Learning Curve and Limited Real Estate: VB-Milling Small Suburban HM126

[PoginyHill]

I do not have a sawmill, but becoming more interested every day, so this question may not make sense: Why wouldn't the blade stop prevent you hitting the log support?

[VB-Milling]

I do not have a sawmill, but becoming more interested every day, so this question may not make sense: Why wouldn't the blade stop prevent you hitting the log support?

I'm sure it would have, if I had it in place

I sort of forgot about it after I took it off.  I should put it back.

[VB-Milling]

And kudos to Mrs VB for being supportive and lending a hand 👍

Mrs VB makes it all possible.  Get the wife/significant other onboard early and it'll be smooth sailing.

[VB-Milling]

One thing I have been noticing is the trailer jacks that I've been using for trailer leveling are backing off and loosing on their own from the vibration of the mill.  This is causing a noticeable effect at the track joints.  A bump or dip where there used to not be one.  Releveling with a taught string gets everything back in line, but it only lasts so long.

I think I caused this issue because I removed the bulky handles and welded on a 3/4" nut directly to the stem for quick adjustments with a battery drill.  I think the reduced mass makes it easy for the threaded rod to vibrate.

Other than potentially putting the handles back on, I wanted to solicit some solutions to stopping the jacks from loosening.

Maybe just a short rubber bungee cord that wraps over the top of the welded nut?

[leeroyjd]

I'm not familiar with trailer jacks so this may be an odd suggestion, but can a lock nut be employed?

[btulloh]

Maybe a grub screw through the side of the tube. Drill a hole, weld on a nut, use a brass screw. 

Not sure a bungy would do much, but there are simple ways to stop the problem. Could make flip latches to go over the nut after adjusting. Probably won't take much holding power to stop the movement. 

[VB-Milling]

I'm not familiar with trailer jacks so this may be an odd suggestion, but can a lock nut be employed?

Not in this case.  The nut that I welded on is to an unthreaded shaft simply so I could put a socket on it.  There would be no place to put the lock nut.

[VB-Milling]

Maybe a grub screw through the side of the tube. Drill a hole, weld on a nut, use a brass screw.

Not sure a bungy would do much, but there are simple ways to stop the problem. Could make flip latches to go over the nut after adjusting. Probably won't take much holding power to stop the movement.

I like the flip latch idea Bob.  I'll see what I have kicking around the shop.

Might also take one apart and investigate the grub screw idea.  The good news is they are swing back style so they are removable.

[btulloh]

Flip latch seems like the most convenient if there's something laying around to use as a starting point. 

Grub screw not nearly as convenient and requires investigating the innards. Plus it would probably need a lock nut.  

Members here love to come up with solutions for this kind of problem, so I bet there'll be a lot of ideas put forth this evening.  

[VB-Milling]

Had a bit of a difficult time this afternoon. Only managed to mill the 4th of 5 logs in the driveway. Had a blockage in the auto lube system that ended up requiring taking the whole unit apart, both at the blade guide and the brass tee that's part of the throttle assembly. Finally got it squared away and started the first cut on my 5th log, and I snapped the recoil rope somehow.

Took that as a sign to just give up for the day. Spent the rest of the evening cleaning up where the logs have been sitting for a month, organizing some offcuts and sweeping the driveway.

Didn't get a chance to mess with the leveling jacks and I'll fix the recoil rope tomorrow.

Hope it's a little more productive than today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Southside]

Woodmizer has a simple, piece of flat steel, pressed into a "C" shape with the cutout of a nut in the middle of it that you drop over the FAO (Fast Adjust Outrigger) and it prevents the nut from turning as it's now locked against the frame of the FAO or jack.  There is a hole drilled through the nut so a hair pin can be inserted to keep the retainer from jumping off.  

I think you could fab up something that would accomplish the same thing.  

[VB-Milling]

Woodmizer has a simple, piece of flat steel, pressed into a "C" shape with the cutout of a nut in the middle of it that you drop over the FAO (Fast Adjust Outrigger) and it prevents the nut from turning as it's now locked against the frame of the FAO or jack.  There is a hole drilled through the nut so a hair pin can be inserted to keep the retainer from jumping off.  

I think you could fab up something that would accomplish the same thing.  

Thanks, that's a good idea as well.  I found a thread on FF as a visual reference.  Looks like this cat has been skinned before.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=54752.msg789857#msg789857
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=71391.0

I chose to go the cheap route and my trailer jacks are round tube.  I like the "C" idea with the cutout, but I'll have to weld a little stopper piece to the side of the round tube.

[VB-Milling]

Got a bit of a simplified version of the flat stock captured nut idea mocked up over lunch time.  12p nail and a fence staple.  If one revolution of adjustment isn't enough, I can weld another fence staple 90 degrees from the other, but I don't think I'll need that sort of refinement.  I'll run with it later today on one jack and see if it works.  If it works, I'll do all 6 jacks prettier and throw some paint where I ground off the factory finish.













