Hudson Mills

[barbender]

My manual mill has a 13hp Honda and just a single v-belt, it handles it fine. I have a manual clutch though- you better check what yours is rated for.

[Ironwood]

Just my opinion (sure I am gonna' stir up a hornets nest, BUT)  dollar for dollar your mony is better spent on a LT15, OR a new MX34 (Norwood). I know this because  I have used many mills. ALL mills will cut wood, and well, but talk about quality, resale, and your better off w/ another brand. I have a Hudson 52 here (not mine, but been here for 4+years) and comparetively it is junk. I use only when I have to. Not all "other" mills are $45,000.


Ironwood

[paul case]

i looked at those mills close. the price of a mill was a big factor to me and i found that on other equipment if there are a lot of options on mechanical things, it gives the impression that it needs more than just stock stuff to operate well. those add on roller guides and extra this and extra that look like trouble and extra $ later to me. the other reason i would encourage someone to look elsewhere is bed support. i know it is easy to add more length on those mills but logs are big and heavy and onery and trust me when you get one too big for the saw, and that will happen , you will want to saw it. i just wouldnt  wnt to recomend something that would bend easily under the weight of a big log. they look too light to me. no doubt they would saw a log but in the long run my money is better spent on something heavy enough to not break. pc

[711ac]

I'll "bump" this old thread with a question. There's a 2014 LT 40HGD29 with 1700 hrs near me for almost the money of hud sons H360 saw new. I  know of 2 wood mizers that are operated by friends and one of those is an LT 40 that seemed to be consistently giving my friend trouble with the electric "stuff" and that's everything except powering the blade. Now in fairness this was about 20 years ago and I'm not willing to vouch for the guys maintenance habits either. 
 The other guy has a first rate logging and chipping outfit. 2nd generation and there's no junk in their fleet, in the woods or on the road. He has a (new) LT 70 and has not been trouble free, in fact requiring the W/M mechanic several times to sort out electrical problems and I believe that most of the log handling is hyd and the only electric is probably the diesel engine and the repeated cut brains and controls. 
I'm more comfortable with simple hydraulic valves, pumps & hoses particularly on something that lives outside in the weather. That said I also for the life of me do not understand the cantilever design. Why bother overcoming a strange loading condition (cantilever) when 4 "legs" result in simple vertical
loads.
 If I could justify a Cooks or other 4 legged big brand, with as little reliance on electric as possible I'd go that route. 
BUT I DON'T REALLY KNOW, NEVER OWNED A MILL (had to get that out of the way)   ;D 
I guess all my blabbering boils down to;
Is 1700hrs anything to be worried about on the used LT40 with a 29hp Kohler. He claims to have done 100hr oil changes with annual Woodmizer Mechanic do an "alignment". 
I do understand the value of the woodmizer brand for resale and they do seem to just about own the market and there's a reason for that. 

[SawyerTed]

You are borrowing trouble.  Wood-Mizer mills make more quality lumber with the electrical over hydraulic and cantilever design than any other brand of small band mill.  That doesn't mean the other mills don't make fine lumber.  It means WM has been in the game a long time and will be for a long time.  The supposed electrical issues and cantilever issues are hyped up by competitors.  All brands have strengths and weaknesses, cantilever design and electric over hydraulic design isn't the weakness competitors make of it.

[711ac]

Ted I failed to express that I'm leaning heavily towards the used woodmizer and am just wondering about what to look for/at with a mill with 1700 hrs. 

[farmfromkansas]

Look at the For Sale section, there are a couple other LT 40's that have been for sale recently.  Can you tell if the frame is bent or some other problem?   The WM following is huge here.  I personally have a Cooks MP32, very sturdy mill, 05 model.  Hobby use, although I could probably fill a couple semi trailers.  Had a neighbor with a LT 30, did custom sawing, NO maintenance, mill really needed going over, but still sawed pretty good lumber.  Guy was so tight he had a tractor and loaded the mill with a 3 point bale mover.  No loader.  Barely kept the tractor running as well.