Service on a Wood Mizer mill.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
I did a service on a 2006 LT40 hydraulic mil last evening. I thought it would be good to share information on what the manual is talking about.
This mill has 222 hours, been out side and was not used for over one year. Unfortunately the owner passed away from cancer.

I have pictures and will keep adding to the post as time permits.

I have removed all the covers and washed the mill.
If you have questions post or review your manual.



 

I always start with the battery. Check connections. Clean. There is also a resistor wire going to the solenoid in the fuse box.



 

Clean the fuse box, check connections, proper fuses in location. Spare fuses available?



 

Next remove the control box cover, blow out the bugs, lube drum switch contacts. There should be grease in here from the factory. A little grease goes a long way.



 

Raise the saw head up to top check mast pad as shown. Clearance should be about the thickness of credit card. If mast is rusty clean with wire brush or sand paper.



 


 



 

Here is a picture of the lower adjuster. Lower head to one inch and check clearance before adjusting.



  

 

Check power feed belt and tighten set screw. Note the blue locktite.



Never seize all bolts exposed to sawdust and moisture.



  

 

Auto clutch, check belt tension. Watch out this belt does not need to be real tight! Over tightening will cause gear box failure.
Check wiring. Clean with compressed air.


These bolts break off. Lube with never seize.


  

 
Check upper cam bearings. Remove weight and turn. If they are apple core a little that is ok. Shiny spots or flat spots replace.



I did not take a picture if checking lower bearings. Lower the saw head onto can't hook handle at rest pin  area this will remove weight from lower bearings.



  

 
Check idle side bearing, remove the B-57 belt and check belt grove. Remove any build up. Replace the belt with a new one if doing alignment.

 


Drive side bearing change oil and replace with new tube. Dextron oil.


Document hours and date oil was changed.

Install new B-57 belts and new blade. Tighten blade, check tracking and adjust if needed.



 

Ok now we get to the alignment of the head to bed. I always say the only bed rails I adjust are the mills that owners adjust to solve a problem. Not exactly true but close.
Before you do this the frame supports must all have pressure to ground or floor . Front and rear leg must be tight, you should not be able to pull the pin by hand.
If you can read the rulers one on the left ( drive side) is at 18" The one on the rights ( idle side) at 17 15/16".  This says the idle side is lower. Manual states that the blade to bed should be 1/16" higher on the idle side.



 
Under the battery box there are two 1/2" bolts back them away from the lower rail before adjusting the head.



 

Ok now turn the inner nut ( two flats away from the meats) turn the outer nut two flats or tighten more if needed. Do this on all four nuts. This will raise the idle side of the saw head. On this mill I did this three times.
Every time you change this adjustment both lower cam bearing must have bearing weight on them. If you can turn one and not the other you need to adjust one to make them even. Neither one should turn with your fingers.



  

 

Now after the adjustment we are 18" on drive side and 18 1/16 " on idle side.



 

Next check all stationary and movable bed rails, document measurement on each. Do not adjust until you check them all. Now go back to the first one you checked. Is it the same measurement? If not the saw head moved when you pushed it. Recheck. Look at all the numbers that you documented. Are they all different? Only one off? Are they within 1/32?
Adjust only the one that is different. I only adjusted one with a loose nut on this mill.

Hope this helps.
Marty
I will post more later if you are interested.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I like threads like this. Thanks Marty. 

[customdave]

Thankyou Sir, & yes interested in the follow up from a pro

           Thanks Dave

[Chuck White]

This post will likely be very helpful for lots of us!

Thanks for posting, Marty.   8)

[Ga Mtn Man]

Yes, we are very interested.  Keep posting.  Please rotate upside-down pics.

[pineywoods]

Thanks Marty. I'm doing a restoration job on an lt40 with 7000+ hours. You covered a few things I had not thought about and I'll need to do before I'm finished.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
I think all pictures are right side up?  I will check the computer tomorrow. The I pad looks right. All pictures should be ok now?
Marty

[beenthere]

Just that the carts have wheels on the top side ?..  ;D ;D

[hunz]

Thank-you Marty.

Side note....where is a sticky thread for the FF. This needs to be one of many threads that needs to be added.

[mikeb1079]

marty you are top shelf brother.

[ScottInCabot]

Not too bad looking for an 'old-ish' mill, especially one that hasn't seen use for a year AND was sitting outside!  Or were all of the photo's taken after clean-up?


