Milling on the LT35HD

[MattM]

What I meant by wiring issues is bad connections causing resistance in the circuit which would cause more power to be pulled in order to power the motor.

[Magicman]

Sorry MattM but your description above does not follow Ohm's Law.  Resistance in the circuit would cause less current flow.

[DanMc]

I'm reluctant to mention this, for fear of turning this thread into a parallel stupid things, but I hope I can remind people of what's common on this machine.  

Yesterday I changed the blade - and we all know that this is when thing go wrong.   Anyway, on the second cut with the new blade, I started the cut and then noticed that the log stops were too high.  So that's not stupid - noticing that they were too high cancels out the stupid of starting the cut with them too high.  But I was past the copper strip (now that IS stupid).  The wood was closing the kerf left by the blade, making it impossible to back up.  I didn't have a wedge or any tool to open up
It up.  Anyway, I ended up pulling the blade off the wheels.  Thankfully, it didn't bend up the blade or scratch up the inside of the covers.  

Stuff did go wrong, but a lot went right.  I milled out 200 bd feet of  1x6x8 to be made into shiplap siding, about 9 1x12x12' oak boards.  And a bunch of stuff milled up at a friend's place.   

[MattM]

That's my bad MM, what I meant to type was bad wiring causing voltage drop...not resistance.

@DanMc you should definitely have a wedge (or 5) in your milling kit as well as something to smack it into the log. It'll save you a ton of time in alot of different situations, especially when you need to back the head up to avoid hitting something or because the log is to wide. I used to buy the plastic chainsaw wedges but now as they all wear out (from chainsaw contact : P) I replace them with homemade oak one 6 and 8 inchs long and 1inch thick.

[DanMc]

@MattM: I know.   I need a few accessories.  I had a wedge up at the house, but that's 1/3rd of a mile away.  A mill shed would also be nice.   All in good time.  

[Magicman]

No only a couple of plastic wedges but also:


 A section of blade that you can insert behind the blade and "saw" the loose sawdust out of the kerf.  

I ground the teeth from the "handle" and used tape plus rubberized dip to form a slip free handle.

[SawyerTed]

A 6’ digging bar with a chisel end is another tool that is a very useful tool around the mill.  It can lift a slab when the blade gets trapped among many other uses.  It doesn’t sub for a cant hook/peavy but is a great lever for lifting and moving logs without the aggravation of the hook in the way.

[Magicman]

I have and regularly use a hatchet.  Insert it in the kerf and turn 90°.  It is amazing how much you can lift.  I also use it for removing heavy slabs from the sawmill.  Just keep turning the hatchet over and it walks the slab off.

The hatchet, wedges, and saw blade pictured above are invaluable in getting out of a jam. 

[DocGP]

Loaded up my girl this weekend with a couple of big red oaks.  Gave the little LT35 about all it wanted, but cut fine.  Got some nice quarter sawn.

But pleased with the days work for an old fat country boy!!

Keep at it.  You are going to love the little LT35!!



 

 

Doc

[DanMc]

That's not the Kohler G25 engine on your LT35!  Must be the Yanmar unit.  Very nice!!!!!

[DanMc]

I held off on mentioning that I had a peculiar misbehavior in the mill head on two different mornings.  I go down to the mill, there's a good coating of dew on everything.  Not dripping off, but just wet.  Both mornings, with the dew, when I turned on the key, the head immediately headed for the bed.  Hitting up interrupted the movement, and it went up, but headed back down when I let go.  This appears to be something other than the control panel, because when heading down the D was not seen on the right side of the display as it is when it's commanded to go down by the lever.

I called WM.  They were very responsive and pointed me to the user's manual, section 6.6, SimpleSet Troubleshooting.  Read The Fine Manual!!!!  He also graciously taught me to have the mill right there when I call for tech service.  There's a setting of .1170 for GearSetting and InvGear should have been set to Yes, but my mill was showing No.  Anybody know how this InvGear setting changes the machine's behavior?  I changed it to Yes and couldn't tell that there was any change in operation.  

Here's a thread that touches on this issue:
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=89241.msg1372147#msg1372147

New machine and new operator.  Problems are expected to occur!!!!!

[DanMc]

I discovered what InvGear does: on my LT35, if I set it to YES, then the head goes UP when SimpleSet is in Auto and told to go down.   The WM user manual is WRONG.  This obviously has nothing to do with the mill head moving down on its own with heavy dew.  In my prior post, I didn't check out SimpleSet in Auto mode.  

[DanMc]

I get nervous when the mill head is down close to an inch of the bed.   I know that it's only a matter of time till I leave the log clamp a little too high, and I run the blade into it.  Yesterday I came up with a nice way of seeing that the clamp is down low enough: If the corner of the cant is a clean corner with little wane, then placing a straight 1" sticker between the cant and the clamp creates a nice reference that quickly shows whether the clamp is down below an inch.  It also protects that bottom board from getting mashed by the clamp pressure.

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

I like your sticker idea. I hate it when i damage the edge of a nice board right in the middle with the clamp. Good reference as well. Thanks for the tip!!

[Magicman]

You will learn to sight down the cant and see that about half of the clamp is below the bottom of the cant.  There is no need to squeeze it tight, just snug.

[DanMc]

Maybe I'll dispense with the sticker as I develop muscle memory with running the mill.  I'm sensitive to running into things, since I did that too much with the HM126.  Pushing the head makes it difficult to look down the length of the cant, checking for obstacles.  And on the 126, the log stops are on the back side of the cant from the operator station, so not easily seen.  As the LT35 pulls itself along, then its easy to look for collisions.

I'm happy to say that I haven't run the blade into anything yet with the LT35.  But I did bump into the log loader once.  I'm up to about 600 bd ft milled with no major catastrophes.  

[GAB]

I'm happy to say that I haven't run the blade into anything yet with the LT35.  But I did bump into the log loader once.  I'm up to about 600 bd ft milled with no major catastrophes.  

It's only a matter of time.  Distractions (kids to keep an eye on) and audiences help a lot.
GAB

[barbender]

I tend to show off for spectators by sawing backstop. It really leaves an impression on them😁

[Southside]

Talking like that I hope you have a big cant right next to you and an equally large mallet to knock on it with.  

[DanMc]

My earlier statement:
"I discovered what InvGear does: on my LT35, if I set it to YES, then the head goes UP when SimpleSet is in Auto and told to go down.   The WM user manual is WRONG."

I have manual version A6.15.

I have to correct myself.  I think the manual is correct.  In the table on page 6.8,  the Revision A5.00+ should be set to NO.  All other earlier SimpleSet revisions were to be set to YES.  I read it wrong.  Being a new mill, I would expect my SimpleSet to be the latest Revision.