFET drive deck was functioning by applying 12v to the GATE terminal... the drive motor sprang to life.  I put the belt on, and it moved the carriage with deft authority.

I did some more reading, and made some phone calls.  My first call was to my friend's father, who although suffering the ravages of age, did note to me that the drive system failed about halfway through their task, on a Sunday afternoon in January 2000... so they disengaged the belt and just finished the job by pushing by hand.  After pushing it into the barn, they totally forgot about the drive failure...

Anyway, I found that this board had a few revisions (over two decades, I would expect that there'd be SOME revisions, at the very least, changes in parts to suit component availability and technology changes)... but it didn't seem like there was anything, aside from the addition of a couple suppressors to the external wiring... that was done to prevent whatever failure was killing this precious little board.

Now, I DID go looking through the web for others' experiences, and I see that my circumstance isn't an isolated thing.

I don't like things that fail, and when OEM things fail, but there's no significant change noted in the part or bulletin, that suggests to me that the replacement part will be no less likely to suffer whatever condemned the first.

It doesn't take much engineering to recongnize that this board's function is to generate a Pulse Width Modulation signal to vary the control current/voltage relationship feeding the PMDC motor... it's actually a very low-tech concept, and it doesn't take a several-hundred-dollar magic module to make that PWM signal.  I happened to have a couple signal generators capable of many common control signals, including 0-120vdc, 4-20mA, variable frequency square, triangle, and sine waves, and also, the basic PWM.  I carried it out to the driveway, hooked it directly to the GATE terminal (and ground), dialed up 12v, and varied the PWM from 35-90%, and that drive worked dandy.

I happened to have some MKS OSC1.0 stepper/PWM boards in my shop for testing drive mechanism prototypes.  Usually I use them to abuse stepper motors for a week-at-a-time, but I moved ther jumpers to PWM mode, connected it up like my test set was, connected 12v to the small red wire, and mounted the OSCv1.0's potentiometer right in the hole where the original Bourns Clarostat potentiometer WAS.  Even used the same knob.

It works like a champ...  and it was eight bucks...

So now I've got a 24" x 90" Black Walnut log on the bed, awaiting it's chance to become pieces of flat, wet stuff.

Now I need a drying system.  My buddy Mike has a bit more Black Walnut trim to make for his project-house.

[IowaDave]

Sounds like a true score! What are you gonna do with this saw? Got logs? Just having fun? Sawmills are an addiction. keep us posted!

Hi Taylor!

Well, like I said... I kinda 'fell into' this.

Bein' the "big stuff" guy, rescuing logs from storm or emergency tree work is easy for me, and I hate to see good materials get wasted to rot or firewood, when they could be fine furnature, musical instruments, boats, or luxury trim.  Since I can make the 'big stuff' happen, my expectation is that if I can get rescue logs cut, dried, and available to local woodworkers, even if I just 'break even', I'll still have capacity to cut building materials for my own projects.

I've got a substantial workshop structure to build... it'll have steel framing, but there's plenty of lumber needed.  i've got an old dairy barn that needs replacement lumber... and I've got a '24 Ford Model TT truck that needs a body... and I have something unique in mind that one wouldn't find in a common 'kit' form... so that means I need special-cut wood.  All I hafta do, is get appropriately sized raw materials, and drive the truck chassis down to his shop, we'll cut and assemble the body pieces right in his work bay.

The opportunity cost to acquire this sawmill was low enough, that simply having the capacity to turn a log into lumber pays for itself.  I expect that, as I use the mill, and as I learn more about the complexity of working with biologically-formed cellulose structures, I'll have enough proficiency to be fairly effective and efficient, such that I can help people around me whose penchance and aversions for working with those materials find me to be an economical source of work-stock... and at the same time, I hope that local treeworkers will call upon me to help recapture what tree value would otherwise be lost for the sake of commerical operations expedience.

