lt40 work out backstop

[JustinW_NZ]

Hi all

Im having trouble keeping the front backstop square to my mill.
Pretty much one good bump and it slides out of square again.

The backstop is pretty work and there is a little bit of slop in there but not sure if it really needs to be completely rigid or not?

fully adjusted out I can get it aligned as per manual but only just, this probably show how work it is 

Is this something you just bite the bullet and get another backstop?

Cheers
Justin

[Magicman]

My front side support seems fairly easy to bump outward about 1/8th inch.  I have moved it back a couple of times recently, but I have not had time to really look and see why it is moving.  We may have a common problem.

It is only the front one that moves. ??

[JustinW_NZ]

My front side support seems fairly easy to bump outward about 1/8th inch.  I have moved it back a couple of times recently, but I have not had time to really look and see why it is moving.  We may have a common problem.

It is only the front one that moves. ??

It appears to be the base the one closest to the hydraulic box is the worse one.
The rear powered one goes out as well but more slowly, and I suspects it because its 'friend' isn't supporting it like it should.

I've replaced the bolts with new high end bolts and that's made no difference, so im sure its not old fasteners letting go.

Does yours show wear on the surface of the support?
Mine is no longer nice and straight, the wood rubbing against it all these years has actually worn at it!

Cheers
Justin

[Magicman]

Worn them or heavy logs bent them?  Mine were actually bent when I bought my sawmill used.  A "rosebud" did the heating and a pipe did the straightening. 

My loader arms have gradually straightened about maybe an inch, so they need the 'rosebud" again too.  Fact is, I have loaded some logs that surely were vastly over the recommended weight limit.  Them hitting the side supports is what will bend and/or knocked them out of square.

[JustinW_NZ]

I have had that arm hit too, and used a press to bend it back into shape.

I get the feeling its bit of a combination for me of some wear causing the slop on the pin and the arm being bent.
The owners before me were not good at maintenance or grease, so im not 100% surprised..
Being in NZ I wanted to get some input before I put in an order for a part I cant return 'tis all

Cheers
Justin

[Brucer]

One interesting thing about the side stops on a WM. They can be perfectly square when they are pointing straight up, but when you move the to their limit (just beyond straight up) they go out of square.

There's a little triangular piece of steel welded to the side stop that pushes against the frame of the mill to prevent the stop from moving too far. If you raise the stops right to their limit, this triangular bit acts as a fulcrum and pushes the top of the stop in, toward the log.

If you square your side stop when it is raised to the limit, the top will be pushed in a bit. As soon as the side stop moves away from the limit it goes out of square.

Another point. When I'm squaring my side tops, I place a couple of 4' I-beam levels across the bed rails, and place a 7" carpenters square on top of them, just touching the side stop. When I'm positioning the side stop, I pull the top out hard, away from the square. I also pull on it when I'm tightening the locking screw.

[pineywoods]

It's surprising how often I see bent backstops. Never bent mine, but I have a sawyer friend who bends them often. He has an 8000 pound forklift to handle big long cypress logs, that probably has something to do with it. Never tried straightening them, I welded a piece of 1/4 flat plate on the side to fix one of them...

[Magicman]

In it's previous life, my sawmill sawed cants for a commercial sawmill operation. It took me a while to straighten everything out. 

[JustinW_NZ]

Out of interest I grabbed the pin from a bed extension I have here and it took care of a lot of the movement in the backstop.

I haven't been able to run it yet and see if it behaves better, but I suspect it will, I will also insert a small shim to take the rest of the movement out so the backstop can only rotate on the pin and not slide side to side.

I think my backstop is still overly worn and isn't even square on the front face but I will see if the dealer has one...

Cheers
Justin

[MartyParsons]

If you square your side stop when it is raised to the limit, the top will be pushed in a bit. As soon as the side stop moves away from the limit it goes out of square.

Hello,
There is another adjustment for keeping the support square as it moves. The two bolts that go through the frame and hold the main adjustment plate are also slotted. This lets you adjust the pin front to back. I don't see these out very much. I always look for the paint shadow if they moved from the factory setting.
Marty

[JustinW_NZ]

If you square your side stop when it is raised to the limit, the top will be pushed in a bit. As soon as the side stop moves away from the limit it goes out of square.

Hello,
There is another adjustment for keeping the support square as it moves. The two bolts that go through the frame and hold the main adjustment plate are also slotted. This lets you adjust the pin front to back. I don't see these out very much. I always look for the paint shadow if they moved from the factory setting.
Marty

Its funny you mention that, I think most of my problem started happening after I cleaned the brackets all up and the light rusting wasn't there to give things more 'bite' together! 

Yes, I undo those and beat that plate downwards too..

Do you see many people replacing that from moving arm Marty? - unless not greased I wouldn't think so?

Justin