youcallthatbig
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Everything posted by youcallthatbig
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Jon, which manufacturer's should I be looking at for producing mills at a comparable cost to the Autotrek? I am intrigued to know just what is available, a German mill would be my 1st choice , but then I have not won the lottery......and what would import duty be rated at?
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The hrs on the clock are a bit meaningless to age ( I know of an autotrek near me, that is only a few months older than mine, but has only done about 1000hrs from new, because it is not used as a commercial venture), from memory, the Army took delivery almost a decade ago, after exhaustive testing they plumped for the Autotrek because of its ability to accurately cut Greenheart, deemed to be the most troublesome species likely to be encountered, albeit with non standard low hook angle, lower pitch, stellite tipped blades.
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its a good price when compared to new, there is 2k in blades, but as ever would you buy something that has been used by the forces....note the bent top beam of the loading arms, that was not done by a log! and without seeing it in person you might wonder what else is not straight?
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I think they had 6 in total..... managed to crash 2 on motorway when collecting from factory in Tiverton(as was) due to weight distribution that they insisted on for transportation below helicopter....... note all the lashing points in photos on ebay.... they also were painted in heat shielding paint!
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uni directional wavering in cut(either high or low, not both) then swage is not even,
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Jon, sounds like the mill is going well, and I agree, maintenance is everything, it sounds like tension or lack of it in the blades, if not that, when did he last change stainless rollers?
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Blades can crack on stenner, wimmer, serrasaw mills too, either blade doctoring not good, blades run too long when dull when still cutting flat, radius in bottom of tooth gullit too small, even too aggressive grit on grinding wheel, and anyway cracks don't need to be terminal to a blade's life, centre punch or weld.....I run blades cut down from a bigger stenner saw, so a second full blades width of weld no problems.
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I would be interested to hear his problems too. 18 years of Autotrek ownership, I think I know the machine fairly well, I might be able to help in some way if he cannot get a satisfactory response from Loglogic, who I have always found very helpful and prompt in supply of parts(if somewhat expensive at times)
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£18 - 24 from me I am afraid, and as an aside , £15 -20 for beech and Sycamore is way too much IMHO..... a large co. near me was selling off KD Sycamore @ £8.00/ ft3 to clear stocks.
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I honestly cannot give you an answer that has a scientific background.....simply that after nearly 20 years milling( and I was advised to do so when I purchased the saw) I have found that cutting top to butt end is more forgiving when cutting across the fibres in any flare to be found on the butt, again the problem is more pronounced when blade is dull, I am so minded ,that if the I can, I will reduce length of log to remove any flare so it negates the effect so the log can go on the cutting deck either way. Tim
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always try to "cut to butt"..............
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Are the woodmizer and Ripper blades the same tooth pitch and hook angle, as well as swage/set as each other? I know that small pitch and swage aligned with higher hook angle on softwood leads to loss of tension in the wide blades on the autotrek when cutting "fluffy" softwoods such as Sequoia/Wellingtonia due to lack of clearance and slow cutting causes heat generation with consequent loss of blade tension, and the difference in densities experienced between hard knots and the relatively soft timber c/w large growth rings from fast growth in the trees I have cut, only highlights the problem, I would suggest that if you sharpen your own blades to try a bigger skip/pitch and decrease the tooth hook angle ( I use 19on S/W and 25* for hardwood on a 2" & 13/4" pitch respectively which might be reduced to 1 1/2" pitch if a really gnarly hedgerow piece is proving to be snatching in the cut)...just what I have found....... Tim
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I tend to shy away from big dia Yew when buying, silica deposits and shake seem to be a matter of course, prefer up to 15-18" max,colour is more uniform, and there also tends to be less mineral/iron stain from trees that have stood for the length of time to achieve 24" dia. Tim
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I am after some SC, but you are too far from me to make it viable I am afraid..... -
Need approx. 100Hft3 in East Anglia,ideally 10ft lengths, min12QG, shake and colour free, pm me if you can help. Many thanks in advance, Tim
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if clean and fresh..it will cut like soap, it's not the cutting that's the problem, keeping it in one piece whilst drying.....that's another issue
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Big J,interesting results,not enough heat or air flow or a combination of the two? I use something similar to your setup(insulated container c/w dehumidifier+ heat),but I cannot imagine how crates of split logs could be dried uniformly without really high temps to effectively bake the logs, but then what about case hardening ?not sure what "log pro" do, to achieve the results they claim in the time scale quoted..... but it sure would not be suitable for boards, so I can empathize with your last comment
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Autotrek ...small,lol.... maybe in your eyes, but side by side , I know which I think would cut more in a day compared to any woodmizer,or any other American originated machine, cutting logs up to 40" dia, but that's just my opinion, all millers will have their own, but Big J, how on earth did you live with those repair bills quoted with the 'mizer??? And if 50k is deemed a lot for a "small" Autotrek, how about the costs for any of the Serra or Wimmer saws of comparable size? From what I can see, 64K 2nd hand seems to be going rate so everything is relative.
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dry would be desirable yes.... but then it would need to have been cut for about 8-9 years to achieve it, so ask the question and look the person in the eyes when you do so.............hopefully you will get an honest reply as to when it was cut, failing that work on the assumption that 12" width of oak will shrink 1/2" when drying from green to kilned, so with 9"widths, anything up to 3/8th" if installed when green , or 3/16th" (5mm) away from plastered edge assuming shrinkage is uniform on all faces. I can supply green, cards on the table.£74.00+vat ex works near bungay, Suffolk.
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@RootsHallcwms88048quottrimmingoutpriortoloadinghavingsplitthetreelengthwise..jpg.933cb918a414c4b9ff3700b5d4e71fcb.jpg)
From the album: odds 'n' sods
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trees in various states
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From the album: odds 'n' sods
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From the album: odds 'n' sods
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From the album: odds 'n' sods
@RootsHallcwms88048quottrimmingoutpriortoloadinghavingsplitthetreelengthwise..jpg.933cb918a414c4b9ff3700b5d4e71fcb.jpg)
