Woodland Mill Kohler14hp replacement clutch

[WoodyPhyseter]

Hello comunity,  I'm sure that this question has been answered somewhere on here but i can't find it through keywords.

I'm pretty sure my clutch pads are worn out,  I understand that I can't buy just the pads and that it's a whole clutch assembly that is sold for around 80$. 

What I need to know is where I can buy this and make sure it's the right one?  The woodland mills website ( at least the canadian one) doesn't sell this assembly.

So that's my main question I need answered to order as quick as possible. 
To go more into my problem;  the clutch had been wearing off metal dust right off since i first got it,  of course i adjusted the throttle cable several times so it pull maximum rpm and the idle so that the clutch doesn't "ring" on idle.

Still the centrifugal clutch wore out pretty quick.  I bought this mill in 2019,  didn't use it that winter and then used it one and off.  All in all i must have sawed (more or less) 70 logs with it.  I've pinned it on the road for maybe 1600km in total (two trips), and that does make alot of adjustement to be done.  its going to stay home from now on. 
Anyway,  So when the blade stopped spinnind without even sawing i decided to go against safety recomendations and open up the guard and see it the belt was even moving,  it wasn't.  So I have to conclude that the clutch need replacing.  I'm hoping there is a way of replacing the clutch without backing up the engine because I've had a hell of a time putting it nice and perpendicular and adjusting the drive side,  I don't really want to go over that again and,  the way it works, I'm pretty sure if you mess around with it too much your bolts will smush or the rod will dent,  in either circumstance,  it;s not good for proper adjustment.

So yeah,  can somebody redirect me to a supplier of this clutch assembly,  preferably in Canada?  But whatever.  Thanks

[btulloh]

Call Woodland Mills this morning. They sell a replacement and it's reasonably priced and better than the original. I went through this on my hm126 and the new one they sold me has lasted much better. 

These clutches are a consumable item and do need replacement from time to time. No doubt it could be sourced elsewhere but I just went with the factory replacement. 

[btulloh]

I think they sent me a free replacement since I was still in the warranty period even though I wasn't expecting the clutch to be covered. 

[rojen]

I inquired about the lead time on some products last week and asked them to send a clutch replacement as an aside.  They asked zero questions and sent it right out. 

[btulloh]

One thing I think helped with rapid demise of my first clutch was running the 10° blades that I bought with the mill.  I switched to 7° Kasco blades and life has been much better since.  The original box of blades were Lennox 10's and they seemed to have a profile that is pretty grabby even in softwood.  In oak they didn't do well at all.  The Kasco 7's have been a good all round blade for me.  I should get some 4° blades for the hard stuff, but so far I haven't done that.  At any rate, I think those original 10's helped put more strain on the clutch.  Just throwing it out there  . . .

[WoodyPhyseter]

One thing I think helped with rapid demise of my first clutch was running the 10° blades that I bought with the mill.  I switched to 7° Kasco blades and life has been much better since.  The original box of blades were Lennox 10's and they seemed to have a profile that is pretty grabby even in softwood.  In oak they didn't do well at all.  The Kasco 7's have been a good all round blade for me.  I should get some 4° blades for the hard stuff, but so far I haven't done that.  At any rate, I think those original 10's helped put more strain on the clutch.  Just throwing it out there  . . .

OKay,  I'm not sure what these measurements are... degrees,  but I'm assuming you're talking about the width of the blades.  I'm all-in-all having a hard time finding somebody to even sharpen my blades,  let alone find the right blades to buy so that's why I buy from woodland mills.  Canada...  Though this is interesting information.  I'll look into that thanks.

[WoodyPhyseter]

Call Woodland Mills this morning. They sell a replacement and it's reasonably priced and better than the original. I went through this on my hm126 and the new one they sold me has lasted much better.

These clutches are a consumable item and do need replacement from time to time. No doubt it could be sourced elsewhere but I just went with the factory replacement.

Yeah I don't know about in the US,  but here up north they seem to be in heavy demand and took their phone number off their website cause they can't even answer all the calls.

