Hydraulic backstops on a Wood-Mizer

[Deere80]

Does anyone have a picture of the kit or how the two backstops without the rollers are tied to the two that lift with the Hydraulics??  The reason I ask is because I work in a fab shop and if I could fabricate it instead of paying the $420 for the kit I would do that.  I looked at mine and the bottoms of the stops are fabricated different.  A picture would do wonders.

[drobertson]

If memory serves, they are not, they are independent with separate mounts. This is about as a close up as I could fine,


 

in this picture they are folded down, but if you know what you are looking at, you can see the pivot assemble between the movable one and the bed rail.

[Deere80]

So if yours are tied together why are they not up with your other two?  I want a picture of how they hook up the inside backstops so they come up with the outer two.

[JB Griffin]

They aren't tied together.

[drobertson]

So if yours are tied together why are they not up with your other two?  I want a picture of how they hook up the inside backstops so they come up with the outer two.

Maybe later models are tied together,,I kinda thought that why you wanted a picture of them to figure a way to get them tied together.  The inner manual ones are just that manual, for short stock. Not sure what to say,, except figure it out?  Sorry,,

[Crusarius]

Deer, if you are looking for ideas I did a quick sketch and put it in my build thread.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,96870.40.html

page 3.

Pretty rough but may give you an idea. If you are going hydraulic you could get away with a single ram on the end and make the stop rotate into position. My plan was threaded rod and my M18 impact to raise and lower or an electric motor.

[mikeoverbey]

All of mine were manual.  I did the math to figure the throw and angles and then looked at online pictures of the shape.  I then turned a picture into a CAD model and then drilled the hole at the appropriate dimesion(I think CL to Cl was 10.75") from the center of rotation.  Look through my gallery and you'll see quite a few pics of it.  My 2nd stop from the front probably isn't the same as yours.  I have a '95.  As far as I know, there is no kit for this vintage.  I had to make my own.  The keys are the distance from CL to CL of the pivot rod and connector hole, and the fact that the holes for the connector rods are at a 45 degree angle from vertical, (and -45) when the cylinder is extended and retracted.  Also the bottom of the bunks is 7" from the CL of the pivots and the axle is 11".  The bi-plane clamp hole is also this dimension to allow the rods to pass through.  The tricky part was to position the welded on arms, inboard and outboard,so that there is clearance for the different obstructions.  At least it was for me when starting from basically scratch.  I hope the pictures make this more clear.  I think I have the CAD model of the weld-on arm if you need it.

Mike

[WV Sawmiller]

D80,

   Below are the schematics from my manual. All 4 of my side supports work together. I love the extra 2 especially for short stuff and can't believe they are not standard on all WM mills.

[drobertson]

I was not a fan of short logs,, but did appreciate the separate control of the the inside back stops.. going back so often times caught(hooked) a nub and moved the part past the desired saw position.. I may have been picky,, I liked them separate, not a fan of shorts, but a fan of many of the figures that was produced from them.   

[Brucer]

Bibbyman did a conversion many years ago. It was so popular that Wood-Mizer came out with an upgrade kit to do the conversion.

My second mill came with the kit already installed -- all 4 side stops lifted together. I didn't actually want it, but someone goofed when making up the order so I ended up getting stuck with the upgrade (or having to wait 3 months for another mill to get shipped).

A year or so later I downgraded to the original 2 hydraulic/2 manual version (so I can't give you any pictures). From what I remember, the single long link between the front and back side stops was replaced with a set of three links that went from one stop to the next.

My friend, John, did his own version. No welding required, no fancy parts to make. Each of the side stops -- manual and hydraulic -- has a small triangular tab that sticks out at an angle from the upright part of the side stop. These tabs will hit the top of the main 4" x 8" frame, preventing the side stop from going beyond the vertical. John simply heated these tabs with a torch and hammered them so they were all lined up with each other (and no longer able to contact the frame). Then he drilled a 5/16" hole through each tab in exactly the same location. Next he measured the distance between holes in each hydraulic stop and the nearest manual stop, and drilled a couple of pieces of 1/4" flat bar to match this distance. Finally, 4 grade 8 bolts with lock nuts connected the flat bar links to the corresponding side stops.

With John's system the front and back side stops remain connected below the bed rails, and the manual side stops are connected to the hydraulic stops above the main rail. When the side stops are vertical, the connecting lengths of flatbar will hit the top of the frame and prevent them from going any further past the vertical position.

Neat, simple, cheap, and effective. Did I mention that John's a farmer?

[Deere80]

Drobertson,  I hate short logs too but sometimes I can't help it what the customer wants.  Mine they make a kit to tie them together and when you only have them part ways up, then you go to clamp it half the time your pressure from your clamp pushes the log over the top of the two manual stops because you are trying to catch the bottom of a 8" log and it just takes more time walking back and pulling them back up.

[WV Sawmiller]

D80,

   I used to say I hated shot logs too but in all honesty I sometimes love them. My last job Saturday we cut 2 5' RO logs. One was about 24" dia and straight so we made short, wide 4/4 boards. The other was smaller with a fork with nice figure so I made it into 2" live edge bench blanks which will really make some beautiful benches.

    Today we cut about 1200 bf of white pine. When we completed the customers order he had a 6' top about 13-14 inches in diameter so I suggested we make stickers which he said he needed so I simply cut a 10" square cant, cut that into 9" 4/4 boards and sliced them into 1" stickers. Without the extra side supports we'd have had to jury rig some scrap between the 2 more widely spaced supports and might not have been worth the effort.

   In other words, IMHO, the extra side supports encourage me to salvage more of my own and my customers lumber which I enjoy and profit from and they appreciate. Good luck.

[drobertson]

All I can say is logs with character, especially when sawing live edge, which normally goes hand in hand, the nubs get in the way.  It's a pain to stop an move back stops, but not as bad as moving the log out of  position when the movable ones do. Saw enough ECR and  Live edge stuff, with narley knots, this may make more sense.  Speed is not always the answer in regards to fancy cuts.. Fact is it's kinda fun to get the customer involved in moving the log around,, giving them a voice in how its sliced,, very satisfying for everyone,,