Scott in Cabot

[terrifictimbersllc]

Hello,
I think all pictures are right side up?  I will check the computer tomorrow. The I pad looks right.
Marty

Some of them are upside down.

You have the guide rollers off in making the head and rail adjustments, right?

[Ga Mtn Man]

Yesterday I adjusted the vertical tilt of the blade guide arm for the first time on my mill.  My patience was "challenged"  smiley_ignore , to put it mildly, because the measurements change when the jamb nuts are re-tightened.  Marty, I hope you will go over this procedure in detail and add any tips you have to make it easier.  Also, how do you determine when the v-rollers are tight enough but not too tight?

[Andries]

Marty - great post.
When I've helped friends with their mills, they had avoided the manual because it's text heavy.
The way you've laid it out with photo and caption is wunnerful. The picture is worth 1000 words and the caption sums it up.
I'd like to encourage you to keep at this thread, hoping you have the time and patience. 
      smiley_applause

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
Yes I remove all covers and use compressed air to remove all sawdust, then I use a pressure washer to clean, last step is to blow the water away.
I have more pictures to post.
Just a reminder to read your manual. I am missing some of the spec. This is for a LT40 and should be the same for the LT40 Super and LT50. The LT15 - LT35 will be a little different.

Yes when doing an alignment you remove the blade guide rollers.  I am not sure how many pictures I have of this but I can take more and add. If you think I missed something you would like to know then let me know and I will expand the explanation of that step.

Keep checking back as I get time I will post some more.

Marty

Well I see the modify button is missing on the original post. Now what do I do?  Do you have any suggestions? It would be nice to keep it all together.

[Nomad]

     Personally Marty, I think it's better if you add as you go.  Otherwise people have to go back to the OP and try to figure out what's new. 
     This is a great thread, and helping lots of people!  Keep it up!

[Jeff]

     Personally Marty, I think it's better if you add as you go.  Otherwise people have to go back to the OP and try to figure out what's new. 
     This is a great thread, and helping lots of people!  Keep it up!

I concur.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,

We will move on.
Here is a picture of the Aux bed rail with the nut that came loose. You need to check all of these on all the bed rails.



 

We also have all the bed rails adjusted to the blade and the blade guide rollers are removed from the blade. I remove the assemblies but you can just raise them depending on what level adjustment you are doing.

Next is the blade guide arm adjustment. I use a steel ruler shown.



 

Move the blade guide arm to the furthers point out and check, then move the blade guide arm in and document the measurement.



 



 

This picture shows ( hard to see) that the measurement is 1/32 more when the blade guide arm is in. That is how I do it. I feel that the blade pressure pulls up the blade guide arm just a little. If this adjustment is not correct you will get a lazy roller when the blade guide arm is in. ( blade guide roller stops)
You must check the rollers that hold the blade guide arm in place. If you pull up on the blade guide arm when it is in and can move the inside roller, then it needs to be adjusted. Do the same when the blade guide arm is out. The lower roller should not turn.
The blade guide arm MUST be tight between the rollers!

These bolts that hold the rollers are on cams as you turn the bolt on the inside the roller moves up then down.  If you find that both cams are up and the rollers are still loose then the metal that holds the bolt/cams are bent. This adjustment is not for the faint of heart. You may need to take a brake before during and after this adjustment.

I remove the roller, put the nut back on there should be a total of three nuts on the stud. 15/16' socket deep well on the bolt. Then bend the bolt with the metal. ( the bolt is not bent)


 

As you see here I could not find a long enough pipe to bend the bolt.  The last customer who saw me get the pipe out of the truck asked me three times if I know what I am doing!



 

I cant stress enough if the blade guide arm is tight, make small adjustments and recheck often. It takes me time to do this adjustment if the blade guide arm bolt mounting metal got bent from the saw head and blade coming in contact with the cant or log. Get your manual out and study draw pictures what ever you need to do to "think". It is common sense. If you adjust this and the blade guide arm comes loose you need to re tighten and start over.

You should also check the blade guide arm for forward and backward adjustment.  No pictures here. Move the rollers out an in on the adjustment bolts with the nuts forward and back of the rollers.

Once we have this done we will move to the deflection adjustment.



