Hello everyone.
i look through this site every day but i cant say ive ever posted before. Ive had a woodland mills hm126 for 3-4 years and for me its been perfect. Im milling for myself and have never sold a board. i also have extended my track out to 22 feet.
so my idea is this.
why have i never seen a separate carriage with just a winch mounted up top. like a gantry crane.
It seems like it would be useful to rotate logs or to move them up or down a bunk.
im getting too old to keep rotating logs with a hook.
any thoughts?
It could work if you can keep the frame out of the way, good idea.
There are quite a few threads on here where people have done that exact thing. Works great and not too complicated. There are different approaches that have been used depending on the individual setup.
I think Woodland Mills even offers that accessory now. You might take a look at their site for some ideas.
All in all pretty easy to fab up. A small 2500 lb winch seems to be fine for the job. Can even use a hand crank boat winch.
Sounds like a good project with a nice benefit. Good luck and keep us up to date.
I think its a heck of an idea! Keep us up to date with the fab and also some photos. I have never seen or thought of such a thing. If there is a relevant thread here, could somebody share the link? I could not find it.
I would lean more towards just mounting a winch on the carriage itself. If you do a separate one your going to lose cutting length.
Loosing the cutting length doesnt bother me much. I have over 20 feet of track and i mostly cut under12-16 feet. Anything longer and my bobcat gets unhappy. Im gonna give it a try when i get the time and ill post some pictures.
When I get some time later I'll post some links. This has all been figured out many times and well documented on the ff. Check out the "useful sawmill mill mods" thread.
I'll post some links this evening.
I have a HM130, have been milling for about the same length of time and have had similar thoughts. I have not started planning or fabbing anything at this time. My mill is semi-permanently parked under a roof so I have a winch mounted overhead for rotating logs. Rather I would like to build this for putting logs onto the mill. Most of my logs are 8 or 10 footers and the side access onto the mill is through an 11 foot opening. I do have track to mill close to a 20 foot log. I would like the ability put the end of a long log over the end of the mill, hang it from a wheeled gantry, pick up the other end with the skid steer or tractor loader and wheel it onto the bed lengthwise. It wouldn't be needed often but I'd like the capability.
roundhouse, have you got an open ended cover? just get a long steel beam and load from the end. Be alot easier than shoehorning through a small opening.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/DA15D628-BEA0-4AEC-B83C-415DEA4A3B00.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1550112241)
this is my quick attach crane for my 277c, I can move a trailer and jackknife on a dime. I use it to lift logs off a trailer with fenders and place them on the mill. if your loader can lift it.
OK - here's just a few of the links on the ff about DIY log turners. Some winch jib-crane types, some claw types, and various others. Just the tip of the iceberg. Some of these threads might wander off the topic a little. (When does that ever happen? :D)
Some good pics Pics of turners on the FF (https://www.google.com/search?q=forestryforum.com+%22winch+log+turner%22&sa=N&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS791US791&sxsrf=ALeKk03fGxZRfGILuYJSHlDyiXZVJChiMw:1601413647072&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=tiwppmpheQmN4M%252CZ6Yda4OFIGTYLM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ_C0YipLwXRuIFiet8fILJjhYamQ&ved=2ahUKEwjyzsncoo_sAhWdknIEHVWUDog4ChD1AXoECA0QCg&biw=1261&bih=894#imgrc=tiwppmpheQmN4M)
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=88470.0
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=90097.0
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=108160.0
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=109373.80
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=63487.0
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=111503.0
Oddly enough, I haven't turned up a couple of the dedicated fab threads on the subject. The FF is a big place with 20 years of good ideas and info.
Speaking of off-topic: Also mentioned in this current topic: Log loading ramps, log decks, gantry cranes. So far food hasn't come up yet, but we're only on the first page. :D
don't forget the chickens :)
lol Yeah, chickens for sure.
I think with a brand new member with a legitimate question we might want to justhelp with the original question, act nice, and leave the chickens out of it.
But heck, things just don't always work out that way do they?
Well, btulloh I took your advice (or really tried) and read thru 18 full pages of the sawmill mod thread and I don't want to say how long THAT took, but I started around 3pm and finally gave up to see if you had posted more specific links here. I will go back and finish all 32 pages because it is a fantastic thread. Should probably be a book on it's own.
So I came back here and saw the links you posted, more reading, I checked all those out. Respectfully, no where did I see where anyone has suggested or tried to do this yet.
Rich has what I think is a neat idea here making a second carriage that rolls like a gantry down the mill. In addition to helping roll cants, I see some other possible advantages.
