New to sawmilling, picking up my 2001 Wood Mizer LT40 Super hydraulic tomorrow!

[woodchuckc]

I've been thinking about getting a sawmill for a couple of years primarily to cut wood for my woodworking hobby and for projects around the farm.  Been doing serious research and looking at new and used mills for about the last 6 months and realized that this is probably the worst time in a couple of decades to buy a mill, in terms of availability and price, but I'm not getting any younger!  With the 18 month lead time on new Cooks or Wood Mizer and having no luck locating used mills in my area, I had pretty well decided to get a Norwood HD38 with all the hydraulic options.

I was looking on Facebook marketplace for something else when I saw a Wood Mizer LT40 Super Hydraulic listed that was located about 15 miles away!  It is a 2001 model with quite a few hours (3900) on it but I contacted the guy to ask if it was still available, and it was so I didn't figure it would hurt to look at it.  I was surprised when I saw it in person - clean, no rust, Kubota 43 HP diesel engine, all hydraulics work and no leaks.  He was the second owner (his neighbor was the original owner) and had only put about 100 hours on it in the 3 years he had it.  He started it up (gave a little puff of smoke when starting, but no smoke while running) and cut a few boards to demonstrate - everything worked great except the Accuset is completely dead on it, and the forward/reverse was pretty much like a toggle switch - the carriage didn't move at all until he turned the dial up to a certain point and then it took off (I am assuming that the potentiometer is going bad).  I bit the bullet and told him I would take it and will be picking it up tomorrow.

I plan on going through it from front to back, looking for items that need attention (changing oil, checking bearings and blade guides, hydraulic hoses, wiring, engine mounts, charging system, etc.).  For you experienced sawyers, what kinds of things should I be paying particular attention to?  I am not really concerned with the Accuset right now, but eventually will look into figuring out what is going on with that.  The triple drive belt looks good, but it does need new belts on the band wheels, and of course I need to figure out getting the feed speed issue figured out.  He had all the original manuals that came with it, so I've got some pleasure reading to look forward to!

I'm pretty excited to get started on this sawmilling journey!  I know I paid more for it than I would have a couple of years ago with the current market, but was the $22,000 I paid for it too far out of line?  I'm sure I will be posting plenty of questions as I check things out and see things that might not look quite right - thanks in advance for your advice and direction!

[Old Greenhorn]

Welcome to the forum and let the journey begin.
 You could benefit a lot by calling WM and running the serial# to check what's been done to it, also confirm it is free and clear. They can also tell you what's involved in getting that accuset working, which I would make a top priority. The time it saves is significant, to say the very least. We have a few guys here that have gone through the upgrade/replacement.
 Lastly, check and see if you can schedule a WM tech to come by and go over your machine. What you can learn will save you tons of time and money beyond the cost of the service call. Good luck in the new venture and remember, almost every problem/challenge you will have has already happened to someone else here. Using the search function will help you find quick answers to a lot of issues.
 Happy sawing!

[woodchuckc]

Thanks for the welcome and advice!  I do plan on calling Wood Mizer to get the registration changed over to me and find out what kind of service history they have on the mill.  I think the closest Wood Mizer dealer to me is somewhere in Kentucky, so I will also check on what it would cost to have a service tech come to check it over.  I guess I don't view the Accuset as a top priority because I'm just sawing for myself and don't need real production levels of sawing (at least for right now), but I would like to get it straightened out if possible.  I'll be retiring in about a year and may end up doing some sawing for neighbors and friends, so I know that it will be very helpful to get precision and production up then.

I'm well acquainted with the search function on here already - been checking on most common issues / problems with this model mill!

[jpassardi]

Welcome to the Forum.
Congrats. In my opinion, you bought one of the best mills.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I hope you rushed out and bought a lottery ticket at the same time because I'd say it was your lucky day. Even with the known problems that sounds like an excellent price to me.

    Yes, call WM and see when their next service team will be in your area as they do their bi-annual service loop. I know there is a dealer in Atlanta but don't know if he is the closest. I have the service team come by on their every other year loop and find it is money well spent especially from the knowledge and training you pick up watching and talking with them as they do the service. They bring a good selection of parts and WM prices are very fair and competitive from what I have seen. Let them know the current known problems and they can bring the likely parts they will need and install them while there. 

   Most parts are pretty easy to install from the instructions that come with them from WM and their help desk is very knowledgeable and patient.

   If you haven't run a sawmill before go watch others in use every time you can as every sawyer has a few tips that will make you process easier, faster and more accurate. They won't try to hide such tips from you but may not mention them simply because it is second nature to them and they don't even think about them so you need to watch them at work then ask if you don't understand why they do something.

   Oh, BTW - Welcome. Keep us informed as we like learning from your experiences and relating your mistakes is often a trip down memory lane for most of us so don't be embarrassed. 

[Magicman]

You Sir knocked da ball outta da park with dat home run.  A potentiometer should fix the power feed and you will probably be looking at an Accuset2 but your cost will still be very much under the sawmill's value.  Happy Sawing and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.