[Magicman]

Welcome IowaDave to the Forestry Forum.  Your sawmill recovery journey was a nice read and I send top marks for your success.   

It will now be nice to see and hear about your sawing.  

[Texas Ranger]

Welcome aboard, IowaDave

[barbender]

Hello Dave! I see already that your electronics knowledge will be a nice addition to the Forum! 

[thecfarm]

You will fit right in around here.
Now get yourself a cant dog or peavey from Logrite, sponsor on here and made in the USA and you will be ready for sawing!!!

[customsawyer]

Welcome to the forum. I would like a few more details. Is the mill a standard LT40 or a LT40 super? In other words, does it have one hydraulic pump or two. What engine is on it?
Great score and find on your part. Sounds like the mill found the right person, or the right person found the mill.  

[Nebraska]

Welcome, what part of Iowa do you make your home?

[jpassardi]

Welcome to the Forum & congrats on a great find. This is the place to come to for no BS info.

[IowaDave]

Thank you for the welcomes!

Yeah, I need a peavy AND a cant dog... and some kind of ice-tong-type dragger on short chain to pull logs with my tractor.  I'm also gonna recycle a piece of old nylon truck strap, sew it into some sort of a draw lanyard that I can drop on the ground just off the lift arms, and toss over the head of the log clamp or turner, to use the hydraulics to pull the beasts up onto the lift arms...

I'm on the east coast of Iowa... about a mile from the Mississippi River, not far from I-80... and that's kinda relevant to how I got to this circumstance.  A dozen years ago or so, we had a derecho come through... it mowed off about a 300 mile path of big trees.  A gentleman up the river 30 miles or so had some riverbottom timber land loaded with old-growth Black Walnut, that storm took a BUNCH of them down.  Rather than let them rot, he bought a manual-op sawmill, and started cutting them up, dragging 'em out, and milling them into slabs.  When we got to the point that my pal's house project was ready for hardwood, we bought all the remaining slabs we could... but we were a bit short... and we can't reach the old feller upriver anymore...

This one has just one hydraulic unit, in a big box up on the tongue.  There's a contact brush set that connects the carriage (25hp Kohler V-twin btw) and it's charging system (small alternator) to power the hydraulics.  There USED to be a big solenoid to cut off power through the brushes anytime the key was off, but as I noted above, that solenoid was seized, and I had an extra marine-type battery switch, so it got a manual switch instead.  I've got some modifications/improvement ideas for the machine, some of them revolve around the power situation... I'll note 'em soon.

As for being the right person<->machine, well, the circumstances are both whimsical and rough.  The original purchaser was one of my college roommates, he was 3rd generation running a family business in Minnesota, and basically every year since college (decades ago), I'd make a spring and fall trip up to help him with the season-change.  During his deployment, I made the trip to help his dad.  This spring, I made the trip up to help his brother, and his widow, as he passed away from congestive heart failure just a few days after Christmas.  I never realized he had a sawmill in there, it just happened to be behind a couple machines we had to pull out.  It was clearly in need of some elbow grease, but what it needed worse, was a job to do.  I needed it kinda like I need another hole in my head, but between my friends' needs for workshop project material, and my building projects, it seemed to be a sensible piece of a solution puzzle.  Could it have found me?  Perhaps.  Perhaps it was silently 'stalking' me...  machines do that.

[Old Greenhorn]

Welcome!
 You want to avoid dragging logs it at all possible and keep that dirt out, it kills blades. Got forks? Also, search the forum for "Magic Hook" and you will find a very handy and simple device you can make in a few minutes.
 Now you need to do some reading here on how to read and mill a log. There are a couple of recent and active threads regarding just that, but a ton of others going into great detail. Also watch YellowHammers videos, he's the man. Blade choices and alignment are critical little issues you want to get an understanding of up front.
 Enjoy the ride and welcome aboard the train.