1) it can position anywhere along the mill bed
2) if the installed winch can lift the log it could be used to scoot the log on the mill bed (nearly impossible on a manual mill with hand tools alone).
3) it wouldn't be much of a stretch to turn this into a router sled for flattening slabs.
On my mill, I think this would be a big winner. Mine is on the ground, there is no place to attach a log turning winch arm as many have done. This carriage idea seems pretty neat to me.
As far as taking up bed space, it would be simple to add extensions just to allow the carriage to roll off the end for 'parking'.
I like this idea and think it is at least a little unique. I am still in good enough shape that I can turn almost any cant by hand alone, but the day will come when I can't (pardon the pun) and something like this might keep me going.
I do agree it is too son to bring food or chickens, or grits into this thread. Maybe on the second page. ;D :D
There are some very simple solutions, but I haven't found the exact threads. There are some pictures scattered around the links I posted.
No moving gantries or complex assemblies. Simply some square tube that slides into a sleeve under the bed. Fixed position, maybe two if you you want. Vertical square tube welded at 90 degrees that extends maybe a couple feet higher than the biggest log. Arm welded 90 degrees to that that extends maybe 16-22 inches out over the log. Electric or hand winch mounted on that or rigged to that. Multi-wrap or hook to turn the log. Simple. Removable. Or same thing can be rigged from overhead if your mill is in a shed.
I'm frustrated that I can't find one of the threads. Simple and easy to fab. Hard to explain. Done many times on here.
More elegant is the claw turner powered by a winch. Pretty simpletoo. Yellowhammer made one. Many other people. I think @Durf700 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=49062) made one for his first mill.
All these are shown in part in some of the threads I posted.
Or someone can come up with an all new approach.
Maybe someone will jump in with a link to a fab thread. I can't find much besides what I already linked to. Actually I find a lot more, but not the one I'm looking for. This same approach using the over-arm has been offered by a couple manufacturers.
Sorry I can't be of more help. Keep looking.
Quote from: Crusarius on September 29, 2020, 04:25:39 PM
roundhouse, have you got an open ended cover? just get a long steel beam and load from the end. Be alot easier than shoehorning through a small opening.
I do have an open ended cover and probably did a poor job explaining but I agree it would be to load from the end. For 95% of the logs the current set up works fine of side-loading 8 and 10 footers. An overhead beam could work to feed long logs from the end. If it were a gantry on the rails ideally I would be able to lift it off once the log is in position.
The pics don't show the setup perfectly but give an idea of my setup where the log deck is and logs come in that side:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42799/millsnow_lot90_101518.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1541046338)
The open end at the left is where the log would enter, with the mill carriage moved out of the way to the far end:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/42799/IMG_5405.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1508547505)
Here are some pics of a manual winch set-up I built last year for my mobile manual mill: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=106696.0 ... works great as expected, no complaints with this set-up. View my gallery too.
Also see this thread, post #30 on page two: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=110418.20
All of these log turning ideas are great and I am sure they work as hoped for the builders. The hand winch side arm design is a typical solid design and Rayar's is an example of a very nicely built one that works very well. It was on my list of improvements down the road, but I cannot attach to the mill so mine would either have to go in a concrete base or be attached to the outside shop wall which is handy. Rich's idea, therefore, has me intrigued because of the points I mentioned above. Like Rich I have a long bed (24') so the carriage would have room to 'park' or one could just add some light duty run-off rails to clear the whole bed.
But Rich did not ask to solve a log turning problem in general (maybe that was his intent) he asked about building a second carriage. I see that Woodland Mills already has a complete retro kit to add the standard log loading/turning kit complete with ramps to his mill, so I assume he has looked at that but considering this new idea. I don't think it is really that complicated. It might use for linear feet of steel but it would be smaller steel (maybe 1" or 1-1/2") and does not have to be as precise as the mill head. It is also removable if needed.
Rich I can't figure out where you are and I would say 'welcome to the forum' but I see you have been registered here for longer than I have. Maybe you could fill in some of your profile information?
I would love to see this get built and see how it works. For me, I have to leave it further down the list as I have other major priorities on the list like a solar kiln that have to come first.
Oh, and I thought of another use for this: if you put some shelves or a flat top on it, it can be a rolling workbench for mill maintenance work. Maybe bolt a tool box on one side and a cooler on the other side? ;D :)
Forum member elk42 has what you are looking for.
Go to his gallery for pictures of a souped LT15 ,winch mounted on a separate carriage ,really slick.
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/32340/IMG_0022.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1365176776
Yup...thats exactly what i was thinking!!