Preparing the mill for cold weather sawing

[trapper]

For the gloves like andries showed. go to your local army surplus store.  That is where I find them.

[ladylake]

 Trapper


   Are you sure you have that name right, I type it in and nothing comes up. I did buy some army surplus mittens from Mills Fleet which are really warm.  Steve

[WLC]

I don't know if this will help anyone , but I use this blue hydraulic oil for my snow plow and never had it freeze up and at below O temps it slows down very little can get at Napa and I have seen these little heaters that are twelve volt and they heat the oil  with a little modification I am sure you could get this to work. Hope this helps 

  

 

I use that same fluid.  Good stuff.  I learned the hard way to change out the old fluid every fall before it gets cold. One of those "grits eater" moves to the frozen north and has to learn everything the hard way type of things :D. I like the idea of a heater.  I may have to look into that.  If its real cold the plow moves pretty slow till the fluid warms up a bit.

[scouter Joe]

Those 1 finger gloves are called linemans gloves in this part of the country and yes they are about the best you can do for the cold and still do some work .scouter Joe

[DGK]

I tried a new way of preheating the engine and head on my LT40 in -25C weather today and it worked great. A very simple solution. I bought a 50,000 btu combustion heater, the type that you would use to heat a small shop or construction site. I added a 90 degree elbow and then a short section of straight pipe. The heater is positioned under the mill head at the end of the mill with the head cover in place. After about an hour, the entire head assembly was warm to the touch, free of ice & snow and dry. The engine and all accessories started without hesitation. The funny thing is that the Kohler G28 engine doesn't want to idle properly in these very cold temperatures and has a slight surge with the blade engaged. I am thinking that the fuel filter may need replacing. The fuel tank vent is clear as well as the air filter. Anyone else ever have idle issues with their fuel injected G28 in cold weather?

[trapper]

Army surplus store is generic.  most cities have them.  Fond du lac where I live has 2.  Most are family owned.  Item # wx2-625517 at sportsman guide is what I am talking about.  I also have the wool liners that go with them.

[DGK]

I tried a new way of preheating the engine and head on my LT40 in -25C weather today and it worked great. A very simple solution. I bought a 50,000 btu combustion heater, the type that you would use to heat a small shop or construction site. I added a 90 degree elbow and then a short section of straight pipe. The heater is positioned under the mill head at the end of the mill with the head cover in place. After about an hour, the entire head assembly was warm to the touch, free of ice & snow and dry. The engine and all accessories started without hesitation. The funny thing is that the Kohler G28 engine doesn't want to idle properly in these very cold temperatures and has a slight surge with the blade engaged. I am thinking that the fuel filter may need replacing. The fuel tank vent is clear as well as the air filter. Anyone else ever have idle issues with their fuel injected G28 in cold weather?

I managed to troubleshoot the rough idle and engine surge issue today. It was a simple replacement of the first fuel filter that runs from the fuel tank. After a short preheat of 45 min with the new heater, the engine fired up easily and ran smoothly at a cool -30C. No saw milling today, I will wait for it to warm up to -20C. :-)

[fishfighter]

DanG 72F here this morning and going up to 82F by afternoon. Of course, rain. >:(

Y'all northern guys, take care with that cold weather coming.

[reswire]

Just wondering if any "northern sawyers" have heated mill sheds?  When it gets below 30 degrees, I plug in my kerosene heater.  Been planning on installing a wood burning, barrel stove for some time, but haven't built the darn thing yet..... ;D ;D   I lived in Oscoda Michigan during the 70's,,,, that kinda broke me of my desire to move north.  Think I'll stick below the Mason/Dixon line for a while longer.

[WLC]

Do any of our "frozen sawyers" use any type of fuel de-icer in the fuel tank?  My LT28(19hp gas motor) ran fine one day then about three or four days later when I had time to go back out and saw some more it ran really rough and didn't want to rev up when I engaged the blade.  Called my local dealer and he said it sounded like the carb icing up or water (condensation) in the tank.  It was about 10-15°F the day it happened and the coldest day that I've used the mill.  Today it was warmer than we've had in two weeks or more with high temps around 20°.  I went out and poured some heet (fuel treatment) in the tank and agitated it for a while.  Cranked the mill and let it run for a while then cut a cant I had up on the bed.  It ran better, but still not "normal".  Just curious if others have or have had this problem

[thechknhwk]

I sawed 1200bf of lumber last sunday during a snow storm that netted over 8" of snow 50 miles from home.  That will never happen again, what a flippin mess after driving home.  I had to wait for the roads to get cleared after I got home so when I went to the power washer the mill wouldn't be covered in crap again by the time I got home.  I burned up $5 trying to wash it off, but the water wasn't really warm enough to do the trick, so now it's melting off in my wood shop that doesn't have a floor drain, lovely.... :-\   The customer's father in law made a wonderful chilli for lunch, and it was all sawed up for local school district and there were a couple of students there helping, but while we ate the felt track wiper froze to the rail and was ripped clean out.  Then on the last 2 logs I sawed when I got to the end of the dog board the blade rose up in the cut over an inch and came clean out of the board above it.  I'm attributing it to frozen sawdust somewhere.  Anyways, never again....! :D

[DGK]