[Magicman]

Actually the Magic Hook is for rolling logs.  You need tongs for skidding.  You will find them on the Logrite site as well as the Cant Hooks.  Logrite

[Old Greenhorn]

........ I'm also gonna recycle a piece of old nylon truck strap, sew it into some sort of a draw lanyard that I can drop on the ground just off the lift arms, and toss over the head of the log clamp or turner, to use the hydraulics to pull the beasts up onto the lift arms........

Yes, Lynn, but I was referring to hic comment quoted above which a magic hook will help with. If he has an FEL, your double log hooks on a chain might work well for him too to lift and move those logs.

[dgdrls]

Welcome aboard @IowaDave 

lots of experience and fine people here,

Good luck with your mill.

D

[Tom K]

Welcome aboard, glad to have ya.

My only comment pertains to your first logs. I would try to find some low value logs to start out with. Until you learn to read the logs and work the mill the possibility of milling "designer firewood" is pretty strong. I would try to start out with something other then high dollar walnut.

[GAB]

Welcome aboard, glad to have ya.

My only comment pertains to your first logs. I would try to find some low value logs to start out with. Until you learn to read the logs and work the mill the possibility of milling "designer firewood" is pretty strong. I would try to start out with something other then high dollar walnut.

Poplar, cottonwood, and very knotty pine logs are good candidates to start with.
Education is expensive and a sawmill will introduce to some of that expensive education.
If you take the time to view, at least twice, Hobby Hardwood Alabama videos it could reduce your educational expenses.
GAB

[IowaDave]

hee hee...

I've been watching LOTS of videos!

I'll admit, I know damned little about wood, and less about cutting it... but like I said- I'm the 'big stuff' guy, while my pal Mike is the hand-tools finicky woodworker guy.  So far, he's been guiding me on every cut, save for the first few tests on old pieces of scrap and short chunks of rotten junk.  I have a fairly good handle on controlling the machine and making it do what I want... I'll give kudos to WoodMizer's design elements, geometry, and controls for that.  As for making 'designer firewood', the guy directing my cuts knows EXACTLY what he wants, and he's good at articulating that, he's my spotter.

kinda like a heavy lift crane-  the crane operator sits at the controls, it's the signalman/rigger who's actually managing the operation.

I don't have an FEL...  (I have three)...  and unfortunately, I don't have a forklift (I have three)... and I don't have a knuckleboom loader crane (I have two) but I get by 

I really, really don't have a vacuum kiln... but I DO have a half-dozen roughing vacuum pumps, and a plasma table, and several MIG welders... so mebbie...

Dragging, at this point, is just to get them off of a pile, and out where I can shuffle them into position. 

I consider it a blessing that this machine was fitted with the debarker option.  It doesn't have a board return feeder arm (I'm considering making one up) and it doesn't have a laser (I don't think there was an option for one back when this one was built), but that's probably gonna appear TOO.  Frankly, I like the mechanical scale, but it'd be nice to have an encoder with a preset that I can just bump a button and have it move the increment 4/4, or 5/4, etc) to do that task... wouldn't be difficult for me to implement with an Arduino and a big display (my eyes are still young... but that won't be forever).

[SawyerTed]

Welcome!  You are in good hands here!

Figure out how to post photos.  We love photos!  

[Stephen1]

Welcome, Sounds like a great project. 
Here is something no one has mentioned yet. 
You Have life time tech support from Woodmizer. Call and register your mill. You can still all the parts you need from Woodmizer for that mill. 

[scsmith42]

Welcome Dave!

Methinks that you will fit in just great around here.

Scott

[IowaDave]

Hi Steven!

Yes, I DID call them, got it registered, they emailed me MOST of the manuals, I had to dig through a bit, and found that there was some stuff missing, but they got it to me.  I also spoke to one of their tech support team, very nice guy, he got me one of the service bulletins on the PWM drive troubleshooting, and that helped verify what I'd narrowed down with my oscilloscope and digital voltmeter.  I decided against using the OEM PWM drive due to the fact that it failed within 100 operating hours, and the replacement showed no significant changes.  I'm somewhat surprised they didn't offer to send me a replacement... but the eight-dollar solution works great so far, and if it fails, I've got a dozen more, and a #2 phillips in my 1/4" impact.

