Useful sawmill mods

[Daburner87]

^I noticed I've been getting too much fluid on mine as well.  Gonna see if I can adjust it tomorrow.  Can you tell me where you got the brass ball valve? Home Depot?  I'm curious because my sawdust has been too wet and very annoying to get off the wood before stacking.  

[Wlmedley]

I had it in the garage.Don't remember where it came from but Home Depot or a plumbing supply should have them.Works a lot better than one on tank.When cutting green wood I never use lube except pine and then to keep sap from gumming up blade.

[DWyatt]

I did the same type of thing that someone here suggested with my woodmizer. I got a brass needle valve from the local hardware store. Works great for dialing in the small drips of diesel and has better fine tuning than a ball valve.

[KenMac]

I know Cook's does their lube system a little differently than most, but their lube adjustment is top notch. I'm sure you can check it out online and make something similar without much trouble.
If you're not familiar with their system it utilizes a needle valve above a sight glass that allows you to see how fast the drips are dripping. the lube doesn't drip onto the blade, but soaks into felt wipers that rub the top of the blade to keep it clean. It works great and is very economical on diesel fuel, which is all I've ever used. There is also a quarter turn valve above the needle valve to close flow completely.

[D6c]

Got tired of walking around on the hitch of my old LT40, and occasionally barking my shins, and finally did something about it.

Modified the hitch so I could flip it 180° back under the frame and out of the way.





Cut a piece of 1 1/2"  x 3" rectangular tubing, drilled bolt holes, and welded it to the front side of the jack tube.
If I need to move the mill it's just a 5 minute job to flip it back around again.




 

[LeeB]

Interesting. My hitch just pins on. Pull two pins and take it off. 

[D6c]

Interesting. My hitch just pins on. Pull two pins and take it off.

Yea, this old mill was before they figured out what a shin-buster it was.
Can't just remove it because the end jack is part of the hitch.

[melezefarmer]

Not exactly sawmill mods but more of nice to have around the mill.

A 12v powered conveyor and green chain build enabling efficient drag back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTIhkpWDIMg

A 12v powered live deck:
DIY 12v Sawmill Stop and Load Live Log Deck - YouTube

[pa_of_6]

couple things I did to my LT70 to increase production 

I added a 3 phase electric hydraulic pump. I got 7.5 gpm and if I had to do it over again I would go to 10 gpm. It was a huge benefit to production

The second one that i recently done is took the power feed off the H bridge.
I went to a WEG VFD and a 3 hp 3 phase motor.
I was blowing H bridges constantly and the 1 hp 12 volt motor just didnt have the power to pull back the flinches on the oversized logs i am always sawing.

I have modified the wiring to work with the existing control and it works great.

the 12 volt system on the bigger mills is way undersized and well lets face it, 12 volt does have its limitations.

only wish I would of thought of it and done it sooner.

And BTW, I have a 480 3 phase genset to run my edger and the sawdust conveyor for the edger so it is already running.
the 10 hp hydraulic pump motor and the 3 hp power feed motor only make the genset more valuable

all wiring for the factory original is there and intact, sow it will be easy to convert back

[Peter Drouin]

One of those days. My drag back saw not working right.
So today I pulled it. What a mess. 

 

The ear came off, the whole thing was bent.
The other ear was cracked, ready to come off too. :
So I cut, ground, welded. Beat it with a hammer.


 

 

 

 

 

Had to get squire or it would not fit back on the mill.

 

Every thing was bent, But , I got it. When I went to put the motor back on I found wood in with the belt.


Wood gets everywhere. :D
I'm up and running now, trying to finish a timber Oder next week.

When it came apart, I was cutting a log and stopped.
If I kept sawing, I would have cut the belt in half, Rubin on the hanging drag back, 

[Andries]

Yikes, one tough little piece of wood next to the belt, and then the train wreck. 
Good to see you keepin' after it Peter. 👌

[OlJarhead]

In light of my recent troubles with my hydraulics I'm wondering if someone has installed a pressure gauge inside the Hydraulics box (or outside) and if so, if they have pics and parts?  I'm thinking that would be a good idea.

I also need to see Lynn's light setup.  I only have one pump but I'm guessing a light might also be good.

Mills in the shop until fixed so a good time to mess with it

[MattM]

In light of my recent troubles with my hydraulics I'm wondering if someone has installed a pressure gauge inside the Hydraulics box (or outside) and if so, if they have pics and parts? 

