Home-made Fine Adjust Outriggers

Ga Mtn Man · January 11, 2014, 09:36:01 PM

Nice job. Your back will thank you. I think I will steal your lug wrench idea.

Are you at all concerned about the rear outrigger dragging on uneven ground?

MIsawyer · January 11, 2014, 09:43:52 PM

good work they look great

orion388 · January 13, 2014, 06:11:14 AM

Thanks ...

Have not towed it anywhere since the install, but am pretty sure there is plenty of clearance.

John

Ga Mtn Man · March 19, 2014, 09:26:25 PM

So I just now got around to changing out the two loader-side outriggers. I had the parts laid out on the bench and it occurred to me that the drop-leg jacks are the same size as the WM outrigger legs. Instead of butchering up the mounts of the WM outriggers so I could re-use the mounting plates (I was too cheap to buy the metal to make new ones) I could do this instead:

Drill two 13/16" holes, one for "travel" position and one for "extended" position.

Because of the inner tube, the adjustment pin on the mount doesn't go in as far as on the original outrigger (about 1/8" vs. 1/2") so I widened the locking slot just enough to lock the pin firmly in place against the inner tube of the jack. I know the pic is blurry but I think you can still make it out.

Jack in the travel position. You could drill another hole and raise it up even further if you wanted to but this position is at the same height as the factory FAO.

Extended position gives even more extension capability to the jack...sort of a double drop-leg jack. ;D

These jacks were shortened by 4" but that may not be necessary as you could drill additional holes to allow the jack to be raised up as high as needed for travel. The nice thing about doing it this way is that it requires almost no modifications to the WM outriggers, so you could change them back if you ever needed to.

orion388 · March 20, 2014, 06:36:44 AM

AWESOME fix GA...

John

Magicman · March 20, 2014, 06:56:01 AM

You have taken FAO's to a new level for sure and your modifications are truly awesome and very innovative.

I suspect that WM would be interested in your design. :P

Ga Mtn Man · March 20, 2014, 07:10:41 AM

Thanks Magicman but I suspect the fact that the adjustment pin doesn't go very far into the hole will be troubling to some. I'm OK with it.

Rockn H · March 20, 2014, 08:49:16 AM

Ga Mtn Man, I like your setup and I've got a question... When you have the WM pin in the highest hole on the outrigger (outrigger all the way down) and you start cranking inner tube down, does the inner tube finally clear the hole for the WM pin to go on in?

Ga Mtn Man · March 20, 2014, 06:49:23 PM

If you cranked it down that far yes it would but I always drop the inside tube down to the nearest hole above ground and then crank it down to finish, usually 2-3 inches. I see no reason you couldn't crank it down till the pin sets all the way, set the drop leg and then crank it down tight. Of course, if you do it that way you'll have to retract the pin AND turn the crank/wrench at the same time when you need to raise the jack.

WDH · March 20, 2014, 09:44:07 PM

Paul,

You are very handy. Did you ever watch the Red Green Show ??? :D :D.

Ga Mtn Man · March 20, 2014, 10:02:19 PM

Words of wisdom I can relate to:

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WDH · March 20, 2014, 10:08:48 PM

:D :D :D

It is good that you are handy

.

Ga Mtn Man · March 20, 2014, 10:10:20 PM

So true. :-\

flatrock58 · June 24, 2015, 07:22:55 PM

Ga Mtn man. What part of the jack did you have to cut 4".

thanks,
Steve

Ga Mtn Man · June 24, 2015, 08:21:20 PM

I cut 4" off of all the tubes and the threaded rod. I did that so they would not hang down any lower than the lowest part of the mill (the toe roller cylinder mount) but it may not really be necessary to do that. If you mount them as I did the two loader side jacks using the WM mounts, you may be able to just drill the bottom hole further down (or perhaps drill three holes for multiple positions) on the outside tube which would allow you to fully retract them for travel. This occurred to me after I had done all of mine :

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flatrock58 · June 24, 2015, 08:56:45 PM

Thanks Ga Mnt Man. I will look and see how that will work. No issues with the pin only going in 1/8"? I would only worry about losing the jack while transporting. I guess I could drill the transport hole through all 3 pieces to make sure it does not come out. Looks like I am going to have to buy some larger drill bits! The largest I have is 1/2".

Ga Mtn Man · June 24, 2015, 09:03:05 PM

It actually goes in more than 1/8th inch, closer to 1/4. The springs on the pins are pretty strong so I think there is very little chance of them falling out, so long as you make sure the pin is in the hole that is.

Kbeitz · June 28, 2015, 07:47:36 AM

You could weld a trailer jack swivel mount on them for transport.

boscojmb · June 28, 2015, 11:45:30 AM

Quote from: Kbeitz on June 28, 2015, 07:47:36 AM
You could weld a trailer jack swivel mount on them for transport.

I have 8 of the swivel jacks on my mill. The jack can rotate on the mount a few degrees in each direction. My mill will rock back and forth quite a bit every time the saw head changes direction. I end up blocking my mill up every time I move it.
I really like my mill, but I am going to replace the swivel jacks with something else.

Kbeitz · June 28, 2015, 12:57:39 PM

I just made my out riggers and the mill is rock solid...

Napoleon1 · March 04, 2018, 06:57:10 PM

I know this is an old thread but I recently made some homemade fine adjust outriggers. I used bulldog tw180 10k jacks. They retract to 18 inches. This is for those who want a short jack to make your own fao. The foot on these jacks are 8 x 8 1/2. With a lift capacity of 7000lbs. I think they will handle a log. They are 3 inches square.