assembling my new sawmill

[maple flats]

Well, it only took me forever, but I made my first cut on my sawmill yesterday. I did have to adjust the throttle cable because the blade stopped, after raising the rpm twice it cut well. I suspect I'd be best off if I get a meter to read the rpm to be certain I'm at 3600rpm. The big issue is that to use one that reads off the end of the shaft I'd need to do it with the drive exposed, that is a no no with a blade on, any suggestions? Is there an electronic one that reads off the spark?
My thought is that the blade stopping was partially because I was sawing oak that had dried 7 years. I believe that would be harder to cut, am I correct?
When I finally saw some logs, I'll get pictures. So far my mill is ready but the trailer it's mounted on still needs the tongue attached, the wiring run and lights installed.
I did have a tent pavilion over the mill, but mother nature took care of that in a windstorm a few days ago. The tent pulled the stakes, lifted up and blew about 30' away and landed upside down. It looks like it might have survived the flight and landing. I'll get my grandson down to help move it back in the next week or 2. We may need to disassemble it, move it back and put it back up. Then I may need better stakes to anchor it. If it sustained damage I can't easily repair I'll just go without it until I can build one out of wood I saw, that was my plan in the first place. The wind that took it was not a twister , just straight line wind about 45-50 mph, from the east. I very seldom get wind out of the east and where the tent was I have lots of woods on all sides except the east.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, we don't have an AP for that, but in true FF fashion, we do have a thread for it. ;D Check here: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=111752.msg1751993#msg1751993 
I mention the one I bought, it works well and I am still happily using it. It was cheap and well worth the cost. 5 minute install.

[TimW]

When I first got out of A&P School, my boss had a hand held unit (kind of looked like a tuning fork) he just held up to and rested the end on the instrument panel, next to the tach and it would vibrate and tell you the rpm, confirming or not if the aircraft's tach was accurate.  Neat little thing, but that was 42 years ago.
hugs,  Brandi

[maple flats]

I ordered one from Amazon, should be here in a day or 2. I has a wire that gets wrapped around the spark plug wire 5 wraps. The reviews were good. It also tracks hours and can be set to remind me of scheduled maintenance needed.

[VB-Milling]

I ordered one from Amazon, should be here in a day or 2. I has a wire that gets wrapped around the spark plug wire 5 wraps. The reviews were good. It also tracks hours and can be set to remind me of scheduled maintenance needed.

Thinking I might jump onboard this train and order one as well.  Which one did you go with?

[btulloh]

Tach is a good idea. With low HP full rpms are essential. 

One thing to watch out for is the throttle cable stretching gradually on a new mill. Since it happens gradually over time it's possible to lose rpms and not notice. No big deal, just part of running a new piece of machinery. After a few hours run time it's good to go back and check all adjustments and alignments. No big surprise I'm sure but it's easy to be focused on sawing and not notice little things wearing in or settling. 

Maple flats, sawing a 7 year old oak is a brave step early on. That really puts these low powered mills to the the test. Mine is the 9.5hp because the bigger engine wasn't available when I bought it. I learned early on to saw my oaks ASAP or I'd be taking my time on really hard stuff.

Glad to hear you're making some sawdust with your new mill. 

[VB-Milling]

One thing to watch out for is the throttle cable stretching gradually on a new mill

Good advice, thanks Bob.  When I assembled the mill originally, the setup from the factory was definitely leaving HP and RPM on the table.  Took but a couple mins to make the proper adjustments and get that 14hp Kohler to scream at me.

[maple flats]

I ordered this from Amazon:

Runleader Backlight Hour Meter Tachometer, Maintenance Reminder, Battery Replaceable,

I hope it performs well. I don't see a model # for it. They had a few different choices, this one seemed to have more functions than the others. According to tracking it should be here tomorrow.

[maple flats]

I took the oak slab home and ran the belt sander on it, almost done. It feels smooth but I can still see  some barely visible lines from the blade. I think I'll need another 20-30 minutes sanding, and maybe with a new belt, and finally with a finer grit belt. Next week the forecast  calls for warmer temperatures, should work out good for applying the epoxy finish. Once almost sanded I'll route the edges using a rounding bit. I'll get a picture when I set it up in the store I'm building it for, at least 1 shot empty and 1 shot with product set up on it. While my main display is kept filled, I think I'll leave spaces between the products on this display.

