Lawnmower Engine Powered Bandmill (sawmill)

cnicholls · September 30, 2015, 02:14:24 PM

I thought I would share my latest project that my son and I built. I have followed other homemade bandmill projects and I have yet to find one that used a vertical shaft lawnmower engine.

This all started with the emerald ash boar that has effectively killed all ash trees here in Ohio and the Midwest. I have 5 acres of woodlands that have over 50 standing dead ash tree's to deal with. We cut up a few ash trees along with some other softwood trees this spring and I had more wood than I could burn, along with such a sick feeling from cutting up such nice usable hardwood.
A few years ago a major tornado came thru a few miles from our home, a good friend and his family perished in the storm, I have a bobcat and a dump truck so I volunteered and cleaned up 14 properties around the devastated area. I ended up getting a trashed out riding lawnmower that the tornado picked up and tossed ½ mile. The homeowner was happy to give it to me along with several large Oak and Walnut timbers.

So we decided that it was time to turn that lawnmower into and bandsaw, and cut up the timber left behind by both the tornado and the ash boar.

I started by picking up an old homemade band saw on Craigslist for $50 it was in very tough shape but it had 2 18" cast iron band wheels.

All of the steel used in the project was scrap metal that I had been saving for this project. So please ignore the rust/quality of the materials used. I have around $150 in the entire project.

I used the 13.5hp Briggs and Stratton engine and the original MTD frame. I cut down the frame to use as the motor plate. The part you may be most interested in is how do you get a vertical shaft engine to couple to the bandsaw wheels. I recalled an old mower I had seen that had a "mule drive" system set up to power the lawn mower deck and other attachments. You can see the details here: http://www.google.com/patents/US7427247

I figured if it was good enough for Cub Cadet it should be good enough for my use. Here is my modified setup:

The idler pulleys are from the mower deck. They are supported from the top down leaving the supports in tension. Also note that they are on a camber to guide the belt.
I am using a Kevlar V Belt to reduce belt wear and resist the belt heating up.

I did originally use the electric power clutch however I found that as soon as it would engage the motor would stall. There is a lot of mass to start spinning instantly. I went to a belt clutch so some slipping could be absorbed by the clutch instead. This works quite well. The only issue is, do I want to install some kind of breaking system to stop the free spinning that occurs from cutting to idle.

Blade Guides:

Controls:

Blade Guides

sawguy21 · September 30, 2015, 02:21:37 PM

I am a little puzzled. You say a vertical shaft engine but your deck drawing indicates the donor tractor had a horizontal.

Magicman · September 30, 2015, 02:24:04 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, cnicholls, and congrats on your innovative sawmill build.

I do not see any pictures in your gallery. There is a tutorial at the bottom of the index page detailing how to post pictures here on the FF.

cnicholls · September 30, 2015, 02:38:12 PM

The deck drawing is from the original cub cadet lawnmower they are taking a horizontal shaft and converting it to vertical. I am just doing the opposite.

Magicman · September 30, 2015, 02:59:56 PM

Wow, you have it going for you.

Nice build, and very innovative.

Add you location to your profile so that we will always know. ;D

cnicholls · September 30, 2015, 03:17:37 PM

I have updated my profile and added my pictures to the gallery, sorry for being such a noob

Chuck White · September 30, 2015, 04:19:53 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, cnicholls!

Magicman · September 30, 2015, 04:39:21 PM

:D Nothing wrong with being new, matter of fact, we all were at one time. Remember that the only dumb question is an unasked question. 8)

Delawhere Jack · September 30, 2015, 05:52:51 PM

CNicholls, welcome to the FF. Nice work on the mill, I don't think anyone else has built a vertical shaft band mill.

Pretty clever use of materials at hand. You'll fit right in here!

thecfarm · September 30, 2015, 06:21:39 PM

cnicholls,welcome to the forum. What's the plan for the lumber?

Kingmt · September 30, 2015, 06:45:14 PM

Very nice looking build. Congrats.

Jjoness4 · October 01, 2015, 09:37:47 AM

Just curious -did you use Sketch Up for your CAD drawing? Great project and well documented

cnicholls · October 01, 2015, 12:23:21 PM

Yes I used sketchup. It's a very good tool, it took me a few days to figure it out.

Ljohnsaw · October 01, 2015, 01:26:37 PM

Very clever. Have you had the chance to cut any timber yet? Wondering how its going. I had made blade guides like that but found the bearings to die a quick death once I ran water (lube) on the blade. I've since upgraded to Cook's guides and so far, work great.

Looks like you have an electric winch to raise and lower the head via a cable system. Is that able to keep the head even for you?

cnicholls · October 01, 2015, 05:03:36 PM

I have only cut a few boards. I just finished up adding retractable wheels that the electric winch will winch the tires so I can move it around on my property.
I also added an additional 3' to the tracks. The first cuts were attempted without the log dog/clamping system in place. I also added some additional timbers on top of the bunks because the wheels being under the carriage didn't allow the head to get low enough.

Log Dog Detail