OldJarheads Milling Thread...

[Chuck White]

I sawed a couple of Apple logs a few years back!

Saws pretty easy, didn't have any issues!

It takes a lot of years to create an Apple log!   :P

Growth rings are tight!

[OlJarhead]

I have to admit I hope this continues!  Had another potential customer reach out to me about a half dozen walnut logs he has and wants to have milled up

Nothing beats having a mill except having people book you to do milling for them ;)

[Dave989]

Oljarhead, I am wondering if you are advertising your business or is it word of mouth? If you are advertising what method and where? I am trying to expand my sawmill business and looking for other avenues other then craigslist.

[OlJarhead]

Oljarhead, I am wondering if you are advertising your business or is it word of mouth? If you are advertising what method and where? I am trying to expand my sawmill business and looking for other avenues other then craigslist.

I do.  I use CL and FB.  If you use FB do a search on 'Buy sell and trade' in your area and you will probably find sites for each city around you (or in my case 'town')....it's a good resource.  I also do 'Forest Owner Field Days' for the local University Extension Office / Forester.  I bring the mill (no charge of course) and show people what a portable mill can do.  The forester might then pass on the word (he has)...and I use WM's Pro Sawyer network and a few others.

Honestly I quit doing it a few years ago and just did my own milling but then this year got tired of not being able to do jobs for people who had 30-50 logs all too big for my smaller mill and bought the Lt40HD and haven't looked back ;)

[OlJarhead]

No the best picture but this is the apple a customer wants milled.

I found some logs about 4 to 6 feet long and 12 inches in diameter or so and a lot of checking on the ends.  I'm not sure there is much there worthwhile but suggested he pull out the best logs, trim them, get rid of the branches etc and we could do a 4hr min to see what we can get out of them.

He milled a couple boards with a chainsaw and made a beautiful bar top with them but I'm worried that the year they've sat out in the sun (sometimes with water on them) that they've checked beyond much use.

[OlJarhead]

So after finding the jam nuts on the drive belt tensioner to be too close to use standard wrenches I bought two Proto thin wrenches for the job and added them to my tool box.  I also bought a nice small magnetic nuts and bolts holder to use on the mill while working on something so I don't lose nuts and bolts

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
   You can adjust the lower nuts. But most times I just adjust the top nut and the long hex assembly. Engage the Auto Clutch, Loosen the top nut. Disengage the clutch turn the long hex assembly by  hand. Engage the clutch, check belt tension with gauge. Tighten the nut while holding the long hex with a wrench.
I will see if I can find a picture.
Marty

[OlJarhead]

Makes sense.  Thanks.

I finally figured out which 'throttle spring' to check the throttle on after adjusting belt tension 

The book wasn't very clear but I got it sorted, checked the linkage and threw out my back somewhere this afternoon.

Fun stuff.

Milling tomorrow.

[OlJarhead]

Well CRAP!!!! 

Seems my alternator quit on a job!  I was milling away and thinking "gee the mill seems to be drawing back slowly today for some reason" (didn't seem to think why just yet) and though "maybe it's just me"......

Then I noticed the hydraulics were running sorta slow too....hmmmmm

After 4 hours of milling and 1200bf milled for the customer (yup, but let's be honest here, milling 4x4's, 4x6's, 8x8's and 2x4's doesn't take that long) the mill just wouldn't run the hydraulics.

After much messing around and after licking myself for not bringing along the multimeter I took OUT of my toolkit the day before (where is the hammer on the head emoticon?) the customer brought one out and the battery was down to 10.9v!!!!!  CRAP!  We checked at the alternator too and it wasn't putting out.  When the mill sat not running for several minutes the battery would bounce back to 11.4v but as soon as I fired up the motor it would drop to 11.3 and hold there as long as I didn't put a draw from the hydraulics on it.

So I packed up, billed the customer for the 4 hours of milling prior to the alternator/battery debacle and headed home wishing WoodMizer was open on Saturdays....now how long to get it fixed/replaced???

On a side note the customer was expecting a lot bigger bill from me :D and since I told him I would not charge my mobile setup and delivery fee if he wants me back to finish the job he said "yes!  We'll have you back for sure!"

On another side note I wacked the side supports AGAIN! and hit the log clamp (skimmed it really).  I think I was just too pre-occupied with the mill shutting down on me and I should have stopped before getting into the last log but I was being stubborn and thinking I could keep going if I just....heck I don't know.

