Bed extension on WM

[Minnesota_boy]

Mark,
Those Ponderosa sound like the perfect way to get acquainted with your mill, what it will and won't do and which parts of it you can hit with the blade.  Watch for the blade to try and wander on the upper sticks, where the biggest limbs are.  Sharp blades are a must for them.  Maybe that will keep you out of jail too.  :D

[J Beyer]

What was the cost of the extension and other work you had done?  Those rollers are real neat.  You welder should start making them to sell.

JB

[Minnesota_boy]

Jeff,
The welder made the extra lift arm for loading the logs, an extra fixed bunk, plus welded a brace from the main frame of the mill to the extension brace to make it a permanent part of the mill, the 3 roller units on the outfeed with the braces to hook them all together, plus a manual roller towboard for the extension.  His labor was $1500.  I haven't gotten a bill for the steel yet as that came from the mill where I'm sawing.

The extension itself, delivered to Cass Lake, MN by truck freight, was a shade over $2700.

Since this welding will save me having to hire 2 helpers, I think it will pay off pretty soon.  I've been verbally promised an anual trip back here to do this same kind of work.  I hope it works out.

A neighbor is interested in hiring me to do the same kind of work.  Maybe I've found a new niche market.

[J Beyer]

Sounds like a good deal with the welder, especially if he had to do some design work.  I'll keep the extension idea in mind so I can stay portable and do the long ones.

JB

[Minnesota_boy]

We collaborated on the design.  I had a fair idea of what i wanted for parts of it before I went there and I called that particular welder because we talked the same language.  Some of the modification came after using the mill for a few days and realizing what kind of problems I was up against.  The is nothing like a cant so big that you cannot move it to convince you that some modification is needed.  The extra bunk happened because I needed to cut some long logs off after they were on the mill and move the shorter peices back to the center of the mill for the rest of the processing.  After having the swinging log bunk move on me and drop a 10 foot chunk inside the mill frame (one end down), it became obvious that a fixed bunk was really what I needed.

[Bibbyman]

Sounds like a job for an LT80.

Note the three loading arms and 6 fixed bunks + two swinging. Also has two extra sets of clamps.

[Bibbyman]

Say,  I'z wondering about something. ???  How can a bed extension be put on a mill with the fixed operator station on the end like the big Baker, TimberHavester, and TimberKing models?  I can't see how it could be done because of the control lines that run back and forth in the chain track.

[EZ]

Hi guys,sorry to barge in, but I have a question.
So if I make a extension on my mill say 8 ft, will I need to put another clamp on the extension. The clamp on the end of the mill is about 6 ft away from the longest log I saw. I hope this makes sense.
EZ

[Minnesota_boy]

Hi EZ,
I'm not a bit sorry you barged in.  It keeps the conversation going.
I'm sawing 8x8 cants, which is a bit different than lumber, but I only use one clamp.  When you have that big of a log on there, it tends to stay put.  Once I have a couple of flats, I may not use any clamp, after all, just where is that cant going to go?  Sometimes the tensioln in the log causes one end to lift up.  I'll try to push it down with my weight or use my peavy to pry it down (with the point of the peavy under part of the mill's frame).  Watch your fingers if you opt to pushin the cant down.  Count them after each time and make sure you still have all of them.  The peavy is a bit safer.  If I can't hook the point under part of the mill, I may use a cable winch (come-along) threaded under the frame to pull it down.  It seems that I have less troucle with tension in the log when it is below zero.

[EZ]

So if I'm sawing a 21 ft cant & sawing full 2x8 or 2x10 I should have at least one more clamp on the extention then.
EZ

[Minnesota_boy]

Hi EZ,
You're up early today, I'm only on my second cup of coffee.

I don't think that was quite the conclusion I was headed for when I wrote last night.  My Woodmized extension came with a manual clamp for those long logs.  I haven't used it yet.  The cants that bend do so before I turn the flat side down, and I'm not sure I could pull them down and clamp them tight enough to hold them down with the manual clamp  Mostly, the long logs hold themselves just from the weight of the log.  

Clear as mud yet?

[EZ]

I understand now, the way my mills log loading winch is set up, I can take the cable under & hook on the cant or log & pull it down. The log clamps I made hold real good. Thanks for the infor.
I get up at 4 AM every morning, so I can check out the web sites before I go to work at the shop.
EZ

[Fla._Deadheader]

Finally got the extension done on "Homey". We can now saw 24 foot X 42" logs on this mill, IF we ever get the logs. :D
  We did add the log bunks after the pic was taken. : ;D