 

Raise the blade 1/4" from the bed rail. This picture shows we are 18 1/4"



  

This picture show the idle side is 18 5/16" measuring from the stationary bed rail to the blade.

Blade guide rollers assemblies. This mill had the 3/8" bolts for the adjustment. I up graded to the 7/16 bolts. I almost always dissemble the roller assemblies after I wash with the pressure washer. The pictures below are from a different mill. I think I may have used them on another post.



  

# 1 is the spacers on the roller. These wear! and can make your day bad. They are only a few $ so I replace them with roller change.
# 2 the shaft can also get worn if you get a bearing that fails and spins on the axle or shaft. Watch out.

White felt and gray felt. Lube with ATF. I feel if you would lube these once a week the bearing would last longer. If the mill sits for a long time you will see more bearing failures because of internal bearing rust.   




  

Here is the assembly assembled. I like to check the lube mizer fittings and clean all the holes from soap, rust or what ever crud gets in there.




  

Idle side assembled. You can see the larger bolts for the deflection adjustment.

You will need to set the blade height at 18 1/4 and 18 5/16"  Remove the blade tension and install the blade guide rollers. Install the blade and tighten to 2800. Track the blade. Set the shoulder clearance 1/16 " on drive side and 1/8" on the idle side. With the rollers touching the blade measurement from bed to blade should be 18" on the drive side and 18 1/16" on the idle side. If not adjust the roller assembly to pull the blade down ( or up) Check the blade tilt with the LTBGAT Blade guide alignment tool. ( Sorry no picture)  adjust the blade so it it the same measurement from front to back. If the deflection changes then you need to keep adjusting so you are at 18" on the drive side and 18 1/16 on the idle side. The blade tilt should be the same with the tool LTBGAT.

Last thing measure from the drive side of the blade to the bed rail. Check the bottom tooth. Then check the scale pointer. You can now adjust the pointer so it reads the same as the measurement.


I have a few more pictures of maintenance items performed on this mill. More to come.

If you have questions please ask. I will fill in the blanks.






Marty

[redprospector]

Now that's what I call a cheater pipe!  :D

[dustintheblood]

Excellent post  8) 8)

You did however forget to post details of how to adjust the "Anti-Saw-Into-The-Vertical-Post-After-12hour-Days" system  ;)

[MartyParsons]

[quoteYou did however forget to post details of how to adjust the "Anti-Saw-Into-The-Vertical-Post-After-12hour-Days" system ][/quote]


Bright Lights! I bet it is Dark up North this time of year.

I just put away a mill and had the tractor lights on the " Vertical-Posts" The last cut was at 10" . I did not see any sparks.

M

[AnthonyW]

Will you have a series on adjusting the backstops?

I went through the adjustments on my LT35. At the suggestion of my father, I tried using the Wixey digital angle gauge from my tablesaw. It seems to have worked. I will find out Friday. The advantage was that I could leave the gauge on the backstop and adjust the vertical pivot until it read 90 degrees. Even though the backstop was not perfectly vertical, after I tightened the bolt and moved it to vertical, it was still at 90 degrees.

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
  I will get some pictures of the side supports. I am not sure what the angle gauge you are referring to. Just a reminder that the side supports are tilted in at the top about 1/16".

The forward feed chain on this mill needed a little adjustment.



 

As you see below you can take a link out so the adjuster does not stick out. This mill did not need any links removed but here is the tool I keep with me just in case.



 

Kind of sloppy with the never seize. I did wipe it after I took the picture.  I think this was about 10 pm and I was running out of energy.

If you see the chain also has some rust. I see some of the chains in the field are real bad. The manual says use ATF. I use some type of penetrant  to loosen it up then use the ATF.



 

Hydraulic contact strip. This one needs attention!

 

  

Here is after some TLC.




 

DONT for get the bottom rail while you are here! ( above picture.) There is a ground brush that make a connection here this must be clean and shiny. You should also check the ground brush under the battery for good connection and clean the bracket that holds it. Sometimes there is bark or sawdust there preventing it from contacting the rail.


Here are some tools used to make it easier. I also have a small wire brush in the tool box that works well.



 

M

[beenthere]

The manual says use ATF. I use some type of penetrant  to loosen it up then use the ATF.

Seems a perfect place for Blue Creeper to reap its benefits.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I'll say it again, I likes the pictures Marty. This whole thread will be a "saver".