So ya, that sucked.

Oh but the umbrella was cool

[Dad2FourWI]

Easy to side-tracked on one problem and make some new ones.....  >:(   >:(

Still, sounds like a pretty good day.... beats 4 hours behind the desk!   :D

I liked your comment on the "magnetic buts and bolts holder"... great idea! - I wish I would have seen that a bit sooner.... :-[

Cheers,
-Dad2FourWI

[Magicman]

 

 
You also need one of these magnets to find stuff that is dropped/lost in the sawdust.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Hey Oldjarhead

The alternator is a weak spot on the LT40s but it is very easy and not costly to fix.

I have posted quite a bit of info on here re the alternator. The one that is currently on my mill has 800 ish + hours and going strong.

First thing is get a proper alternator belt UNLESS wood mizer has upgraded the OEM belt, which was a fractional HP belt not designed for the heat and load an alternator delivers. I blew 3 alternators in the first 700 hours. I did all my mods and haven't blown one since.

Here is a belt from NAPA that work extremely well. That one has 800 ish hours and counting. Not cheap but well worth it. 


 

The next thing that helped a lot was a 1/2 inch smaller pulley on the alternator. This helped mostly with moving more air to help the alternator run cooler. I also added computer heat sinks to mine and got my alternator running under 200 degrees on a hot day under heavy sawing.

That alternator is likely a Delco CS130 105 Amp. If you search I have posted a LOT of info and resource links to address this issue. If you can get a Wilson industrial rebuilt you will be very happy with it. 
 

[Chuck White]

Take the alternator to your nearest "Auto Electric" shop and have it rebuilt.

When you can swing it, get a new alternator and you'll have a spare!

[Ga Mtn Man]

Fortunately, OJH's mill is under warranty.  I think WM will be wanting the old one back.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Fortunately, OJH's mill is under warranty.  I think WM will be wanting the old one back.

Yes that is probably true GaMtn man.

The heat factor is what caused all 3 of mine to blow. 2 were not worth re-buliding they were so fried. Cooling was the single most important issue on mine and since I addressed that issue, no more problems. The last one that blew was running at about 340 to 360 degrees on a hot day and now runs around 180 to 200 degrees.

Belt and pulley probably did about 80 % of the fix.

[OlJarhead]

Do you have a thread on cooling the alternator?  Is it in the useful mods thread?

[Gearbox]

OJH heat is almost always the reason . If you can put a maintainer on the battery when sitting idle . An alternator will maintain the load but doesn't like to maintain and charge back up a low battery

[OlJarhead]

OJH heat is almost always the reason . If you can put a maintainer on the battery when sitting idle . An alternator will maintain the load but doesn't like to maintain and charge back up a low battery

I'll have to charge the battery back up if it didn't charge from the 90 mile drive home from the jobsite but in the end the alternator has to keep the battery charged and provide the power to drive the hydraulics at idle.  If it can't do that it's too small to begin with.

If heat is killing it than WM has to find a cure for that or they will get a bad name associated with the LT40 and others using this setup....after all, who wants a mill that has to have the alternator replaced every 50 hours?

[Bandmill Bandit]

Look up the woodmizer alternator issues thread and there is some stuff in the useful sawmill mods too.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks for all the input!  I've fixed the mill!  8)

As I mentioned in the alternator thread it was just the exciter wire (goes to the battery light in the control panel) that was loose.  Seems it must have been a little loose from when they showed me the guts of the panel at the shop and only just finally came all the way off this weekend.  Stuck it back on and the alternator went back to charging

Too bad I didn't know all this then but I'm a little wiser now ;)

[Seavee]

Good info, Now I'll keep that in mind . All this stuff helps if you can remember it. Glad you got it worked out.

[WV Sawmiller]

Eric,

   Glad you are back in business. Its amazing sometimes how something so simple can shut you down. I give the WM and other mill customer support guys due credit for their patience dealing with frustrated customers. They are pretty dang good at systematically walking you through the different possible problems till they find the problem.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Yes Eric that is one that i forgot to mention. Mine is has a spot of solder on it. so it stays put.

[OlJarhead]

Good idea on the spot of soldier....funny thing is it was the customer who sent me the link to WM's Battery and Alternator testing...and I didn't realize it at the time!

[Bandmill Bandit]

That is pretty cool. Thats kinda customer you want to keep for sure.