Tires on Sawmill getting hot

[Beavertooth]

I have a LT70 and have always had trouble with my tires getting extremely hot when towing the mill. It is not the brakes rubbing. The tires will spend freely when jacked up. The tires will get hot first then if you are on a long trip it will move to the rim and then on to the hub.  I have ran them with all kinds of different air pressure and does the same no matter how much or how little.  After just about 60 miles Friday I stopped to check everything. I had left the house with 70lbs of air in each tire. They were so hot that the pressure was up to 90lbs and had a big ole knot that had popped out on the inside of basically a brand new tire. Changed the tire and let the pressure down to 50 in the tires and made the last 48 miles ok and back home the next day.  Just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem. 

[Tacotodd]

Check to make sure that the tires are parallel with each other. I have seen this issue become a problem with other trailer axles in the past.

[Southside]

Woodmizer replaced the tires with heavier ones on my 70 when it was in for another issue. Might want to check and see if you need to do the same. 

[dgdrls]

Check to make sure that the tires are parallel with each other. I have seen this issue become a problem with other trailer axles in the past.

Also,  measure dimensions from a point under the hitch to points you can reproduce on both sides of the axle, get as close to the brake
backing plate as you can.

What are the load ratings on the tires?   LT-70 by the spec sheet I found is just shy of #5000

D

[boonesyard]

What Taco said. If the load rating is OK, even if it's off a bit it shouldn't heat up that fast. I'll bet the tires aren't running true to the frame/each other, this issue will heat up and wear tires in a hurry. Does the mill dogleg to one side or the other when towing it? 

[Darrel]

I have the same problem with my 1992 LT40.  My tires also wear out like you would expect under inflated tires to wear when in reality they are a bit over inflated.

[donbj]

What Taco said. If the load rating is OK, even if it's off a bit it shouldn't heat up that fast. I'll bet the tires aren't running true to the frame/each other, this issue will heat up and wear tires in a hurry. Does the mill dogleg to one side or the other when towing it?

It would be a challenge to say whether or not a woodmizer dog tracks. They all do by design. The way to narrow it down would be to see if the wheels are true to the axle

[Ianab]

If the mill wasn't tracking straight wouldn't the tires scrub unevenly, like car tyres when your alignment is out?

If the tyres are tracking straight then heat is more likely due to sidewall flex. Is it more that the load rating on the tires are "optimistic"? 

[doc henderson]

I think if the wheels are parallel, but the axle is not perpendicular, the trailer would steer to the one side.  if the wheels are not parallel, toe in or out, it would generate heat as they works against each other.  a non contact heat gun is great for diagnosing where the problem is.  it is telling that they are both doing it (getting hot) and this could be from not being parallel, or from an overloaded or underinflated condition.  a dragging brake would get hot first at the hub, and would likely be only one side, unless the actuator is the problem.  

[pineywoods]

FWIW the axles on woodmizer are most likely off the shelf boat trailer axles. Real easy to bend. I had to swap out the axle on an lt40 not worth trying to fix it. Don't ask how it got bent.......

[Sixacresand]

Don't ask how it got bent.......

I'm guessing a stump.

[Darrel]

Don't ask how it got bent.......

I'm guessing a stump.

yup, that's what I was thinking, and if it's anything like the stumps in these parts, that stump grew right up out of the ground while the mill was passing over it!