Be heading out to Tn next week to pick up our mill. 1998 Cook's Accu-Trac. Deal fell through on the TimberKing, so the Cook's was the next in line.. Now have a bunch of learning in front of us.
Anyone around Henderson, Tn?
Rick-Wi
Rick,
You did good. I looked at the Accutrac from Cook's about 4 years ago and have wished on occasion that I had gone that route, Tim Cook and family "knocked off" the Timber Harvester (with TH's blessings) and began to add accessories and modifications to it. When you start with a "good" mill and improve it you're on the right tract for a superb machine. You will find that their ideas on cant kickers, run arounds, and various other ideas may give you a benefits that you haven't even recognized as of yet.
My problem at the time was the loose hydraulic hoses. If the mill is to be stationary or used on Farms then there shouldn't be much problem. I have to set up in the front yard of million dollar homes sometimes and didn't think it would help my professional image.
They also make a super sharpener and the blade holder on their setter is second to none. I buy my Simonds blades from them and have found them to be a great company.
Rick-Wi Memphis Tn. is 80 miles from Henderson, Tn. due west on I-40 You maybe coming down I-55 to Memphis then I-40 to Henderson ?? Bring some of that Wisconsin Cheese ,Tell me when, and I'll meet you and buy you A Southern Bar B Q Rib Dinner ;) and point you in the right direction. I think I talked to the people you bought the 98 Accutrac from, they were listed in sawmill exchange and had an edger and 80 blades to go with set-up and sharpener ??
Today i e mailed for info on there automatic cat claw 2002. Heard good things about Cook Saw.Sorry not going to Tn.
Bud Man.. Were you located in Memphis Tn? Just might meet you theer on the night over?
Rick-Wi
BTW Bud Man, I dirnk Miller..But I need Biscuits and gravy in the morning?
Rick-Wi
Ric-Wi Live in Germantown about 5 miles South of Exit #17 on I-40 East bound. E-mail me and we'll make arrangements. What day you coming thru ??
Ric- Wi I'm sure I can accomodate what ever brand you choose !!
Bud man, you just a cheddar person, or exotic like blue cheese?
Keep It simple and inexpensive, ain't no con-a sewer suprise me !!
Bud Man.. No problem.. I elighten you sothern boys to what good cheese is.. now if you ridge runners will turn me on to a good BBQ all the better.. Give me a addy # I think we can do a small detour to Memphis area..
Rick-Wi
Rick-Wi Look in yer messages I sent ya all the particulars Phone # and address Message or e-mail me back and we'll do it
BudMan,
Looks like we will not get to meet. Heading out late morning, and will not get there till after 10:00 PM. Will be coming right back on Wendsday.
Rick-Wi
Travel carefully friend, maybe next time, Happy Sawing ;)
Ric-Wi You missed me and left us all hanging. Did ya make It back to Wisconsin and have ya made any sawdust yet ?? ;)
Well we back, Nice to see green grass and leaves on the trees. Back here the grass is brown. 1540 miles and 23.5 hrs behind the wheel in two days. Started off as a trip shouldn't. Fueled truck whent in to get the Plow and salter off and heard Click click.. Nothing happened.. 20 min later found lose battery cable. Didn't leave here till 9:30 am. then got to henderson after some detours at 11:00 Pm. up at 6:00 Am. Went to breakfast and then to see the saw. Saw was a mess. Spent the next 3 Hrs checking it out, back home at 11:45 PM, and still don't have a clue as to if it was worth it. Today spent just pressure washing, greasing, changing oil, and filters. Need parts, and more cleaning before I will run it. It looks as if it hasn't been run in at least a year, maybe more. Never shedded, just cover over engine and controls. I am over 50 and I still can't fiqure out why people buy good equipment and then don't take care or it.. then ask top dollar when the try and sell? We settled on less then asking price but we will be putting more into it before we can cut our first board.
Rick-Wi
Oh, And the other thing that really P.Oed me was I didn't get no Biscuits and gravy for breakfast and all the BBQ places were closed by the time we got to TN
Better thee than me, mill must trailer well to take I guess half of 1540 miles. Cook's Accutrac's look like their built to resemble a tank, the one I looked at weighed right at 6,000 lbs. Hope It cleans up and proves to suit your milling needs, let us know how it works out, Good Luck !!
