engine horsepower and wavy boards?

[tyb525]

Delaware, we all know you'd love a bigger mill deep down inside, I think we all would ;) ;D

[jdonovan]

I'm running 61 HP, 1 1/2" blades, and if you over push the feed rate, it can still dive.

If I start seeing smoke out the exhaust, its a good sign you're pushing it too hard.

[cutterboy]

If you have a small engine you have a manual mill and with a manual mill you feel your way through the cut because you are actually pushing the blade through the log and you can feel it cutting. You learn after a while when you have to slow the foward speed of the blade and when you can speed it up. As the blade dulls you have to slow up. As you approach a big nasty knot you slow down and creep through it.

You can not get big production with a small mill but you can get straight boards.

Don't let the blade get too dull! If you have to  push hard to get the blade through the log......it's too dull. Change it. Even if you are almost finished with the log. More than once I have said to myself "I'll change the blade when I finish this log". Then the blade dives and I've ruined two boards.

I've run a Norwood LM2000 with a 13hp Honda engine for 12 years. I know it's not as fast as the big mills with the big engines but the lumber comes out just as good.

Happy sawing, Cutter

[bandmiller2]

Some pine logs will give you fits,you need the holy log trinity" sharp,set, power" if you loose just one you will cut poorly.Knotty pine logs have hard and soft and unless your bands are just right they will dodge and wave.Strange thing you can leave the band on that cut wavy in pine and it will cut oak true.As Cutter says with a manual mill you have to feel your way through,keeping the band speed up.Frank C.

[5quarter]

Jack... 50+ HP allows the saw to pull wider bands with deeper gullets and thicker steel at a higher fpm. this translates into a much higher feed rate  without any RPM loss.  Think of Customsawyers lt-70 as a world class athlete, say, Usain Bolt. a saw optimized for speed. Compare that with my little 18hp briggs...say, Aunt Jemima on one of her better days. Customsawyer would have aready collected his medal and be back in Georgia before I was halfway to the finish line.
:D :D

[5quarter]

Jbeyer...seriously though, some things you can do to compensate for the smaller engine. Run a thinner band, say .035" with 1" tooth spacing. the thicker the band, the more HP is required to to pull the blade through a log at a given speed. thinner kerf=less actual wood being cut=less required HP. also, keep your tension up and your blade burmashave sharp beyond that, follow the advice given in previous posts. the guys pretty much covered all the bases. best of luck.

[hackberry jake]

You actually want smaller tooth spacing with less hp. 3/4 is best for 13hp. 7/8 is better for 20hp. I think it has more to do with band speed than hp, but they go hand in hand.

[customsawyer]

Keep in mind that while my mill might be on the high end of things to some in this group it is still a portable mill. The big mill that I cut for run a head rig that has 200 hp electric and runs a 9" wide blade. The 200hp electric will compare to a 400 hp diesel. Needless to say they can cut circles around me. ;D

[cutterboy]

Some pine logs will give you fits (lol, isn't that the truth) Strange thing you can leave the band on that cut wavy in pine and it will cut oak true.

I'd rather cut through a big oak knot than a big pine (white) knot anyday.

[Sixacresand]

I experienced waves on my LT10. On this the forum I learned that setting the blade rollers correctly, keeping rpm's up (feed rate) and sharp blades are the key to straight  boards.  I'm sure there are other factors than I haven't read about yet.

[Solomon]

I've read this whole tbread, I am going to refrain from echoing what you've already heard, I will however say this, "Brucer knows what he's talking about"  go back and read his replys
He coveys information you will benefit from for a life time of sawing.

[WoodenHead]

I've read this post a few times.  There's a lot of good information, but it still has me thinking.  My 1-1/4" bands will work on my 18HP diesel LT28 and on an LT40 Super, but will they be dull after the same amount of use (i.e. board feet)?  If higher horsepower can pull a dull blade longer before making waves, are the bands much duller on an LT40 Super than on my LT28 when wavy cuts begin to occur?  If so, is this a good thing?

[Tom L]

I've had your machine, and now I have a 40 super, I have had more problems with the 40 making wavy cuts than I ever did with the 28. just because I have the HP now to push it harder and the waves get bigger if something is wrong with the 40 like a dull blade or a knot in the way. I can not remember a time with the 28 that I had a problem with wavy cuts, not pushing hard and changing blades after 5-600 brd ft. that 28 cut nice. if there is any little issue with the logs that I am cutting now , like a knot or being frozen, or hard to cut wood like hickory or locust, the 40 will make more waves for me with new or slightly worn blades because I am pushing it too hard. to answer your original question a  dull blade will show more waves because of the hp behind the machine than with the 28.

but on the flip side, if everything is right and the logs are good quality, I can cut a bundle of wood with the 40, that thing can really rock

[Delawhere Jack]

Wow! This thread is a blast from the past.  ;D How little I knew  then.. How much I still have to learn.  :

When you go from a manual, or a lower powered mill to an LT40, you loose the tactile feedback that tells you when to back off a little. You need to re-learn the signals your mill is giving you. One thing I found is to make sure that your drive belt is not worn out, and that it is tensioned properly. A worn belt will slip, allowing the band to slow down and causing waves, but you'd never know from the engine speed because it never changed.

I can't offer an answers on sharp blade life between the different mills. I can say that fresh bands will speed up milling a ton, and then you notice them slow down some. Not dull, but not fresh off the grinder sharp. This is where you really need to be alert to the signals the mill and the wood are sending you.

[justallan1]

Jbeyer, in case you are still looking for a sawmill for your own use for stocking a woodshop and sawing boards for around the place the Hudson hfe 21 is fine. I bought one a couple months ago and like it, granted I've only sawn probably 2 dozen logs on it and a handful of power poles. You aren't winning any races with it and you'd have a time trying to make a living with it, but it will saw straight boards. I find that I run the thing by feel and keep watch of what I'm about to hit and saw accordingly. When I first got it set up I pretty much planned on wrecking a band just to see what it could do. It will dive by sawing to fast or when you hit bigger knots, to be expected. I ran the same band until it was pretty dull and you can definitely feel it is dull once you have a feel for your mill.
I understand with more money you generally get more saw, but that is what I could afford and it works fine for me.
Allan