My LM2000 Has a hunch back??

The WoodButcher · 11-02-2007, 03:05 PM

Hi everybody, It's been a spell. I have been real busy lately sawing 6"x6"x18' red & white oak posts for a customer. Things were going fine and all of a sudden the post I was working on started showing an 1/8 inch out of square. At first I thought it might be stress in the log, so I threw it off the mill and started on another one. Same thing,...... Then I checked the mill for level and behold somehow I now have a hump in the middle of my mill that you can see with out a string line. I have no clue how this happened, I haven't had anything hit the mill or dropped any logs on it. Also had I dropped a log on it, it wouldn't make a hump ??? I broke the mill down to roadready and started over again. I leveled the mill to 100% level and ran my stringline and the hump is still there. This is really getting the better of me, nothing happened to cause this. The blade is level with the bunks so I think I am going to have to losen the bolts on the frame, straighten & retighten again. My biggest question is how did this happen? It was cutting fine then it wasn't Looking for ideas guys?

gator · 11-02-2007, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by The WoodButcher

The blade is level with the bunks so I think I am going to have to losen the bolts on the frame, straighten & retighten again. My biggest question is how did this happen? It was cutting fine then it wasn't Looking for ideas guys?

Vibration??? I know absolutely nothing about sawmills but I was going to say that a hump, to me, could only be caused by pressure on each end (in the case of a sawmill frame - tremendious pressure) or the bolts being loose. I am sure that the frame sees a ton of vibration. When you retighten the bolts would a bit of locktite type sealer be useful?

George

Travis Porter · 11-02-2007, 05:24 PM

Could it be from the cooler weather?

The WoodButcher · 11-02-2007, 06:30 PM

Hi gator & Travis Porter, Both are good thoughts, I might put some locktight on when I retighten it. The cooler weather might have a little to do with it but it's a little more than I think that would cause. Thanks for your input. Starting to think I'm gonna have to rebuild it from the ground up.

JackLeg · 11-02-2007, 10:26 PM

Hey, Randy. Have you asked those guys over in Albemarle (WM) what they think might be the cause or if they've ever heard of this before?

jeff... · 11-02-2007, 10:58 PM

I think there is a lot of bolting things together with a Lumber Mate, isn't there? Logs are heavy and steel is steel, with most things connected by nuts and bolts, you may find yourself tweaking it from time to time. Mine has so many adjustments, I could spent hours wrenching on it. I mainly make sure the bed is level end to end, bunks are square to the dogs and the blade guides are adjusted within tolerance to the bunks, then set my indicator to the rulers. I don't mess much with the head tilt, but I do make sure the head rollers are adjusted tight enough to the roller bars which are welded to the frame.

I doubt you have a bent frame if that's what your worried about, if so any good machine shop will be able to straighten it for you. One thing you may want to check is your frame flex with a big ole log on it. Make sure you don't have any weak spots in the steel like a stress crack or loose bolts. Stress cracks can be welded and loose bolts tightened, bend frame members can be replaced or straightened. So no worries man, any mill is just a big bucket of bolts and a lot of steel, Like any other machine it's going to require maintance from time to time. The more you run it the more it will need to be maintained. There may even come a day when you have to do a little welding on it and just wait till you get enough hours on it and things start wearing out, like bearings and seals. Consider it part of routine maintance and the cost of doing business, factor in your time, parts and the cost of maintance into the price of your product and you'll cover yourself without much surprises.

I have to admit, I learned my lesson the hard way. Lets just say a broken drive side shaft caused by a piece of yard tree log trash buried deep in a ole hickory log was no picnic to repair...

Thanks

The WoodButcher · 11-03-2007, 12:19 PM

Hi Jeff, I can get the mill fixed thats not a real big deal. I just for the life of me can't figure how this happened right in the middle of sawing a log? I think I have the mill fixed now, I got that cant square now and I'm gonna roll another log on today and give it try. All my log post are showing square everything is level and the hump is within a 1/16th according to a stringline. I guess I might be a bit of a perfectionest but that 1/16th drives me crazy. It's really more like a 1/32 Anyhow I'll be back later to report how it works now. I pull maintance on my mill at every blade change and service the mill every 40 hours. I know the oil doesn't need to be changed that offten but I also know it won't hurt it any.

William Roscoe · 11-03-2007, 04:14 PM

Randy, I'm sure you have descovered by now that mills break down and after a few years of running one, you will pretty much know how everything works and how to fix it and how to fix it even better when it breaks again. The legs that hold the track off the ground get pushed into the ground similar to the way a train pushes down the track everytime it rolls over it. Occasionally, one leg might get pushed down slightly more than the next one and over time this could bend your track like what you described if the leg in the middle is on slightly harder ground. With sawmilling it's trial and error most of the time anyway. Also, with the wood drying, don't sweat a 1/16". Next week it's going to have different dimensions anyway.

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