I am new to the forum and own a lt40 HD which I bought new in 1989, the mill has been sitting in the same place for some time. Tried to move the mill and it would not budge, I am thinking that maybe the brakes are stuck to the drums. Any suggestions on the best way to fix the problem?
First, Welcome to the Forestry Forum, joman. I guess that the standard answer would be to jack it up and start taking things off until you find the problem. Surely the tires are also rotten and will need replacing.
joman,welcome to the forum. The cold has been wide spread. Is it froze in? :D I saw you was from FL by the way. I suppose you have tried to rock it back and fourth? That MIGHT get it loose.
Thanks for the welcome , first tried rocking then I removed one tire and can!t get hub off.
Welcome Joman,
I'm not real familiar with the LT40 series.
Does that year have a brakes?
If its just hubs pull off the hub cover
and see if you can start to spray in some penetrating oil
and see if you can start to loosen the assembly that way,
Lots of good folks here ready to help smiley_thumbsup
DGDrls
Don't force it. Use a bigger hammer.
Probably the brakes are froze to the drum. Don't hammer too hard on the drums,they could break. Someone will have a good way to get them off. I would try some penetrating spray,let it sit and try to get them to turn.
Joman, Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
I had a "cannot move the mill" episode a few years ago, where I was out on a sawjob for about 2 weeks.
I had one wheel that would turn, but the other was set up!
I got the hub off of the stuck wheel after some doing and found that the brake pad liner was stuck to the hub, it had come off of the brake shoe.
My suggestion, since you can't get the hub off would be to give it a few raps with a hammer (not hard enough to break it) to see if you can break the bond!
Other than that either some lube, like penetrating oil spray or some heat from a propane torch!
Wish you luck, eventually they will separate!
strongly suggest the heat from a torch.
99% of the time the pad liners are froze to the drum. which means they are junk anyway so your not going to ruin anything by heating it up.
how hard have you tried to move it? I know guys that have had luck in just draging the trailer down the driveway for a bit and they will free up. (again usually rips the pads off or soemthing but, this isnt something you can fix and not have to replace the pads)
Joman, don't know if there's much in common with a 1989 LT40 and a 2012 LT35, but on my mill there's a ... well, I don't know what ya call it and the manual's in the shed ... but it's a little black box at the hitch with a "key" in it that cables to your tow vehicle, so that if you lose the mill for some reason, it pulls the key and applies the brakes. Is there anything like that on your mill?
Get a salamander heater and put it close to the wheels on one side. Run that for many hours heating everything up and possibly drying out the moisture causing the problem.
I wouldn't worry about whacking the drums with a hammer. I have whacked a lot of drums over the year working on trailers, trucks and cars. Is it a dexter axel? If so, those drums are cheap to buy.
Most likely the fiber from the shoes has gained moisture and bonded to the drums. Another option is grind the backs of the studs off that hold the shoes to the backer plate. That way, when you pull the drum off the shoes will fill off with the removal of the drum.
If you put new shoes on the mill, you should replace the magnets that activate the brakes. Most likely, they are junk from sitting. Any mobile home company can get them from you at reasonable prices.
I managed to free up one wheel by loosening the brake adjustment wheel and working the tire back and forward. I can't get the brake adjustment wheel to turn on the other side ,so I loaded it with PB blaster see what it does tomorrow.
My LT40HD is a 1995 model and it has surge brakes!
Quote from: Chuck White on January 26, 2014, 05:55:21 PM
My LT40HD is a 1995 model and it has surge brakes!
My mill has surge brakes also
I wish mine had surge brakes. I have had a lot of trouble with the brakes on mine being electric and mine is a 2000.
I sure wish they would have stuck with surge brakes. I guess they used whatever axel and brake set up was the least expensive year to year.......
I got the hubs off and the brake pads fell out when I removed them. The tires will spin freely now, I've got to put all new parts in . Hope that It won't be hard to find all the parts that I need.
You might need a print of how they go back together if both sides feel a part.
Hello,
You can purchase a new Wood Mizer with surge brakes on the axle. All WM mills from the LT35 and larger have brakes on the axle.
Marty