Mill safety

[backwoods sawyer]

This morning while hooking up my woodmizer to the truck, the bar slipped out of the front leg and the front of the mill slammed to the ground. The lock pin did not slip into any of the holes on the way down. With both the hydraulics and the control panel mounted on the end of the mill it is to heavy to just pick up and hold while realigning the lock pin. I have been sawing and had the lock pin slip out as well. I have also been around an LT-40 that has done the same thing, injuring the sawyer as the control panel caught him on the hip.

Is there any modifications that have been done to the legs that have solved this issue?

Being 100% portable this is a real concern as the legs are used to jack the mill up and down during set up and tear down. I have considered the idea of using a bang cylinder that would pivot out of the way when not in use.

[Brucer]

I used to have trouble in the spring with the ground thawing and "unleveling" the mill. Last year I bought part of a set of the new quick-adjust outriggers -- just the front and back ones. This lets me trim the mill with just the turn of a crank.

These new outriggers are great . The coarse adjustment is with a pin that goes right through the outrigger and locks in place. It ain't gonna pop out accidentally. Fine tuning is done with a crank on a nut.

I have dropped the front end of a mill on the ground :-[ and found the easiest way to get it back up is with a farm jack lifting the frame.

[sparks]

I have some add on brackets that should keep the pins from walking. I need about 3 people who would be willing to test them. They need to have a mill 1997 and newer and have a pin walking problem. The first 3 emails I get will be the testers. Email me at rlauman@woodmizer.com         Thanks

[DanG]

I've had a very small amount of personal experience with a couple of major brands of portable mills. The jacks on both of them leave a lot to be desired, IMHO.  I realize that my limited experience might leave me lacking in understanding the situation, but I can't see why a plain old drop-leg screw jack wouldn't be superior to what they are using. :

[backwoods sawyer]

That was my though to until I started looking at the jacks that are available on the market. Finding a jack with a drop leg, side crank, and swivel has been a problem. You could make a hybrid of the available jacks that would work, but it would have to stand up to the inertia of the head of the mill stopping as it returns to the home position. 

[WH_Conley]

Most of my milling is done stationary, once I get the legs down they are there to stay. If setting up, I use the jack rod(for lack of a better term)  and let the pin hit bottom with a (thud). Had some problems when I firs got the mill. Learned real quick. ;D

[tcsmpsi]

I've had a very small amount of personal experience with a couple of major brands of portable mills. The jacks on both of them leave a lot to be desired, IMHO.  I realize that my limited experience might leave me lacking in understanding the situation, but I can't see why a plain old drop-leg screw jack wouldn't be superior to what they are using. :

My mill has eight of the bulldog screw jacks.  After some use, they will move a little, depending on where the crank is when it is leveled.  However, if setting up on the ground, I can not see where the ground gives any less (even with substantial pads) than what the screw jack may move, over time.

The way mine are set up, they will detach, or can be turned up either direction and held horizontal with a pin.  Traveling with the mill, I personally rather just take the jacks off and put them in the back of the truck.  Only takes a couple minutes to slip them on their fitting and put the pins in.

That is a very generous and thoughtful offer, sparks.

[gmmills]

   Have seen the same problem with my current mill, LT70, and the previous mill,LT40.   Solved the problem by upgrading to the new fine adjustment outrigger legs. I purchased all 6 leg assemblies.  The front And rear leg assemblies have pins that extend completely through the tube of the leg.  The pin itself has an external safety pin lock. Similar to a tractor drawbar hitch safety pin. With this system the pin walking problem and safety issue is eliminated on the front and rear outrigger legs.
      Have a local sawyer that just purchased the front and rear fine adj outrigger legs. He kept the old syle,original, adjustable legs on the other 4 positions on the mill bed. He is really happy with the results of this configuration.

[Brucer]

      Have a local sawyer that just purchased the front and rear fine adj outrigger legs. He kept the old syle,original, adjustable legs on the other 4 positions on the mill bed. He is really happy with the results of this configuration.

That's exactly what I did last year. It's great for some fine-tuning when the really long timbers get a little tapered on the end.

[backwoods sawyer]

I have some add on brackets that should keep the pins from walking. I need about 3 people who would be willing to test them. They need to have a mill 1997 and newer and have a pin walking problem. The first 3 emails I get will be the testers. Email me at rlauman@woodmizer.com         Thanks

I installed the new safety clips on the mill the other day. A five min job. They all mounted up except for one. The leg is worn so the pin sits at an angle and it will not latch on. I will have to pull the leg off and straighten the hole up and it should work. They should keep the mill from dropping while in operation, but will not help with the set up problem.
Thanks Sparks.

[backwoods sawyer]

I have been giving these clips a test drive for the past month, and will be sending them back to wood mizer so that they can send them out to someone else to test drive.
I find that they bounce out of position while the mill is traveling down the road, and while milling. The legs on my mill are well worn from the previous owner dropping logs and his general abuse of the mill, so the clips do not sit the way they were designed to.
They may do ok on a stationary setup, but they sure do not make set up and tear down any easier as you already have your hands full with the bar and working the pin and this clip flipping around between your fingers in the processes gets in the way.
I appreciated the opportunity to give these clips a test drive and wish they had worked out better for my mill.