Awaiting delivery of my HM 126....

[Agman55]

Hello,
I'm a new member here, I just purchased an HM 126 with the 14 hp. Koehler, a track extension, extra blades, and a cover. Unfortunately, my estimated delivery date is Nov. 30th, such a bummer but it is what it is!

I hope to be posting lots of videos and pictures, once it gets here, and IF I can figure out how to post them! 

Incidentaly, I want to thank members of this site as you all helped me decide on which sawmill I liked best, and would suit my needs. So thank you!

Best wishes,
 Jeff (Agman55)

[Riversedge]

Congratulations! I have had mine going on a year now and I really like and enjoy it. 

If I could offer a couple of suggestions:
Prep Work - Get your site prep done while you are waiting. Build your platform to mount your track to and most importantly make sure its level and not prone to settling. Settling of the platform has been the number one cause of issue I have had. Problems have ranged from binding blades, out of square cuts to misaligned track sections which in turns causes the sawed too hangup. 

Assembly - Make sure you have the ability to lift the 800lb saw head onto the track. In all, my dad and I were able to go from unboxing to first run in about 6 hours. It would have been faster if we had had the necessary equipment to set the saw head on the track. Instead we had to rig up an assembly table that startled the track that allowed us to raise the saw head and set it onto the tracks but this part took an additional 2 people to accomplish. I had planned ahead for this part.

Tuning - Yep, I said tuning. Parts that come pre-assembled, don't trust that they are properly aligned, etc. Follow the manual to the letter and set everything to spec. Get automotive feeler gauges to set the gap on your blade guides, its useless to try to use a piece of paper to accomplish this task, which is what the manual says to do. Take the time to get the blade tracking correct! This part is VERY important; test the crap out of it and then check EVERYTHING again, twice, and make sure its still to spec. 

Tools - Get a 12" level, 2' level, 4' level, carpenter's tape measure and all of your wrenches and sockets, etc. should be metric. Lube for the auto lube system: I recommend plane blue automotive windshield washer fluid. That has worked the best for me.

I hope you find this helpful. Happy sawing.

[Agman55]

Hello all,
Sorry I haven't been on for a bit, I was suffering thru some medical issues. I'm still awaiting arrival of my new sawmill, its supposed to come at the end of this month. Thank you Riversedge for the great information, I found it very helpful,  and I appreciate it very much!

My plan is to put my mill on a concrete slab, which I plan to pour when I pour the slab for my new shop, however, due to my medical problems, I find myself behind schedule and am just hoping I can still get all my pouring done before the real cold weather hits here. I definitely have my work cut out for me! 

If anyone is interested, I will post updates as soon and as often as possible. I must admit I'm getting very anxious to get it, just hope I can get everything ready by then. Thanks again and best wishes to everyone!

[rusticretreater]

Congrats! An exciting time.

I got my HM130Max earlier this summer.  I am fortunate as I have a shed to house it in.  The dirt floor was hard packed, so it just sits on those square cinder pads folks use for stepping stones.

There are a ton of bolts to tighten and they all use nylon lock nuts.  I used my Dewalt hammer drill with those adapter extensions that allow you to use different drive size sockets.  Turning all those lock nuts by hand will wear you out.  As Riversedge said, getting the saw head on the track is a major hassle.  My small kubota tractor could barely lift it and it shifted on the rollers and I ended up smacking the lube tank on my tractor, but I got it on.

Examine the schematics and look at the log clamps and their length.  You will need to have the mill elevated a bit to get some clearance under the mill.  I didn't take that into consideration and I ended up digging pits between the rails to allow me to put the clamps at any angle I wish.

Also, don't just follow the manual instructions on the lube system and blade tensioning.  The Woodland Mills folks have sent other .pdfs on blade tensioning and lubrication as there have been issues.  I think they posted them on the website.  I had issues controlling the lube flow, so I just have the tank valve wide open and a pinch clamp on the line just above the blade to control the flow.

As Riversedge also said, keep dialing in your setup.  The vibration of the mill and heavy logs will make everything move and settle.  Until it gets to where it is satisfied and takes a set, you will be tweeking and learning.

[Agman55]

Thank you Rusticretreater, that is some good information, I really appreciate it! It sure is an exciting time, however, I will be even more excited when it shows up! 
I too will have my mill under cover, in a building of its own, with a slab under it, of course making sure to have clearance for the log dogs or whatever else, as you mentioned. I have a good size loader tractor that should be able to handle the head weight so hopefully that won't be an issue. I can see from all the research I've done, along with the great info I've gotten from you folks here, that there will be a learning curve and lots of things to keep in mind in the beginning, I imagine the more one uses these mills it appears that curve seems to dissipate some so I will make sure I take things slower at first until I get more familiar with the mill.

I have a lot of woods and many many trees to cut and mill so I won't have any problem keeping the mill busy! Right now is just a waiting game and working on getting things set up for delivery. 

Thanks again to everyone who has given me some great information and helped me in this endeavor.

[Agman55]

Well, my delivery date has come and gone and still no mill!   Guess I will call them Monday and see what's going on.....as if I don't know already!??!  Sure are frustrating times we are living in! Hopefully it shows up soon!??

[rusticretreater]

Yeah, that is annoying.  I ordered on March 26 and got an email reply saying 12 weeks.  May 26 I received an email saying its coming in two weeks. (10 weeks). Then a follow-up email on June 9th saying it was shipped.  So my time was about 1 week earlier than stated.  

The real problem was that it was on a long pallet(8') and the truck driver only had a roll under jack for the regular sized pallets.  I had the foresight to bring my winch along and I pulled it onto the truck liftgate, lowered it a bit and then onto my trailer.  So I would recommend that you communicate with the trucking company about how to move/transfer it prior to taking delivery.

[Agman55]

It finally arrived , let the games begin!!! I'm SO glad I had the foresight to purchase some clamp on forks for my tractor bucket, even with it being 65 hp and front wheel assist I could feel the rear of my tractor wanting to raise a bit.   I took it slow and easy (my driveway is 1200 feet long) all the way and everything came out properly, no bangs, no crunches, no errors!    I have it under a tarp now, awaiting some more conducive weather to start putting it together. I don't know if anyone is interested in seeing pics of the process since others have already done it but please let me know if I'm wrong. Of course I have been scanning this site for hints and tips regarding set up but please feel free to add any input you care to, it will be greatly appreciated with this being my first attempt at this task.    Thank you all for the wonderful information already provided, and for your komrodery. I will start posting as soon as I begin, however, I do have a question, "should I start a separate post for setting up my mill"?

Thanks again everyone, I'm really looking forward to getting my mill put together and cutting some boards!

[thecfarm]

Yes start another thread.
Helps with something looking how to do it.
Looking forward to it.

[Agman55]

Thanks for the reply, as soon as the weather cooperates, and I get started with assembly, I will start a new thread.
Best wishes everyone.

[trimguy]

Just in time for Christmas!