Not sure if i am crazy

[furltech]

I know it will be less than ideal but i am kinda under the gun a little here so i thought just for now and get stuff figured out later

[36 coupe]

Ive had an Onan on a generator for 25 years and it runs fine.Dropping HP makes no sense.A good mechanic doesnt putter,he finds the bad part.

[furltech]

 The onan is beyond help it has sit outside for 4 or 5 years with no cover on the carb .my 18 needs to much modification after i had a closer look .and i have to do something

[Delawhere Jack]

I've got the same Mill / engine combo, I would not go to a lower horsepower motor.

You haven't given much in the way of detail regarding the current 24hp Onan. Was it left out in the weather for an extended period? Or does it look clean but just won't start?

Several times as a youth my father ADAMANTLY recited to me, holding up another finger with each word:

COMPRESSION!
FUEL!
FIRE!
TIMING!

:

At the very least do a compression check on the engine. If you've got good compression ( I think 90psi is the threshold on that motor?), then half of the battle is won. You might save yourself a thousand bucks or more.

[Delawhere Jack]

Ah.... 4-5 years uncovered. Get a new engine..... 24HP MINIMUM, trust me on that....

[furltech]

Sorry i guess maybe it wasnt clear what i was saying i messed with motor some but soon realized it wasnt worth messing with much .tried what i had on hand and it was a no go .so i have to get cutting something ,cheap and fast .and i know this is less than ideal but it is what it is .i only have so many options .if i can get cutting something now i can get something better suited later .

[biggkidd]

Your probably gonna come out better faster and cheaper to fix what you have than trying to stick something less in its place. If you have no fire first you need to find out if it is a point type system or solidstate. It it's points they are most likely the culprit. Clean and gap them.  If its solidstate clean the magnets in the flywheel and the pick up places on the coil (s) also clean the mount pads the coil (s) sit on then regap the coil(s) to the magnet. On ignition systems rust/corrosion  is your biggest enemy. Moisture is also a big issue I've seen all the above parts put in an oven at low temp to dry out also. If cleaning them doesn't work it's time to replace them.

  I think you will be sorry if you put a smaller engine on there. I don't even own a mill yet but I do work on small engines for a living. My experience with most small engine powered items is that they are usually underpowered to start with to keep costs down.

Good Luck
Larry 

[furltech]

Well thanks for the input guys .I guess it boils down to i got to do what i have to do .i realize it is less than ideal but that is the  options i have right now .

[uler3161]

I think the 15hp would be a bit on the small side. We used to have an LT40 manual with an 18hp briggs. I'm not sure how it would compare to your 15, but we were able to get some decent production out of it. Our best day with that mill was over 2000bdft and that was after it had quite a few hours on it.

It sounds like you're planning on running the hydraulics off some other source? I think you'd have to with a motor that small.

[furltech]

My hydraulics are electric so i would just use another twelve volt source on it .the electric /hydraulic .i have figured out i just wanted to know if it would actually saw with a fifteen .i see lots on you tube .and i am in no super rush it is just going to be an  break from the woods in the evening .

[redprospector]

Heck, it'll saw with a 10 horse...just not very fast.
I built a mill about 17 years ago, it's been a pretty good mill. But I needed to put it to work, I just didn't have time to get the hydraulics on the bed. At this time my mill still has no hydraulics on the bed. But I had to do what I had to do.
I will say to you what my Dad used to say to me when I'd make these decisions; If you don't have time to do it right the first time, where ya gonna find the time to do it over?

[Dave Shepard]

The hydraulics on a WoodMizer are 12v. So all you need is a battery and an alternator, which it will have if it's a hydraulic mill. 18 will work, but will be slower. Also, you may have issues if the crankshaft location is different than the one on the 24 hp. I had trouble getting the belt to not grab when I converted an LT40 from electric to a 23 hp Kohler.

[Joe Hillmann]

That is a big drop in power to go from 24 to 15.  But anything that will get the blade turning will work, it just may be slow and cause you to wear you blades out faster.  Will the new motor bolt right in or do you have to modify the mill to make it work?  If you have to modify the mill and plan to put in a larger motor when you are able will you be able to un-modify it so the new motor fits?

[furltech]

Called wm this morning so i could run my plan over with them . they could see no real problem with what i was doing other than what you guys had already said just have to go slower .the motor did not bolt right in i had to raise it off the mounting plate to get the belts to tighten up so only had to drill four holes .man it was nice to see the blade going round and round .all i got left is to guard it up and bring some wood home tomorrow .but my daughter wanted to play before bed and some things are more important than an old mill

[Dave Shepard]

Glad to see you up and running. Were you able to get the "spider" thing back around the belts? Without that in place it the belts might grab.

[furltech]

Glad to see you up and running. Were you able to get the "spider" thing back around the belts? Without that in place it the belts might grab.

i did not take anything that might be called a spider off nor can i find a reference for anything on the belts in my parts book . just a picture of the belts themselves

[Dave Shepard]

I guess I don't have a photo uploaded of what I call the spider. On the early '90's LT40 mills that I have worked on, there has been a three fingered contraption made from round stock that goes around the drive sheave on the motor. It keeps the belts from dropping into the groove and catching when the engine is idling. Perhaps your mill accomplishes this with the sheetmetal guards. I had to monkey with the one on the mill that I converted from electric to gas, as the location of the crankshaft was different.

[furltech]

Ok i understand what you are talking about now but there was no sign of one when i took it apart .But i can see the benefit to having one .maybe i will gear something up tomorrow . since the mill has sat for such a long time i am sure there will be lots of tinkering with it to get it true and whatnot again 

[furltech]

whoohoo she saws .i love it i am not sure why it took me so long to get started

[furltech]

Thanks for all the help guys i am sure i will have a thousand more questions