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Author Topic: Sawmill Modifications  (Read 16455 times)

Offline Kirk Allen

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Sawmill Modifications
« on: February 19, 2008, 03:44:49 PM »
What modifications have you made to your mill?

These are pics of one of my mods on my WM lt40.  It helps get those short customer logs onto the mill.





Had to trim the inside portion of the bottom supports so they came together properly when stowed.




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Offline Frank Pender - AKA "Tail Gunner"

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2008, 06:34:09 AM »
Grat idea, Kirk.  It would also help keep the two forks from getting bent out of shape.  I can;t do that with the loaders on my MD, as they each lift individually, and if hooked together would limit much of the flexability of each arm, forloading different lengths of logs.

Offline Kirk Allen

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2008, 07:40:17 AM »
Its made a world of difference on the short logs.  I still have to come up with another mod to prevent them from falling down in front of the tire.  My thought was to put a peice at a 45 degree anlge from the main round support over to the loader arm in front of the tire.  That would prevent them from falling down there and it shouldnt be in the way of anything.

I will get right on it! :D ;D
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Offline John Bartley

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2008, 06:54:48 PM »
Not sure if it's a modification or an accessory, but here's my home made log loading winch:

Link : http://oldradio.ca/MiscProjects/LogWinch/logwinch.html

A pic (click the thumbnail)

cheers eh?

« Last Edit: March 12, 2008, 07:02:43 PM by KEA »

Offline Mark

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2008, 06:41:15 PM »
here's mine......i'm not surprised all the mod's have something to do with loading or the lack thereof for loading....I stole 'er copied this concept from T.A.Schmid........My Winch Loader Turner.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2008, 07:10:42 PM by KEA »

Offline Mark

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2008, 06:59:42 PM »
John,thats really cool.....,I bought my mill and spent every dime I had on it knowing I didn't have a way to load.My mill is portable, meaning ,No ground track ,my track sits above the permanent axle at 28" from the ground.Anyway,when I started searching for a solution to loading besides a Bobcat or something like that I couldn't believe the lack of info and pic's on the web.I found nada,nothing zilch,zero except for a coupla vague pic's at T.A.Schmid.I asked Arnold at T.A.Schmidt for some pics and I got them(thankyou Arnold)and the outcome is what ended up on my mill.If I woulda seen your pic's I wonder what my outcome woulda been?I mean,I still had to fabricate and weld 'er up and stuff,attach the winch,hope it worked rather than flip my mill over or something.But thats really cool,simple and albeit easy to use.I like those ramps too.Mine are 1.5" x 2.5"x 1/4" tubular steel ,pretty much the norm for what I've seen homemade.Yours don't look like they would give much........at all!

Offline joasis

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2008, 08:22:52 PM »
Looks functional to me, Mark. You just pull the winch post out after use?
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Offline John Bartley

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2008, 07:07:38 AM »
Hi ya' Mark,

Thanks for the kind words about the winch. I think that just about any solution that will reduce the workload when it comes to loading the mill is a good solution :laugh:. Mine works ok, but there's lots of room for improvement.

Don't go rushing out to build a set of toothed ramps eh? These ones that I have are bought from the mill manufacturer. When used as designed, using cant hooks to roll a log up, they work well and the teeth give the "bite" necessary to keep the log from sliding down the ramp while you get another lock on the log with the cant hook. When winching a really big log up (not using cant hooks), the teeth get in the way. I'll shortly be building a set of ramps like yours for when we have to load the big stuff with the winch.

cheers eh?

Offline Kirk Allen

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2008, 07:58:50 AM »
The one down side to using a cant hook to load the logs is when you place yourself on the downhill side of the log.  An old sawyer years ago taught me a valuable lesson when he pointed out the dangers of a log coming at you. 

Using the winch seems to be the safest option.  Most of the time I load my trailer by myself and one thing I never do is allow myself to get in a position that the log can come back at me.  Being alone doing this stuff could be a killer because of not being able to get help right away if something did happen.
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Offline Mark

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2008, 02:17:19 PM »
Man,I heard that! I have not been in this business my whole life.Keep in mind 3 yrs. ago I was living a life of surfing and fishing in the rays of West Palm Beach.I am a Finish carpenter by trade w/23 yrs exp. and a custom home builder for 15 yrs.When I moved to The Trail a whole new animal opened up inside me.Woodworking and turning Turkey Calls.Opening day is March 22 in GA. and I'll be there.I live amongst some very experienced farmers and fellers and thats where I put alot of stock.My hands on has been strickly from the past 2-3 yrs.I've been like a sponge soaking up info day in and day out.I've learned so much not because I had to(thats a givin)but I wanted too as well.I'm fascinated everytime I cut into a log.I got alittle bored last week cutting Yellow mineral stained Poplar so I switched to Blk.Walnut.The smell is Hypnotic and addictive to me.I love the stuff.
Now,to answer Jay's question.Yes,I slide it out to allow the mill to cut past it without having to drop it all the time.One thing I woulda done differently and still might is the 2.5"x2.5"x 3/16" tubular steel welded to the bottom of the deck(that the loader telescopes into) shoulda been extended another 6-10 " for the cantilever support of the winch loader.when I pull it out theres only about 3-4" left inside the tube and the winch loader's heavy.This will bother me til the end of time even though it works fine I'm a perfectionist and I believe if we put a man on the moon and built Disney World than I can d*mn sure build a winchloader and leave no room for scrutiny.I can also flip the loader to the other side of the deck if need be....slide it into the same tube from the other side.

 John,I built my ramps from 1.5"x2.5"x1/4" tubesteel.I was looking for 2x3 but settled for this cause we had it.I had some 3000lb waterlogged Poplars on em last week.They sagged alittle but held up fine.What I did not do was attach brackets to the outside rail of the mill deck.I have enough of those busting up my knees and I didn't want to screw up my signage either,so I cut the tips of the ramps on a 15degree angle but left enough steel to heat and bend over to create a hook to hook the ramps over the deck rail so they don't slide and allow me to place anywhere along the rail that I want.They are 10 feet long cause I wanted a gradual incline to help roll those logs easier.I also placed #12 hexheaded selp tapping screws every 10" for traction.The price of steel has tripled in the last year and I can't believe what I have in it now!This is a cool thread,I hope it stays ontop.The creativity expressed here is outrageous and how we ended up sawing wood and not becoming engineers behooves me :laugh:.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2008, 02:36:14 PM by Mark »

Offline John Bartley

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Re: Sawmill Modifications
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2008, 03:04:04 PM »
  Most of the time I load my trailer by myself and one thing I never do is allow myself to get in a position that the log can come back at me.  Being alone doing this stuff could be a killer because of not being able to get help right away if something did happen.

Oh yeah !!!  I understand this completely. In my early twenties I spent a couple of years as a gold miner in Northern Ontario (Pamour and Dome Mines - Timmins, Ont), and I saw enough "accidents" to make me stop and think before I do something stupid. Thirty years later, I have all my fingers, all my toes, both eyes, both ears and very little hair  :laugh:, and I attribute my good health to an extra large portion of cowardice in my personality :laugh:.  I don't roll cants by myself unless I can hold them with one hand easily while I reset the cant hook.

Good point to make - thanks !!

John