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Just wondered if anybody has adapted maybe a secondhand Woodmizer or similar to run on Lucas rails with maybe electric motor power, which would be easier than adapting the Lucas engine.
I have a slabbing attachment but it is quite a bore to change over for a small amount of work plus it is slow and there is more waste. I realise the log could not be as wide as for the chainsaw. I work the Lucas in my yard so 3 phase electric is not a problem as I bring all the timber back from the woods.
The Woodmizer runs on a much narrower gauge than the Lucas. This would mean either the rails would have to be set up much closer together or the span of the Woodmizer would have to be increased to suit the Lucas framework. Neither option makes for good stability.
As you are intending to use the set up in one place, portability is not a requirement so the light weight Lucas rails are not a necessity.
I run two Lucas mills, often on the one set of rails, a swing blade and a dedicated slabber. These are my portable set up. I also have a bandsaw mill, which is about as portable as the Opera House. The rails are a couple of angle irons set on levelled concrete piers poured into inverted plastic 10Ltr buckets with the bottoms cut out. The angle iron rails have a spreader bar bolted to the bottom, horizontal flange of each rail at 1mt centres. Inverted F Log dogs with a sliding log spike are then run on the spreaders to hold the log in position. Works well and cost next to nothing. Can be disassembled for transport but to date I havent had the need. The Lucas' do all the away work.
Thanks for that Rustynail
I love the Lucas swing blade 8" which I bought in 1998 and is a tribute to the machine that it has never failed to perform like new in all this time. Most of my work is floor boards and general building timber and I only need the slabber for the rare times I might find a lovely bit of timber to make a table. Like this bit of Elm. But I would not wish to slab the whole tree as you can see I have cut some 8x8" beams for a fireplace lintel.
I have just bought the planer and sander attachments for the job. Have you used them and do you have any useful hints?
I think that reading your advice, I would be better just sticking to the Lucas slabber attachment and spending my time changing things over with a lot of spanner work!
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The planer and sander work well but, again, as you say, its more spanner work. I prefer to use a stroke sander for slabs after planing with the Lucas planer attachment. Not that the change over between planer and sander is complicated, its not. I just prefer to sand with the grain as most of my finnishing is with oil and cross-grain scratches show up with oil.
Here's how I go about it: Single set of rails with extensions, six inch swing blade set up on one end, dedicated slabber on the other.The reason for a six inch swing blade is because it is light and quick to rotate to cut up to 300mm when needed and it was dirt cheap. When a likely looking grain pattern shows up I go to the slabber, take as many slabs as I would like and then revert back to the swing blade to finish out the log. When it comes to planing and sanding, I never do either on green, sawn timber as it causes extra cracking and splitting to the faces. Therefore, when the time comes to dress material I can fit the planer attachment to the mill and still have the dedicated slabber available should I have logs to break down during the dressing process. It's funny how people always show up with a log that they want slabbed yesterday just when you have alocated a couple of days on the planer.
What would I change? My number of birthdays. This is a young man's game. Slabs don't get any lighter so its nice to be able to run the swing blade down them and reduce to a more manageable width rather than trying to waltz a bark to barker around the paddock, knowing there are more where that one came from. My forklift and loader do the hard stuff these days.
Thanks for that good advice. Now I am three score years and ten, just need some more advice on how to turn the clock back. Did go for a younger model, but she wore me out, bit like pushing the Lucas slabber through a five foot bit of Elm!
Oh no my son! I push the slabber not!:no: A manual boat trailer winch makes life much easier and if I'm feeling real lazy I hook up the recovery winch on my land cruiser with remote control. Then I can sit in the shade with a cool drink, only to be disturbed when I need to drive in a wedge or two.
First attempt was to persuade a pretty young French girl to assist, but she did not think it was the best way to impress a lady!Quote:
Originally Posted by rustynail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMJTvII7xg&feature=youtu.be
So I went down the Rustynail route.....Great minds think alike but I would be interested as to the detail of how you set up the winch
I actually started with a hand winch before going electric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzqLAj63lw&feature=youtu.be
This is my setup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B2RpP8bmzA&feature=youtu.be
From a wench to a winch. I like it. There has to be something in it for them. You cannot expect a self respecting woman to hang about while you pleasure yourself with masculine passtimes. Next you would have had her servicing the car. I bet she swam home rather than waiting for the ferry.
On a more serious note; My setup was much the same as your own. I used two hand winches, one to cut and one to retrieve. When using the electric winch I set the rails and log on a slope so the mill cut up hill under winch power and then returned back by gravity after the winch was set in reverse. I work from a wheel chair, so going back and forth to bring the mill back was a bit of a pain but I still had to make the journey to set the height. My Son is an electrical engineer and I have asked him if he can automate/remote control the height adjusters at a reasonable cost. He is going to have a look when he has the chance. He's good at this sort of s+#t so I look forward to hearing his thoughts.
I watched your vid. No wonder Missy got the tom tits. That is slow going. The blade seems to be throwing dust, not chip. Is it blunt? What is the chain profile? You may be able to improve the cutting rate by better chain selection. I know the British have a bit of an aversion to the French but that was cruel.:D
Standard Lucas chain, but sharpened by me, which could be the reason. Although I do not seem to have trouble with my chainsaw sharpening. In fact the man who helps me had his chainsaw sharpened by a pro shop and he was so displeased with it he asked me to sharpen it and was very happy with the result. I thought that I had matched the file to the skip chain, but some woods seem more difficult than others, especially Elm.
I built a log splitter during Lockdowns here in the UK out of scrap in the yard. My wife was fed up with me mooching around the house so I was kicked out and told to do something constructive. Because I suffer from arthritis in my wrists I find it difficult to carry heavy logs around ,so I set myself the task of bringing a wind blown Ash back to my house in split logs without me doing any lifting until I lifted a small split log out of the box and three yards to the stove
But the thing that may interest you and your son is that I used a wireless remote control to operate, not just the splitter ram , but also the teleboom and the log lift.
Electro hydraulics on the Telehandler meant that a simple 30 dollar remote control replaced the plug on the Telehandler hydraulics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jccwWiVY4C4&feature=youtu.be
you can see the remote control being fitted at about 7.30 mins. May give you some ideas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u04z8B0Domc&feature=youtu.be