Do any of our "frozen sawyers" use any type of fuel de-icer in the fuel tank?  My LT28(19hp gas motor) ran fine one day then about three or four days later when I had time to go back out and saw some more it ran really rough and didn't want to rev up when I engaged the blade.  Called my local dealer and he said it sounded like the carb icing up or water (condensation) in the tank.  It was about 10-15°F the day it happened and the coldest day that I've used the mill.  Today it was warmer than we've had in two weeks or more with high temps around 20°.  I went out and poured some heet (fuel treatment) in the tank and agitated it for a while.  Cranked the mill and let it run for a while then cut a cant I had up on the bed.  It ran better, but still not "normal".  Just curious if others have or have had this problem

I had to replace my fuel filter that is closest to the fuel tank last week. It was quite dirty. I hadn't had any issues in the warmer weather so maybe it was moisture. My engine is fuel injected so no issues with carb ice. I do not use any fuel treatments.

[Brucer]

In really cold weather, a carb can ice up even when there's no water in the fuel. As the gasoline evaporates, it draws heat from the surrounding air as well as the carburetor jets. This cools the air and condenses any water vapour still in the air. The resulting water then freezes in the carb.

My fuel-injected Kohler does just fine in extremely cold weather. I always add a fuel conditioner in the off-season when I expect to be shut down for a few months. Other than that, I just put in the gas and let 'er run.

[Brucer]

So tomorrow I have to move the mill. It's supposed to be -18°C (0°F) overnight and in the morning, possibly warming up to -14°C (7°F) by early afternoon. I expect the tires will be thumping all the way through town :(.

The good news is, the mill won't see any "action" until the new year, when it is supposed to be quite a bit warmer.

I got the mill hooked up and ready to go today, when it was only -10°C (you do the math ;D).

[Sheepkeeper]

Not really preparing the mill but here is a little unit I put together to help prepare the sawyer for cold weather sawing.

Having warm/dry gloves keeps this sawyer's fingers happy. Happy fingers=happy sawyer.  :D

[Andries]

Do any of our "frozen sawyers" use any type of fuel de-icer in the fuel tank?  My LT28(19hp gas motor) ran fine one day then about three or four days later when I had time to go back out and saw some more it ran really rough and didn't want to rev up when I engaged the blade. . . . poured some heet (fuel treatment) in the tank and agitated it for a while.  Cranked the mill and let it run for a while then cut a cant I had up on the bed.  It ran better, but still not "normal". . .

Water in the gasoline may be the problem there.
When the weather bounces between fall time warm and winter cold, condensation produces water in the system.
My mill is usually fed the expensive alcohol free gas, but a full tank of of cheap ethanol/alcohol gas will get rid of all the water.
Seems to prevent carb throat icing up too, but I'm not sure why.

[AlaskaLes]

Wow Doug, my mind can not even imagine the ordinary things that you do to keep everything working at your temperatures, much less when it gets really cold.  I have sawed when the temperature was below freezing very few times. 

My admiration to you sir.   

And Magicman, as another Canadian who loves the frigid cold when sawing at around +5F, I have to admit that I have no idea how you all deal with that heat down there.   I can add layers when I'm cold, but can only take off so many when it's hot before I risk being arrested for indecent exposure   :D :D :D :D

Now there's a comment I can agree with!!
That is my standard reply to the questions we get regarding working and living with the cold.
I am just not a happy worker when I have to be anywhere above about 88F.

[Magicman]

The answer for too hot is the same as for too cold.  You just gotta know how to do it.   ;D

[fishfighter]

The answer for too hot is the same as for too cold.  You just gotta know how to do it.   ;D

Agree 100%. But, it hard to move when one is wearing every coat they own. ;D

[paul case]

People who dont own a coat do that all the time?

PC

[Magicman]

Sometime it is simpler to just say "no" or "later".  I asked a couple of customers last July if they really wanted to get out in that 95°+ heat and they decided to postpone.   :D

[WLC]

Do any of our "frozen sawyers" use any type of fuel de-icer in the fuel tank?  My LT28(19hp gas motor) ran fine one day then about three or four days later when I had time to go back out and saw some more it ran really rough and didn't want to rev up when I engaged the blade. . . . poured some heet (fuel treatment) in the tank and agitated it for a while.  Cranked the mill and let it run for a while then cut a cant I had up on the bed.  It ran better, but still not "normal". . .

Water in the gasoline may be the problem there.
When the weather bounces between fall time warm and winter cold, condensation produces water in the system.
My mill is usually fed the expensive alcohol free gas, but a full tank of of cheap ethanol/alcohol gas will get rid of all the water.
Seems to prevent carb throat icing up too, but I'm not sure why.

I'm wondering if that is not my problem. I did put some "heet" fuel conditioner in it the other day.  Heet is mostly alcohol.  Supposed to be in the 20's here tomorrow.  I might get out and saw a little to see if it runs better after the fuel additive.  It did run some better the day I first put it in, but I only sawed a few minutes to finish a cant I had to leave on the bed when it started acting up.   

[fishfighter]

Well, it's 27F here and was planning on sawing more today. Bad thing, I didn't drain my water tank. I'm sure the tubing will freeze. Good thing is that it will get in the mid to upper  50's today.