Here's what it looked like when I found it...

[IowaDave]

So, I'll use tongs on the Kubota's 3 point to extract logs from where they're felled... I may even make an arch for the back end, as tongs on the front end, hooked over the 3 point, will lift a big log easily... but dirt will be inevitable in some extraction circumstances.  I do have a pressure washer plumbed in my shop, and the hose is long, reaches out into the driveway... and it's strong enough to strip bark in many cases.  The debarker seems to do really well at slicing through the rest.

Here's another (better illuminated) image of the flywheel shroud... 

And the solenoid and fuse panel... but this is AFTER the pressure-washer visit.  Before, it was full to-the-top with mouse nest and feces...  buggers chewed through all the wires, and urine did the rest.

The shellac tank gave me a really good hint of the carb and fuel pump's contents.  The fuel pump diapraghm had rotted through just enough to leak when running, so I replaced that... and the carb top came off, I freed the stuck needle, probed out the jets and vents, gave it compressed air and cleaner, and it's doing 'okay'... needed a little choke at first, but getting better each time I use it.  Starts right up!

[IowaDave]

Here's the offending electronic circuit... and the backplane it's all mounted to.

This green circuit board has six MOSFETs, they're all in excellent health.
Notice that on the far right side (to the right of MOSFET Q6... an unpopulated spot for Z1... that would be for a Metal Oxide Varistor... a surge supressor... and that would've connected between the rail feeding all GATE terminals, to the SOURCE terminal (S).  It wasn't populated at the factory, but later revisions suggest that suppressors were connected in the circuitry elsewhere.  I used 60v MOVs between all three (Gate, Source, and Drain) terminals so that static electricity and stray transients (like when you shut off power to an electric motor) don't zap the MOSFET stack... OR the PWM circuit that fires it.

[IowaDave]

Here's the backplane with the original PWM board nix'd, and the OSC1.0 wired up.

Installed, there's 12vdc applied to the terminal on the big stud-mounted diode to the left.  That diode is called a 'freewheeling' diode... when a motor is spinning, but power is disconnected, it's internal magnetic field collapses, BUT... the motor becomes a 'generator'.  With an open circuit, that 'generator' voltage goes straight to the moon for a moment, and any circuit that happens to be connected takes a hefty beating.  The diode, however, shunts the 'generated' voltage back to ground, and thus, protects all the other circuit elements.

The MOTOR connection goes to the direction drum switch's ORANGE wire.. as far as the MOSFET is concerned, that's the DRAIN connection.  While a heavy BLACK wire connects the SOURCE terminal to ground...

The OSCv1.0 board has red and black connection (between the 12v screw and SOURCE terminal), and the purple wire comes from the V1.0's CLOCK terminal (it serves as PWM output whent the STEPDIR/PWM jumper is set to PWM. 

Here's the OSCv1.0 mounted to the front panel via it's speed potentiometer.  Notice the MOV I installed across the 1.0's power?  That's to keep power transents from zapping the 8-dollar board.

And with that in, and the belt reattached, it gets right down to business on a piece of Black Locust.

[IowaDave]

My buddy and I rescued these...
And cut it up (looks like an aircraft carrier!!!)

[IowaDave]

Well over 12" wide, this one's about 7ft long... black walnut!

The next one is 23" diameter, about 7ft... it yielded 157 board feet.  According to Doyle's Law, I was short by about two and a half board feet.  Probably just bad technique!   

[customsawyer]

Your off and running now. 

[Magicman]

........ I'm also gonna recycle a piece of old nylon truck strap, sew it into some sort of a draw lanyard that I can drop on the ground just off the lift arms, and toss over the head of the log clamp or turner, to use the hydraulics to pull the beasts up onto the lift arms........

