WM LT 70 question

[Walnut Beast]

How does the auto saw function get activated. By one of the button's ?. Will the engine throttle adjust for the load ? 

[Dave Shepard]

What is the auto saw function?

[Southside]

Do you mean the clutch?  If so, left thumb on the joystick.  Goes to full throttle.  

[Walnut Beast]

Well from my understanding on the lt 70 I thought someone mentioned that it will automatically progress through the cut in the log without keeping your hands on the controls 

[Walnut Beast]

Maybe I misunderstood but that's my question. Do you have to keep your hand on the joystick to keep the head moving through the cut

[Walnut Beast]

Do you mean the clutch?  If so, left thumb on the joystick.  Goes to full throttle.  

Is there one button for the clutch and a button to bring up to full throttle and down simultaneously?

[Southside]

Ok - that's called cruise control on the 70.  No you don't need to keep your hands on the joysticks.  Basically set the fwd speed you want with the right joystick by pushing it forward, thumb push the top left button on the same joystick and let go.  The mill will stay moving ahead at that speed until you tell it to stop by pulling back on the joystick.  I do it all the time.  

[Southside]

Same button push that engages the clutch brings the throttle up to full speed.  I am presuming you are talking about the Super 70's with the HMI joystick controls.  

[Southside]

The same buttons do multiple functions depending on which mode you are in ie - head vs bed mode.  So there are less physical buttons on the joystick than events which you can control.  

[terrifictimbersllc]

What Southside said. Left joystick, center round thumb button, Auto clutch engage or disengage, revs up or down respectively. Same joystick,Upper right round thumb button, cruise control.

[Walnut Beast]

Thanks guys for clarifying. That sounds absolutely handy!! I thought YH had said something about it while moving a drag back board and letting it cruise as Southside says! Handy!!

[YellowHammer]

The only problem I have with cruise control is that the 70 is so fast, lots of times, I don't have time to stack the board before the next cut is done.

[Southside]

Ever think maybe your slow?  :D

[YellowHammer]

I know I'm slow.  Artificial hip, bad knee, long day, and the last thing I want is a DanG sawmill telling me to hurry up!!

Now, for some of the younger, faster crowd, it's great.  

[Southside]

Funniest part of that response is that you missed the innuendo there of being "slow".  :D  :D  :D 

[WDH]

I didn't miss it  :D.

Boy, I say boy, you got to pay attention, son.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNPiql-pnLc

[KenMac]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I'm curious about the cruise control function. Is it no adjustable to your chosen speed? My Cook's AC 36 is not nearly as sophisticated as the LT 70 but since it is hydraulically driven it's a simple valve adjustment.

[Southside]

Yes, you increase speed by pushing forward on the right joystick (some of these functions can be set up differently if the operator chooses, this is my setup) the more you push, the faster the head goes. Just hit the cruise button at whatever speed you want. 

[Larry]

Thanks guys for clarifying. That sounds absolutely handy!! I thought YH had said something about it while moving a drag back board and letting it cruise as Southside says! Handy!!

Twelve years ago when I brought my TK2000 home my first mod was to add cruise control.  Set the flow control (feed speed) and lock the the forward lever in place with the  red toggle.  Any mill with drag back needs cruise.

[YellowHammer]

That's a cool setup.
Cruise control is great.


I can slow the feed down to a crawl, but cut quality, and especially, residual sawdust, dictates the speed of the cut.  There is an optimum speed, usually pretty fast, where the cut is dead flat and there is virtually zero sawdust on the board. Unfortunately, most times that is faster than I can stack by myself.  

I can cut slow, lose production, have to deal with packed sawdust, have the band wander, and scrape sawdust off the board, or I can saw faster at optimum speed, have near zero sawdust, no scraping, and produce more wood.

Whatever that optimum speed is, that's what dictates cut speed.    

The Joystick 70 Cruise control can be set to any current speed by clicking a little button.  It doesn't get any easier to lock in a desired speed.  However, whether that speed is slow enough where I can get anything else done before the board is cut is another matter.  It's only a few seconds.

[customsawyer]

My older 70s still use the drum switch and speed pot. I tried to drive a friends with the joysticks. It wasn't pretty.

[KenMac]

Yes, you increase speed by pushing forward on the right joystick (some of these functions can be set up differently if the operator chooses, this is my setup) the more you push, the faster the head goes. Just hit the cruise button at whatever speed you want.

I really thought it would be like that or similar seeing as how WM seems to be the leader in this sort of stuff. Thanks.

[terrifictimbersllc]

I use the cruise control when i want to step away for a second or to update board tally . Sometimes i use it at a crawl, not cutting, to walh around the head to look at the lubemizer nozzles. Lubemizer only works when the blade is running and feed engaged, wish there were an easier way to check it.

[YellowHammer]

That is a fact, one of the things I do not like about the 70, you can't just turn the lubemizer on, unless everything is running.

[Old Greenhorn]

It's very similar on the 50, but I just turn the feed rate to zero and hit the forward feed, head doesn't move but the debarker and lubemizer both come on.