woodmizer outriggers

[Peter Drouin]

Dale don,t forget the top locks.your going to like them a lot less work!!! more time sawing  have fun  8) 8) 8) 8)

[Ljohnsaw]

Funny no one has mentioned this.  I see LOTS of hydraulic add-ons that are pretty ingenious!  I'm surprised no one has taken the auto-leveling unit off of a big Class A RV and retro'd it to a mill.  Just press the "level" button and DONE! ;) :D

[Kbeitz]

Funny no one has mentioned this.  I see LOTS of hydraulic add-ons that are pretty ingenious!  I'm surprised no one has taken the auto-leveling unit off of a big Class A RV and retro'd it to a mill.  Just press the "level" button and DONE! ;) :D

Big $$$$$ they are....

[starmac]

Well you guys can call me a dummy, but the first time I set my mill up, I didn't even realize the outriggers were their own jacks, so just used a handyman.
Looking it over I thought what is this rod here, what does it do and why in the world is there just one of them, lol the light went on, so no more handy man.
So when I decided to move the mill (it was set up in my shop) I used the factory jacks, now this was hard, so in my infinite wisdom, I says to myself that the saw head will make a great counter weight and it did, easy peasy.
Now I need to hook back to the hitch, but the front is too low (this part scared me) so I decide to move the sawhead back and again easy peasy right, well I had the back leg raised all the way, and it was a little too easy, actually way too east, the saw head took off and I couldn't even think about holding it so the tail hit the concrete, the scary part was I didn't know if it would stop there or continue on off the tracks, wrecking my new to me mill that I had owned a couple of hours. lol Belive me this happened a lot faster than it takes to tell about it, much less type it.
I took it outside and set it up and took it down a couple of times using the head as a counterweight to get my method down, now, after that I have zero problems with the jacks, except this thread has shown me that there is suppose to be caps on the jscks to keep bark and sawdust out (they were pretty full when I picked it up) and I will probably do the t handle mods like those shown to hold the pin out. I have other jacks set up similat that you twist the pin on.

[Jim_Rogers]

I think many have at times let the head get away from us and slid down the track and raise up the hitch end. I know I have.

On my LT 30 I only have five outriggers. To raise the back two I leave the saw head at the hitch end. Then after they are up I move the head back to the travel peg and usually lower it down onto the peg for safe keeping.

Then I raise up the hitch end outrigger. This automatically raises up the other two near the bed and make it easier to raise them up by hand.

With the hitch end out rigger up I can then back the truck under the hitch.

To set up I usually do the opposite way. But use a level to make sure it fairly level, if possible.

Jim Rogers

[Magicman]

Yup the sawhead is your friend when setting up.   8)

[petefrom bearswamp]

I'm totally stationary on a nice flat concrete slab and still have to re do the jacks on occasion from carelessness with my tractor in loading big logs or slamming the head back inadvertently.
I use rubber truck bed  mat pieces under the jack bases  both on the concrete and on top of the shims where possible to lessen movement but it still happens then I re level with different thickness shims.
I also feel that the rubber helps lessen the possibility of the posts failing due to excessive shock.

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

This is the first time I have read this thread. I must admit that I was pretty discouraged with the jacks when I first got my mill. I kept my mouth shut and figured it was just me because I did not hear/read any others complaints. Over a couple of weeks I learned the tricks that are talked about here. Now I like them much better! My only complaint now is that the hitch on my tractor is very low. getting the mill down onto it often results in the bar stuck between the jack and the ground. This is frustrating but gives me an excuse to buy that three point hitch Ive been wanting! JMTC Brian

[WV Sawmiller]

Jim/MM,

   I learned the hard way about the head movement when setting up on a job one time. Let it slide all the way to the rear end. Fortunately no damage and was able to pull it down. Now when I set up or break down I leave the tail end and front end outrigger up about 6" from the ground until I get the others in place or get the tongue on the ball of my truck. I have not put a trailer jack on the tongue like some have but have thought of adding a little extra weight in the back to help reduce the tongue weight.

[Magicman]

I think about the the first thing that I did was to run the sawhead to the back without the outrigger down.  I immediately remembered the previous owner warning me not to ever do that.  I did not remember his warning but I remember my experience.  That is not something that you ever forget or want to do again.   