I left a voice message and an email to "redirect me to where i can purchase the clutch assembly".

3 days in (weekend)  no answer. 

[btulloh]

I'm hoping there is a way of replacing the clutch without backing up the engine because I've had a hell of a time putting it nice and perpendicular and adjusting the drive side,  I don't really want to go over that again and,  the way it works, I'm pretty sure if you mess around with it too much your bolts will smush or the rod will dent,  in either circumstance,  it;s not good for proper adjustment.

Not sure I understand this statement.  Belt tension adjustment?  This is something that needs to be done on a regular basis and isn't very difficult.  In any event, the clutch is held on the shaft with a single bolt from the front and easily accessible.  You may need to use some sort of puller, or use two pry bars to balance the force on both sides of the clutch to pull it off the shaft.  Pretty routine type of thing.  You will need to slack the drive belt tension and remove the belt first.

Hopefully they'll get back to you soon.  Everyone is having supply chain and employee issues these days.  Everything I do it seems I run into to delays and shortages.  Just the way things are right now.  It's frustrating, but eventually we move forward.

I'm curious how many blades you've been through sawing the 70 logs.  I'm luck to get 150 bd ft of sawn lumber out a blade before it's too dull to saw well.  Sawing bark is hard on blades and cleaning a strip of bark off in the entrance side where the blade enters helps prolong blade life.  A clean log will have a lot embedded grit in the bark, and if it's been skidded and has a lot of dirt it'll really kill a blade in a hurry.

The measurement I'm using is degrees of hook angle.  It makes a lot of difference in performance and can vary depending on the nature of the wood (hard, soft, green, dry, etc.) you're sawing.  You don't have to go crazy with different hook angles and profiles, but it pays to find something that suits what you're sawing.  I had good luck with Kasco and just stopped there, but there are many good suppliers.  Kasco, btw, is a sponsor and shows up in the column on the left side of the FF page (along with other blade manufacturers).  They list their number in Canada as - KASCO LLC  |  Toll Free Canada: 1-800-361-3329  |  Toll Free USA: 1-800-325-3251

[btulloh]

ok - things got wacky when I pasted their number in the last message and I just had to bail out and start over.  Click on their link to get their info.  You can contact them about distribution in Canada, or any of the other blade manufacturers.

I'm sure there are other sources for these clutches but I don't know who direct you to.  You would just need to match up all the physical characteristics with the current clutch.  One place that sells many things like that is Surplus Center in Nebraska  Surplus Center - clutches  I don't know if  they have an exact replacement - give it a look.

Sorry you're having problems connecting with the factory.  They've always been easy to get in touch with, but that was before the dark ages we find ourselves in now.  Let us know how you make out.

[WoodyPhyseter]

Hello again everybody,  I'm back to give news Btulloh asked for. 

first off,  that last post I wrote about my worries of having to move the engine; about that, thing is at first, when needing to adjust belt tension, I would simply unscrew the four bolts under the engine and then tightening the one that pulls the engine (as the manual says),  but what would happen when i did that is that the engine would twist from the resistance that the belt gives.  the manual should say: ''remove the drive belt with a screwdriver and turning the wheel before unscrewing the four engine bolts".  i had a hell of a time putting that clutch cover aligned with the drive side wheel.  Anyway,  that's all I meant.

As for the clutch replacement,  it went really well and the old clutch pads were worn to have nothing left.
I eventually got in touch with woodland mills and got two replacement clutches because i'm expecting to do alot of that work this autumn.  Gordon explained to me that they made a heavier duty clutch assembly for 2021 and that it'll wear less quickly.  Using it,  I can confirm that it works a lot better than the old one ever did.  The response with the throttle is almost immediate (meaning that it engages at lower rpm) and so at high rpm I doubt there will be any slipage on its part.  on idle the there is no ringing whatsoever and when slowing down the blade turns for almost a minute,  so there is really no resistance.

I am very happy with it's performance.

thanks for your support everybody.