Keep us posted, Rick! Sounds like quite an adventure! Might be the mill's just got weather on it and will clean up nice. Most good stuff does. :)
Well it is running, nothing cut yet but will try it tomorrow. Lots of little problems corrected. First none of the electronics worked. Traced it to the wire coming to the fuse was broke off, resoldered that on and got the mill to go. Then one of the idler sprocket was froze, and the chain for the head wraped around itself. Got that fixed and got my finger caught between chain and sprocket when it released. Concrete is now the same color as the saw. Got it running up and down, but one chain was tighter then the other, had to take the slack out of the chain on one side. Lots of other little ajustments made. Next we will have to set the guides on the saw. Looks like the adjustable guide has to be raised, as it is causing the blade to dip, down. I will work on that tomorrow too. It will also need a new band wheel cover, as the Cook's are made of plywood that shouldn't be to bad either. Only other thing that I saw was that the motor runs rough. So we will pull out the gas and put in new gas. Also plugs, and a tune up might be needed.
I will keep you posted, so far so good.
Rick-Wi
Rick,
There is a procedure to follow to get the blade level with the mill and the guides level with the blade. If you don't have instructions from cook and don't know how to do it. Make sure you talk to them before you get it too far out of wack. It's not rocket science nor difficult once you've done it but if you've never done it you need instructions.
This is one area that can't be 'good enough' . It is either right or it's wrong and your mill will tell you real quick as soon as the blade enters the log.
OK, We making sawdust. Still have some adjustments to do, and need to get wipers on the carrage. We did a 28" x 14' red oak log. Went good, only one mistake, the carradge was moving to fast so I stopped the saw and adjusted the feed. Then accedentaly hit the reverse, and took the blade off the wheels. Opps. No damage so all is well.
Rick-Wi
You'll do that with 10 years of experience Rick. Wait till you do it in front of a bunch of customers and have to hide a red face. "blush"
I learned a little from my cat. When he isn't paying attention and falls off of the back of the couch, he walks away like, "I meant to do that."
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This is the second log sawed yesterday. 14 ft long, and 26 in. small end. This is a White Oak Log.
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This is the cant I got out of the log. 17 x 16 inches and 14 foot long.
Rick-Wi
Ric-Wi What model AccuTrac is that , I thought they were all double axle monsters ??
BudMan,
That is the single axle the double is a option, Don't forget also it is a '98. And I can attest to the fact that it traveled great down the road. No Sway and tracked almost same path on the turns.
Rick-Wi
The shot of the cant looks good from what I can see , how close to happily tuned to perfection are you in restoring the mill to tip top shape ?
BudMan,
Now it is just the guides, Motor misses, and the wipers on the bed and dog arms.. The Sun must have took it's toll on the nylon.. And some tweeking to the bed. Still cuts the log High in the center, about 1/4 in. in 14 feet. Overall yes as of now it was worth the price. Little disapointed at first on the condition, but now after seeing it run.. Happy camper.. Now comes the edger, and Kiln. Pouring approch to the shed on Monday. That way we can keep the logs cleaner loading them. Oh, and one other thing.. If anyone else is considering buying one of the Cook's Debarker.. Weare a full face shield, it throughs everything at the opperator.
Rick-Wi
That cant looks good enuff ta eat, Rick! Out of curiosity, how long to cut it to where it is in the photo?
Timberbeast, Understand. I am just starting to learn the mill.. Took me by myself after laoding (Had help for that). I had to turn it six times, to clear the guides. 45 min, to 1 hr. Max. I took of but cuts first. then started squaring it. i HAVE SOME 24" X 5' OFF THE BUTT. I will trim them and split in half. It is a learning thing.
Rick-Wi
Ric-Wi, Anybody that can travel 1540 miles in 23.5 hours out of 48 hours total and can clean up a mill in a few days after sitting out in the weather for two years is ahead of most people in a learning curve. When I talked with the AccuTrac people they seemed to be very courteous and personable, I'll bet they will be great to work with !. I think It's all down hill from here ! Happy Sawing !! ;)
I think I have to revise what I said about the cant.. There is no clock, and I realy wasn't paying attention to speed. So revising I would say more like 1.5 hrs to get the log cut to a cant.
Budman Thanks for the coment. As stated before it isn't Rocket science. And I have set up bandsaws before. I have 30 years in construction, mostly Carpentry. Also Farmed meny of those years. So Machinery is always breaking and needed to be fixed.
