wm4000 head rig

[red oaks lumber]

earlier this year we made a rather large expansion in the greenend of our business. the main work horse is a wm 4000 headrig following down stream is a wm eg 300 edger.
 the new shop has been in full production for alittle over 3 months. i have just under 400 hrs. on the mill already with a total of 212,000 b.f. sawed.i run mw 7 /39 turbo bands which is a wood eating son of a gun but, iv'e has 70 bands that broke in the weld. wm has replaced them but now i'm a little gun shy every blade i put on not knowing when or if more will break. has anyone else been having problems?
 the best feature of my mill is it has a real time horsepower digital readout usage. i will say most mills are being under fed. don't be afraid to push your mill.

[John B]

Hi Red Oaks,
I stepped up to a much larger mill and have run about 100K through it.

My mill is no where as fancy as yours; but I'm running big power, high tension on the blade, and cutting at 70FPM+ on ALL cants under 16" White Pine, White Oak, it does not matter.

I have never tried the 7/39 WM blades, and I have never run a WM4000.

I have run blades from several different manufactures, and when you are pushing a big mill to the limits, the band is the weak link.

In 100K, I have broken about 2 dozen bands, most of them at the weld, not that far off from where you are.

I still cringe thinking about the sound, but I''ll never go back to a 20 or 30 HP gas engine, and belted bandwheels.

[backwoods sawyer]

Congratulation to both

and belted bandwheels.

Been regretting changing to belted wheels myself, Mill came with solid wheels but they developed a crack around the balance holes, went to belted. I run a diesel wiper, WM belts unravel the orange belts work much better but cost twice as much and every broken band takes chunks out.
Been getting two-three sharpening and they crack up out of the WM 10* Opted for the more spendy WM flex bands and 4 out of 10 snapped on the first run cutting WRC, yah getting gun shy a bit and due to order another stack of those orange sling shots (belts) along with more saws and reweld another finger back in to help contain the saws a bit better, I like to hear the little diesel run with a little load and the dust shoot should be floating.
Had one truck load of logs eat up six saws and four belts.

[red oaks lumber]

john b
 what brand and type of blades do you run? i have sample blades coming from kasco
 i run at 75 sfm and your right the band is the weak link

b.w
wm has been having problems in the band department for awhile now. alot of sawyers are switching away from wm atleast until they get the problems solved

[John B]

I have primarily been running Dakin Flathers blades .055" x 1-1/2" x 229".

http://www.dakin-flathers.com/product/Portable-Mill-and-Resaw-Blades.aspx

I tried a box of Kasco blades as well with about the same results.

[red oaks lumber]

where do you get those blades here in the us? the "ripper 37" is kind of intriguing to me. what price range are they?

229" long band,what brand of mill are you running? mine is only 196"
 you have tried kasco,they compare to dakin flathers? or more like wm

[John B]

I have a Logmaster LM-4 and I have been buying the D-F blades from Logmaster. With shipping my blades run about $45.00 each.

They do out perform other brands, and if they do not break and you don't hit metal, they are worth the money.

You get about 75% out of Kasco blades, And pay about 65% . If you are cutting wood with tramp metal, they are the way to go.

D-F has a distributor network in the US.

I continue to buy my bands from LM/Major Gibson, because he has always been straight with me.

[John B]

Should have said LM / Herman Gibson.

[John B]

Red Oaks,
Can you use your horsepower readout to tell when a band is getting dull? Does the HP/ Amps go up when the blade is dull?

I have a hard time telling when my blade is getting dull.

[red oaks lumber]

yes it will definatly show more power draw as it begins to dull, it will use 5-6 more hp for the same feed speed. iv'e noticed by the time it shows a wavy cut (hardwoods) it's already drawing 8 or more extra hp with this info i try to change blades before i see a wavy look, i'm thinking at that point the heat and stress will really start taking its toll on the band.

[John B]

I can not cut wavy lumber with my mill. I watch the sawdust as it comes out of the chute. When it gets fine with "stringers" hanging off the cant, I change the blade.

I wish I had an early warning sign.

[furu]

I can not cut wavy lumber with my mill. I watch the sawdust as it comes out of the chute. When it gets fine with "stringers" hanging off the cant, I change the blade.

I wish I had an early warning sign.

Does the "stringers" technique vary with species or is it pretty much reliable with all species?  The reason I ask is, with Doug Fir I can get "stringers" with a new band and moderately coarse sawdust.  I do know that it helps eliminate the "stringers" if I bump up my "set" a little bit?

[xlogger]

I probably go threw too many blades. I sharpen and set my own and do a fair job. The way I look at it is if I think they are getting dull I change them right away. Some boards are worth more than the cost of the blades. I use Kasco blades and have been happy with them.

[John B]

Does the "stringers" technique vary with species or is it pretty much reliable with all species?  The reason I ask is, with Doug Fir I can get "stringers" with a new band and moderately coarse sawdust.  I do know that it helps eliminate the "stringers" if I bump up my "set" a little bit?

Some logs will produce "stringers" even with a new blade. I try to watch the difference in the sawdust and stringers as the blade dulls. When the sawdust gets finer and the stringers get more pronounced, it's time to change the blade.
This is probably not the best method, but it kinda works most of the time.

[4x4American]

How are ya liking that 4000 ROL?

[red oaks lumber]

it's a good mill. the bugger will eat the wood. been grade sawing 8'  4/4 aspen the last couple of weeks i'm ave. about 5500 b.f in 8 hrs. took awhile figuring out which blades work best in frozen wood.
 red oak logs the bi-metal 10's work the best and leaves no sawdust on the lumber. the 4 deg work ok just slower and leave alot of dust behind
 aspen logs the 7 deg.turbo works the best and leaves no sawdust on the lumber

[4x4American]

nice.  do you have any videos of the mill running?

[bandmiller2]

I have noticed a sharp band on my mill will have an evil hiss when cutting when that changes the band is starting to loose its keen edge. I have a Baldor 15hp three phase motor and can hear much more than mills with ether gas or diesel. Also I can hear increased load on the motor. When you reach the end of a cut and the band wants to pull the board with it is also an indication of a dulling band. Frank C.

[4x4American]

I thought that the pulling board meant that the blade was rising in the cut?

[Houston Alford]

i thought it was a sign of stress in the log causing the board to bow up in the middle and press down on both ends causing all the weight to rest on the moving blade making the board be pulled sideways . 

[bandmiller2]

Milling is half science and half "seat of your pants" board pulling is one of many indications. If you have been cutting with all the boards resting on the cant straight then after several logs the band starts to pull them its an indication of dulling. I must admit to leaving a band on until it starts to give problems. Being an old retired phart I usually just cut in the mornings and when I break for lunch change the band even if it was still cutting well. I sharpen my own with the Cats and just kiss the tooth with the wheel for a keen edge. Big powerfull mills stress the bands, they should have wider bands but then you will reach a point where they need to be flattened serviced by a sawsmith. When I ran the LT-70 we would get 2 or3 sharpenings then bang. Bands are a consumable and if you look at the pile of lumber you cut their worth it. Frank C.