[Nomad]

I think about the the first thing that I did was to run the sawhead to the back without the outrigger down.  I immediately remembered the previous owner warning me not to ever do that.  I did not remember his warning but I remember my experience.  That is not something that you ever forget or want to do again.   

     I did that shortly after I started sawing with the WM too.  Like you, no damage...  But I'll never make that mistake again! :D

[Tom L]

I raised the front of the mill once on purpose, by running the head back, it worked ok

the dumbest thing I have done was to try to raise the hitch end, with the rear jack down.

broke my back for 10 minutes before I realized it was down

[Chuck White]

I think about the the first thing that I did was to run the sawhead to the back without the outrigger down.  I immediately remembered the previous owner warning me not to ever do that.  I did not remember his warning but I remember my experience.  That is not something that you ever forget or want to do again.   

The only thing worse than that would be to do it with people watching.   :-[

Whenever my mill is unhitched, the rear outrigger is lowered to within a couple of inches of the ground!   

[Magicman]

I did mine in my own driveway the day I brought the sawmill home.  :-\  No one was watching and I do not remember how I got it back up.   :   ???

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

 :D

[barbender]

...and when you make this mistake, even a 280 pound man trying to hold the hitch end down doesn't work   ;D

[hunz]

Thought I was the only greenhorn this happened to. Haha. I never had that problem with my lt-35. I found out quick the lt-40 with a heavy diesel engine required big boy pants to be on and tightened down!

[terrifictimbersllc]

Just tell observers that the mill can saw trees that are still standing.  :D  Happened to me once. Think I managed to jack up the rear end until the head would go up the track.   Could always block the tires and pull the hitch down with the truck and a chain.

[Chuck White]

I've only done that once (I think  : ) and the rear outrigger must have been down a little because the hitch wasn't all that far off the ground and I just used the return drum switch on the control box and didn't seem to have a problem.

That's when I made it a habit to alway lower the rear outrigger to within 2 inches or so of the ground!

[Saga Dan]

I would have to admit now that a few months have passed since my event occurred with setting up my mill.  The ground was a little uneven and I could not get the front outrigger to match a hole to unhook the mill from the truck.  I stupidly did not put the back outrigger down before I moved the mill head to the end.  I though this would be great I could use a little bit of the weight to jack the young up a little bit.  I should have know by the amount of pressure it was taking to release the ball suppler that this was not going to end well.  Fortunately the tailgate of my truck only had a silver dollar size of bare metal exposed in the process.  It was fun to use physics to move the mill head and get the outriggers correctly in place.

To the original post topic...  I feel more confident in having the OEM outriggers on the mill and down when leaving my mill in any place other than in storage.  The people that know how to operate them typically will not be stealing your mill.  The ones that are looking for a free toy typically do not have the first clue in operating the standard outriggers to take your mill.

[WV Sawmiller]

Saga Den,

   There have been other threads on here about helping prevent theft of your mill. Leaving the head forward helps ensure the people unfamiliar with your mill can't lift it to connect to the ball hitch. Leaving a large cant or log clamped to the mill helps and maybe a log on the arms, if hydraulic. I also leave a tongue lock on mine plus I am pretty diligent about not leaving my mill where it is unduly exposed.

[Magicman]

Wherever I am sawing is where my sawmill sleeps.  Farmers around here have cows, gates, tractors, dogs, and shotguns.  The only thing to do each morning is take the sawdust scoop and remove the cow plops.   

[Chuck White]

Wherever I am sawing is where my sawmill sleeps.  Farmers around here have cows, gates, tractors, dogs, and shotguns.  The only thing to do each morning is take the sawdust scoop and remove the cow plops.   

How true!!!

There isn't much that's any nosier than cattle, and when they're in that area, they'll leave their mark.

One other thing that I do when milling where there are cattle, is to roll logs up tight to the mill, and all the way to the log stack, that way the cattle aren't leaving their mark between the logs!  ;)

[isawlogs]

 I leave mine also  where it sits at any farmers, I do though now cover all wires and make sure the cows can't get near any of them. We have road salt and that stays on the mill..... they will lick it and chew it, Had the light wires chewed off the mill and had them scrape the paint for salt.....Now I take logs and baricade to mill so they can't get to it, Only need a few logs to keep them away.