Yes, Lynn, but I was referring to hic comment quoted above which a magic hook will help with. If he has an FEL, your double log hooks on a chain might work well for him too to lift and move those logs.

I invented the Magic Hook, which are repurposed logging tongs, for exactly that:


I use a short section of 1/4" chain to roll and adjust logs.  Also when actually loading, continue to roll them onto the loader arms which will help to position the log over the loader pivot and take the work off of the loader.

Sadly I lost my pictures showing the various uses for the Magic Hook.

[NaySawyer]

Thanyou IowaDave!!

Sorry about the loss of your friend .. l have tools from a few mentors who shaped my life, it is always a happy moment when l use them and we reconnect. 

I have been following a current similar chaotic diagnosis of a similar (ok..sorta) control box dilemma in the "watcha sawing" thread.  Your knowledge, logic and willingness to document the process was most help full.  I have a couple of wikipedia lookups stii to do but did you confirm the original potentiometer was not the problem?

I have often thought a FF Basic electronics/diagnosis thread would really help the site.
This thread (not my reply!) should be archived.
Thanks again.

[IowaDave]

Hi Nay!

Yes, the potentiometer was NOT the problem.  IIRC, the poteniometer was a 10k Bourns Clarostat... that's an industrial-grade component, USA made, and built stout for decades of service... so the likelyhood of it failing is very low...

And because of the way the poteniometer works, IF it fails, the failure is due to the wiper rubbing away the carbon or nichrome wirewound resistor surface (which takes well over a million cycles for the Clarostat), or it gets fouled with crud, in which case, you do what we do with old HAM radios and electric guitars-  you spin it back and forth with the side of your hand a dozen or so times, to rub the shmegma away, and then the 'scratchy audio' goes away.

Without a potentiometer wiper, the control unit will act 'normal', just assume the lowest (stop) speed.

In my case, the control module's fault LED (I think it's the one beside the label OV) comes on as soon as FORWARD is engaged... and once moved to the STOP position, it takes a second or three to recover.

Apparently this isn't an unusual failure... and my buddy's father noted that they were about halfway through the project (so about 70 running hours) when it $#!t... they were not in any circumstance to stop everything (he was amidst countdown-to-deployment), so he did what any 6-and-a-half foot 320 pound Minnesota guy would do-  Remove the belt, and push it by hand.

But to be fair here, WoodMizer's control scheme on this machine is pretty darned simple and straightforward.  The motors are all permanent magnet DC, and they layered the controls so that things weren't running unnecessarily... i.e., the debarker and blade lubricator only run when in forward... and the hydraulics only operate when the carriage is pulled back far enough to not get tangled up in flippin' logs and stuff.

IF I was designing it in THAT era, I would have done it the same way.  In TODAY's realm, I'd probably use a stout stepper motor with a planetary reducer for both the lift and feed, and I'd tie the lift feed into an encoder with a control panel to identify true elevation, then identify alongside that the setpoint for whatever thickness... and to make it even slicker, a function that raises the blade a bit for backup clearance, then brings it down to the next increment automatically.  I think they have that as a 'feature' now, but it's so inexpensive to build it into the design from the git-go, I'd do it that way...

[IowaDave]

There's some things I'm gonna do to mine... here's a short scratch-list, and if anyone has suggestions or warnings about 'em, I'm all ears... cuz I'm a newbie, right?

A manually-operated throttle-up mechanism.  I like the fact that it'll idle 'till I engage the blade, and it idles when I disengage, but cold starting doesn't go well with throttle at idle, and cranking it with blade engaged doesn't seem so sensible... and of course, when running the hydraulics, having the alternator spinning at idle speed just doesn't cut the mustard... so being able to spin it up WITHOUT the blade engaged is really a necessity.