Well found out some more thinks on the mill. It isn't friendly to doing edgeing. Dogs, for some reason don't come in to grip a 4/4 board. One will but the other will not. Also it has the birds mouth holders, that keeps the board about 3/8" away from the arms. The Dogs should grip it but one will not get that close? Ram isn't leaking, but will not travel the same distance as the other?
Rick-Wi
Rick, I have the same problem with my newer saw. The clamp will not close on a 4 quarter board unless it is raised to 8" or better. I keep a 2x2 or 2x4 of about 3 feet in length, handy under the mill so I can put it beside a single board if I have to edge one. The problem goes away when you are edging more than one at a time, but singles get to be a pain in the Ying Yang. :D
A plus to using a backing board like this on a saw whose blade runs away from the clamps is that the entire board is held and gives the blade the opportunity to cut the trim board rather than pull it away from the clamp. Sometimes it's handy to keep a 2x4 the same length as the 2x's handy for this reason.
My WM doesn't have this problem because the blades direction pulls the board into the clamp rather than away from it. I guess that is something one has to live with to get the value of design that lets you cut into clean wood.
Your right, it's not as friendly, but you can get used to it.
Tom, I used a 8' 4x4 on the dog side. Although I can edge I see were a dedicated edger is the only way to go. There ia a lot of wipp in the board as you try and edge it, and I will say I know it is not a 90 deg edge. But I can live with it till I can do something better. All said and done.. Couldn't be Happier the way things are going. Saw is not a problem, but learning the saw, and Sawing takes time..
Rick-Wi
What`s a Ying Yang?
I don`t think we have those up here.
Kevin, you've got one I'd bet. Here is how you can check. Just after you take your shower, put a mirror on the floor and squat over it. Now lean over and look down between your knees. There'll be your Ying Yang lookin' back at you! :D
Hey Bib, just don`t let anyone catch you doing that, eh?
That sounds like something you might want to keep in the closet just a little while longer. :D
Hey, That's pretty cool Bibbeyman. I been trying to look over my shoulder. :D
Braggart :o
Hay! My Ying Yang has been known to bark from time to time so I know where it is. :o
(Maybe that don't happen to you'll up north. ;D)
That happens ...
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Well Kevin, looks like wash day amounts to about one load of socks, looks like you keep things pretty simple and them door to door sales people get to the point pretty quick, eh ?
It`s important to trap the heat at both ends, thus the hat and boots.
That guy looks like Jeff with Tom's hat! :D
Looks like you'll got snow out the Ying Yang up there. ::)
Or is them next day grits?
Holy Cow !, a turbo-jet snow blower.
Must be a Finn. I've never heard of any others who run around naked in the snow. (https://forestryforum.com/smile/wavey.gif)
You've heard of acid rain- well, they got it REAL bad up there- rain and snow both. He warn't nekkid when he started out. The hat and foot gear are special items to help these guys if they're caught out in the weather. You don't even want to THINK about how tough his hide must be to stand that acid bath. I dunno what they make that strategic tail gear out of. I guess it's for in case he slips and falls on his ying yang- yeah, it's a ying yang protector. lw
Well, tomorow is the day to really find out what we can do. 3000 bf of logs staged on the ramp, and saw ready to rock and roll, just hope that the miss in the engine doesn't bog it down on some of the bigger stuff. Need to cut some more stickers first thing in the morning, move some boards we cut previously, and put fresh batteries in the Metal detector. Mostly White oak, with two big chunks of Black Walnut, One I don't know if it will fit in the mill yet, and the other we have to lop off some limb stubs to make it fit (But should get some nice crotch wood out of it). I will let you know how it comes out.
Rick-Wi
Sounds like fun Rick. My blood pressure sky rockets when I have to cut knarly crochety owly big logs, because there is always the chance of a log coming undogged and falling into the saw. Thats one big advantage you guys have with the band mills. I have never had a big log fall into our 60 inch circle saw, but I have this picture in my mind of armagedon.(https://forestryforum.com/smile/wreck.gif)
I learned from Toms Mill that thats where the cool stuff gets cut on a band mill.
The Monday start was pushed back, because we had to move machinery. Took down a garage, that was 2 ft off one house and 3 feet off the owners house.. But tomorrow I will Mill, by myself. Already dug a flag pole holder, a 3/4" threaded bolt, a close hook, and a 60 penny spike out of some logs.. Ouch, that would have hurt the blade.. Also have good news, a friend of Warrens, said he would grade for us..
Rick-Wi