[Old Greenhorn]

I think that one will work fine for you. Mine looks the same except it doesn't have a green screen. I think I paid about 15 bucks, but I use it all the time as a reference to augment to other things I am sensing as I mill. On lower powered mills, it's a no-brainer handy tool. On a 38HP diesel, it doesn't really have as much impact. ;D

[rusticretreater]

Hey,

Really late to the thread, but I only joined the forum recently.  I have a 2021 Woodland Mills HM130Max w/ track extension in a shed.  I also added the lap siding upgrade and the toe board.  I would make a recommendation on the lube system for the blade.  Folks have complained about the needle valve at the tank getting clogged with sawdust, dirt etc.  I had my own travails as I couldn't get the flow rate I wanted.  So I leave the valve wide open and pinch the line between the distribution block at the motor and the nozzle with an adjustable line clamp.  Other folks have used a ball valve.  I think I will be purchasing a tach for my mill too.  

[thecfarm]

Glad to hear you are sawing!!!

[VB-Milling]

Folks have complained about the needle valve at the tank getting clogged with sawdust, dirt etc

My problem always seem to be at the zerk fitting at the blade guide, although I have taken the whole system apart once already to clean out everything at only 10 hrs run time..  I started running without the zerk and it seems to help.

[maple flats]

My tach came 3 days ago. Too busy with my slab project to install it now, maybe in a week or 2.

[Waspu]

Hi, how long in total does it take to assemble the 130 max 

[VB-Milling]

@Waspu

Welcome to the FF.

I'll give you my 2 cents...it depends.  Its a pretty open-ended question.  Some people may work every day on it and still need a week.

The more mechanically inclined and familiar with tools you are, the quicker it can go.

You can do it in a long day alone or in a shorter day with 2 people if you have all the tools, you have already uncrated and taken inventory of everything, follow the instructions carefully (preferably already read them ahead of time), have a flat, dry open space to work, and skip lunch.

[rusticretreater]

You can do it in a day, but its a lot of work.  I did mine over several days as it was hot as hades and I was melting as bad as the wicked witch of the west.  You want to use a battery hammer drill with socket adapters to help assembly as there are a ton of nylon lock nuts that will wear you out if you are hand tightening things.  You do need a big tractor or someone to help put the saw head on the rails.  Its not only heavy, but pretty unwieldly too.

Check the tool list. The bolts for the wheels are pretty big.  A lot of the bolts are larger than what you get in a metric tool set. 19mm and bigger. A quality crescent wrench set will also help.  

If it will be not be mobile, take a good amount of time building the mill supports.  The more solid and level your supports, the easier it will be to dial in the setup and it will not move much after that.

[maple flats]

Hi, how long in total does it take to assemble the 130 max

Mine took about 7 weeks, but that was a few minutes here and a few there. In reality I think it took about 12 hrs if un-interrupted. The time included help for about 1 hr on day 1. It was assembled about 30' outside my crowded shop, on uneven ground. If you have space in a shop, with a flat floor and an organized workbench, likely 8-9 hrs. I'm neither organized nor neat, and at my age it won't likely get better.
For things like standing the sawhead up and then lifting it onto the track I had to get a way set up to lift it alone using my mini excavator, using straps, chains and ropes to control any alignment issues from the seat of the excavator. That likely took an hour, but if help had been present likely 3-4 minutes.

[maple flats]

I guess mine took a lot more than 7 weeks, closer to 6 months and counting. While it's true I used the sawmill way back when, I just added the tongue, rear bumper and lights the last 2 days. I still need to add the clamps that hold the wiring harness, but I think that's it. Maybe tomorrow, weather and other obligations depending. 
Since I have surgery this Friday, and I'll be in prep mode Thursday, my other to do need is, if I get more Amber Syrup I'll need to bottle some before surgery. After surgery I'll be on "no lifting" orders for 6-8 weeks. In the meantime, once I can get to watch my brother, he will be sawing some hemlock. He has logs from just 2 trees, and will be sawing some lumber to build some raised beds for growing vegetables in. By the way, he helped me on the final assembly. He helps me when I need it and vice versa, but he also has a SIL who helps whenever he needs, but only on weekends, during the week his SIL works long hours.
Once my back to work OK is given by my surgeon (and I'll bet my wife will also voice an opinion) I'll be felling hemlocks and start sawing for a sawmill shed (open pavilion type) and after that I'll saw an addition to my shop. Fairly certain I'll add a 14x36' addition, but it might be a 16x36'. That decision will need to be decided by the time I start sawing the rafters. I can fit 16' wide, but it would be a little tight because I want a roadway between the addition and the sawmill pavilion. If I don't put a roadway there, into my woods out back, I'll need to make a new roadway in which would be far less convenient, it would then route out past my solar array, and across a wet spot, necessitating a few loads of gravel and a culvert. I haven't yet decided if I want to go thru between the addition and the sawmill pavilion or out and around the solar.

[Ljohnsaw]

I can fit 16' wide, but it would be a little tight because I want a roadway between the addition and the sawmill pavilion.

Can't move the sawmill further out?  What's your minimum for the roadway you want?