Eric that would be pretty easy to do, all you need is to insert a Tee where the pressure line enters the valve. On the LT40 it looks to be #4 JIC (1/4") 
So you would need the tee to be #4 JIC female (attached to valve) #4 JIC male (for pressure hose) and then the bottom of the tee could be either male or female depending on what other fittings you will get to attach the pressure gauge.
If you wanted it inside the box then get a fitting to go from your tee to 1/4 NPT female and then put a 5000psi gauge on it (using thread sealant on the NPT part)
If you want it outside the box then get whatever fittings and or a short hose to bring it outside by your valve levers. Once you know how everything is going to line up drill a hole in the box for the fittings to come out through. If you use a small hose though make sure you strap it or put a rubber grommet in the hole to stop chafing. 
It wouldnt cost much for the fittings and guage at a hydraulic shop... Up here in Canada hydraulic fittings are usually only a buck or two and a guage is about $8. Down your way I would guess they'd be half that.

[doc henderson]

Actually, I bet they are three times that.  
but I agree otherwise.  take a few pics of the joint to insert it into and they can help you make up the most efficient way to do it.
when I was ready for hoses to finish out my log splitter, i pulled it down and they custom made them,  one hose that ran along the cylinder sagged and touched the cylinder, and my request was it not touch, so he make a new one.  very efficient.  

I took my grapple to a road construction crew.  grew up with the foreman who also worked with my brother.  it was on the track loader on a trailer,  He had a semi trailer that had his office in the front, parts in the middle and all the hose, fitting ect. you could want.  He did it enough, he knew which ends to put the male of female ends on for ease of changing ect.  The call it monkey proof so they are the right length and cannot auto destroy themselves.  It is an art, not appreciated at all levels of society.

[OlJarhead]

Since I'm going to take it into a Hydraulics shop (if I don't suddenly figure out what's wrong) I may just have them put on a gauge for me

[MattM]

Wow I'm surprised that they would cost that much more down there.... Usually everything is cheaper in the states because of all the competition you guys have (God love capitalism). Having hoses made up here is fairly expensive depending on what fittings you get on the ends. The last #4 ORBF 45degree I got was 2u$ each for the fittings and 4$ for the hose . But couplers, 90s, tees and adapters are dirt cheap....maybe they come from china... 

[doc henderson]

larger size but in the 3/4 inch range a new hose can be 100 bucks.  most of the cost is the fittings.  so we also have lawyers so do not know if there much liability.  

in the 1/4 inch range maybe less of course.  that is from a dedicated hydraulic outfitter, not a big box store.

[Magicman]

A hydraulic gauge was once factory installed but it is my understanding now discontinued.


 
The gauge is seen at the top of this picture.

[OlJarhead]

Saw that pic earlier-- I'm wondering if there is value in putting one in a more noticeable location?

[MattM]

There wouldn't really be value in it. If your hydraulics are working properly you don't need to know the pressure. If they aren't working properly it's only 4 bolts to access the guage and the cover would need to come off anyways. To me it wouldn't be worth the extra expense. 

[Magicman]

My gauge has been non working for years as seen in the picture below.



The needle is broken and the glycerine has about half leaked out.  I have a spare gauge but I never saw the need for it anyway.

I can hear the pumps running and know when all is OK or not.

[Nebraska]

 

 

 

These first two images are of the stops  on my  Belsaw Timber Master B-16, (pre Timberking)  3/4 flats that you adjust up and down manually tightening with the t-handle bolt.  So I decided to have a client friend who works for a fab shop build a set that adjusts via a pull pin.

 

 

Nothing too exotic, just figure these will be a little more efficient and easier to keep at the same height. Weather is slowly getting better a d daylight is increasing so maybe I can get back to sawing again.

[fluidpowerpro]

Been working on some " groove scraper outers" for the wheels on my mill to keep them from packing with sawdust. Got them mounted today. Not sure how well they will work. They do add a little drag so not sure how I will like that. I'll see.
Maybe if I play with the profile some I can reduce it.

 

 

 

 

 

[rusticretreater]

Neat construction and pretty elaborate.  

I would have like to have seen your idea before it was all built out.  The spring loaded part is pretty cool, but having the scraper perpendicular to the roller is not really optimal.  It will constantly be pushed to one side going forward and the other side going backwards. Over time, it might get loose and maybe chatter or jam a bit.

Angling it a bit would make it slide along the roller groove and put any pressure on the end directly in line with the internal spring. As it is important that the roller groove being clean when moving the head forward, you likely would want to angle the scraper towards the rear of the roller.

My Woodland Mills setup uses a braided steel cable bent into a Vee with the ends in the roller grooves and mounted horizontally to the roller.  One leg of the vee goes towards the top of the roller and the other towards the bottom. When the saw head moves in either direction, the wheel turns the sawdust into the end of the cable which scrapes it out.

[fluidpowerpro]

Ya, my design is probably more complicated than it needed to be. I haven't spent much time on my lathe and mill (metal) lately so it allowed me to use those. 
What you say about mounting at an angle makes sense. I'll see how they work and like most things I make, it will get revised down the road.