Woodmizer engine options....And blades

[lshobie]

Hey all, just curious if anyone is swapping out the kohler 25hp motor for something else - possibly an offshore diesel?  Any other options out there?  Looking for some more power - might mod the millhead for a wider cut.

Also, I've switched to a 9 degree blade from woodmizer on the LT40 and find it leaves a lot of dust on the log, we've tried adjusting the lube with no change and the blade will wander a lot at the knots...  and in the softwood the blade leaves pretty pronounced blade marks.  Is there a dedicated hardwood or softwood blade that might work better?  We mill maple, oak, pine, spruce, cherry etc - in any order.  I have a large amount of spruce to do soon and would like to make sure Im using the best blade. 

Thanks.

[pineywoods]

Installing a bigger (heavier) motor is a can of worms. I went through this when the onan on my mill just wore out. I wanted to go diesel. There's a lot more to it than just pulling the old motor and bolting on a bigger one. Go look at a factory mill with bigger engine and you will see a lot of things that are different from yours..Beefed up lift mechanics to handle the extra weight, bigger electrical motors and a bigger electrical system to support them, triple main drive belt instead of a double. More head support rollers, and the list just goes on and on.  The extra cost of the diesel engine package includes a bunch of other stuff besides the motor. I concluded it would be more trouble and cost than it's worth, went with a 25 hp kawasaki gas burner.....

Now about the blades..8000 hours of sawing and I still don't understand why sometimes there's a lot of sawdust left in the kerf and sometimes almost none. I don't think the hook angle has much to do with it, set more likely, or maybe just the log..I do my own sharpen and set and have tried a lot of things, still don't have any definite ansewers..

[dgdrls]

Hey all, just curious if anyone is swapping out the kohler 25hp motor for something else - possibly an offshore diesel?  Any other options out there?  Looking for some more power - might mod the millhead for a wider cut.

Also, I've switched to a 9 degree blade from woodmizer on the LT40 and find it leaves a lot of dust on the log, we've tried adjusting the lube with no change and the blade will wander a lot at the knots...  and in the softwood the blade leaves pretty pronounced blade marks.  Is there a dedicated hardwood or softwood blade that might work better?  We mill maple, oak, pine, spruce, cherry etc - in any order.  I have a large amount of spruce to do soon and would like to make sure Im using the best blade. 

Thanks.

Its not the hook angle its most likely too much set causing loose sawdust and tooth marks

I don't think there is one blade geometry that will saw both Hard and Soft wood exceptionally,
add to that varying log diameters and
it will always be a compromise and often an unsatisfactory result.

Knots are hard, really hard and generally you need less hook angle the harder the material.

There is volumes  of discussion here about hook angle and set and many folks here
have found solutions that work well for them.

With the wide range of species you saw you may find
separating the Hard from Soft and experimenting with the blade geometries
will yield two or three blades that perform really well.

best
Dan