Also, my Boracare and Timbor came early.  Time to start mixing, spraying, stickering and stacking!

[btulloh]

Simple is good.  

A nail has solved many agricultural  machinery  problems going back a hundred years or so. No reason not to use a nail for sawmills. Fixed is fixed. 

[Southside]

Actually that's a pretty complicated farm repair. Duct tape and bailing twine is considered standard duty.  :D

[SawyerTed]

 :D  A nail is an up town repair!  I have a New Holland square baler I have to fix with a small stick.  If it weren't for packing tape, the shelled corn would have run out of the holes in my father in law's truck bed.  The rear cultivator arms on my 1962 Farmall tractor have 20d nails pins holding them on.  

[VB-Milling]

I didn't realize I was so high falutin!  8)

[btulloh]

:D  A nail is an up town repair!  I have a New Holland square baler I have to fix with a small stick.  If it weren't for packing tape, the shelled corn would have run out of the holes in my father in law's truck bed.  The rear cultivator arms on my 1962 Farmall tractor have 20d nails pins holding them on.  

I don't think I've ever seen a 140 or Cub without a nail or two in the cultivator bars or rear hitch.

[VB-Milling]

Trailer jack mod seems to work well.  I'll go ahead and do it to the other 5 jacks this weekend.





I finished up the last of the driveway logs and did a huge cleanup.  All the lumber produced, the mill, and all the cutoffs are now back in the sideyard, which makes me very happy.  Didn't take any pictures unfortunately as I was trying to beat the rain and just get everything finished.

Lots of stacking and stickering this weekend.  I can also get more lumber from the offcuts of the cedar and the cherry, but I can do that in the sideyard and out of view of the entire neighborhood at my leisure.

Current priority is to find another 6x6 in the remaining cedar I have in the sideyard log inventory.  Then, I want to take the time to make some mill trailer improvements in the next few weeks.

[Southside]

Gorilla Tape is a step above duct tape, the nail, complete with getting the welder out, is really into a whole 'nother dimension.  We are approaching dealer repair here.... :D

[VB-Milling]

I finished up the last of the driveway logs and did a huge cleanup.  All the lumber produced, the mill, and all the cutoffs are now back in the sideyard, which makes me very happy.  Didn't take any pictures unfortunately as I was trying to beat the rain and just get everything finished.

Lots of stacking and stickering this weekend.  I can also get more lumber from the offcuts of the cedar and the cherry, but I can do that in the sideyard and out of view of the entire neighborhood at my leisure.

Current priority is to find another 6x6 in the remaining cedar I have in the sideyard log inventory.  Then, I want to take the time to make some mill trailer improvements in the next few weeks.

[VB-Milling]

Got a kick in the pants of inspiration this afternoon and started working on the winch system to parbuckle logs.  Trying to use what I have instead of buying steel.



 

Started by cutting a square-ish hole into the side of the trailer to weld in a hitch receiver for strength



 



 

Cut down the winch post from a boat trailer



 

Used the post to sleeve a 2inch chunk of steel. This becomes the sliding mechanism to clear the mill head carriage.



 



 

Made some more design decisions, finished welded and added some bracing.



 



 

Added some galv pipe I had on hand with a clevis pin and snatch block.  Not sure the galv pipe is strong enough.  I think I'll need actual square tube, but I guess I'll find out.



 

Started to fabricate a winch plate out of 6 inch C channel and welded a D ring to the middle of the trailer before calling it a night.



 


 


 


 

If I get the winch plate welded and the winch bolted down in the morning, I can give it a test.

[Southside]

Got a piece of angle you can weld to the back of the galvanized pipe to reinforce it?

[VB-Milling]

Got a piece of angle you can weld to the back of the galvanized pipe to reinforce it?

As a matter of fact, I do! Good idea 

[VB-Milling]

Sadly, I have not been able to get back on either the trailer jack mods or the winch plate fabrication.

However, while I'm set up for fabrication on the trailer, I've been thinking about how to make adjustment feet for the track.  The trailer crossmembers aren't in plane with each other as perfect as I would like seeing how I welded two trailers together.  This causes a slight valley or hill at the track joints.  Woodland Mills provides leveling feet, bolts and nuts to accomplish this when installed on skids.  I need to modify it for the trailer or decide not to use it.


 



My first thought was to through bolt the track to the crossmembers and have a nut under the track that I can adjust and another nut on top of the track to lock it in.  I don't really like the idea of the entire length of track sitting on 12 nuts, even though this is Woodland Mills design methodology.


 

I like the full track bearing on the crossmembers, so that is my design quandary...

Shimming seems like a lot of labor on the front end, but with no fine adjustment.  Its has gotten me by thus far, but its not very accurate.

I have many sections of 16-18inch one inch threaded rod and a nut for that seems like a much better bearing surface.  Maybe I weld the threaded rod to the top of the crossmembers, and then use the same Woodland Mills method as above, but with a much bigger nut?