Alternator.  I see mine has the factory original, which I THINK is 35-45A or so.  This thing is a bit power hungry, especially if running the hydraulics often.  I also see that there was a factory product change, and that guys have swapped to larger alternators... it don't take an English degree to read writing-on-the-wall..

Lighting.  I tend to work when it ain't so light.  I have good lighting in my lot, but shadows in my sightline suck... I'm gonna place some LED lighting tape in strategic places, and some floodlights around, so that I can work safely after dusk.

A second battery... probably under the tongue, connected to the hydraulics... with a trickle charger, mebbie a solar cell with an MPPT controller, to keep it charged.  If I park the carriage on the end, it'll keep the main battery charged, too...  and besides helping the hydraulics, I'll hang about a 2500w inverter, and an extension cord on a retractable reel... enough to power a 120v electric chainsaw for lopping off those little problem appendages...

And a ready-use scabbard for the chainsaw...  a holder for a cant hook... a pouch for tape measure, paint-pen, toolbox for screwdrivers and wrenches, another for gloves, eye and ear protection... 

It'd be nice to have some sort of box to keep a dozen extra blades on-hand, and a box for the dull ones I've taken off...

And some sort of clips somewhere that I can attach the engine, control panel, and debarker covers to, so they don't blow away or get lost in snow or weeds...

And a bracket underneath for a spare tire/wheel...

[Magicman]

My factory recommended idle speed is ~1500 which keeps the alternator producing above 14V.  That is also a good cranking/starting engine speed.  I have never seen nor had the need for more battery power/reserve.  My sawmill is the "SuperHydraulic" which has two hydraulic pumps, 3/4hp motors, and a higher amp alternator.  (It over 100amp.)

The spare will collect much sawdust and duff if permanently mounted.  I strap mine just in front of the front bed rail when traveling.

I use my Magic Blade Can for my blades.  I only carry sharp blades in it.  Dull blades are brought home loose and coiled.

My engine, etc. covers go back on the sawmill at the end of the day's sawing.

I would recommend reading the Useful sawmill mods topic.  It is very long but contains much (and maybe also not) useful stuff. 

DanG is the official cuss word for Forestry Forum use.  DanG. 

[Magicman]

And a bracket underneath for a spare tire/wheel...

Here are pictures of how I transport my spare.  



When I set up at a job site I roll it to a convenient spot and then lay the sawmill covers on it.  The covers will go back on the sawmill and I roll the tire back to the sawmill when I quit sawing in the evening.  This has worked for me for many years.  

[IowaDave]

Hmmm... okay, I get the filling-with-debris concern.  When I pulled it home, I had the original wheels/tires strapped to the top (they'd hold air, but not good enough to make the trek).  If it was a 'space-saver' spare, it'd darned near fit in that gap and NOT have to be removed to work... but it'd catch bark and scraps.  For a day like today, I'd hafta take off the covers, and put the spare ON 'em to keep the wind from tumbling them away... I'll think of something.

I've been going through the 80+ pages of Useful Sawmill Mods, and seeing lots of great ideas... I'll be doing quite a few.  Today I'm resting a bit... last night's show has left me rather fatigued, partly from having a long day at the office under rather chilly temps (AC was on full blast while it rained) followed by muggy sunshine under SPF300 flannel while dragging out equipment, then 4 hours on stage.. I got another one tonight so my aspirations of digging another 6ft of sidewalk and moving/stacking freshly-cut walnut slabs in the corn-crib prolly ain't gonna happen...

[Stephen1]

I agree Lyn, once you have the idle at the factory spec, alternator works as it should and power up to saw is not a problem. 
Dave you have me confused with your electrical knowledge, I use to go thru potentiometer quite regularly on my old mill, 1993, not so much on the 2018, which is good as the cost of these has skyrocketed. I'll read some more of the post about reconditioning 
I like the idea of a trouble shooting link, but I think there is something in the maintenance thread.