PROS and CONS of the LT40 Woodmizer

The electric over hyd is an issue but a good fix is adding a aux battery to the system.. That way the pump always has good power and you have way less down time. I make a battery box that hangs from the frame and is out of the way. Works great.

You go girl. Very proud of you to do what you do. I was a farm girl and could lift 100 lb. Bags of feed when men were grunting. Gotta love it.

Woodmizer makes a good sawmill but so does cooks, timberking, and baker. I'll always prefer fully hydraulic, fully supported, steel sawmills over a cantilevered head that needs to be set up 1/16in high on the unsupported side of the head. Get profficient at troubleshooting electric issues and keeping your sawmill out of the weather will minimize electrical issues. Also, not a fan of 1.25in blades for production cutting but obviously there a cost savings on the smaller blades vs 1.5 or 2in blades. Additionally I can't say having the dust chute on the operators side was a stellar design move either.

Nice! Picking up an LT40 tomorrow at Carolina Woodmizer... Been waiting a year for it...

To bypass the power strip on your mill (remote option with the plastic link chain ) all you need to do is remove the power strip then run a welding cable from your battery threw the plastic links to the hydraulic pump solenoid. With this setup you can run the hydraulics whenever you want.

Great equipment video !!! Any future buyer would appreciate the pros and cons of this model , patient with video details . I am not a sawyer . On the water line , consider a second outer tube ( clear or not) . The tube over tube , "shield " can then take the travel beating , while keeping the lube line remains safe. 2nd can the water tube line length be shortened , just a little ? One thing I have done over the years is to encourage friends , designers , etc. , new owners of anything ... to "adapt" any part of the equipment to be a better piece of equipment. Safer , faster , lower wear and tear , reduced maintenance , etc. A little more detail on the con part with the hydraulic travel , I would have enjoyed . Manufactures will never think of everything during designs. And small "fixes" can be amazing for , any number of reasons. Consider a full maintenance video series on each of your yard equipment, the whys , why nots , seasonal - suggestions ( like frozen logs take more attention ) . I really enjoy the transparency and quality of your video work and the honest family values. What a wonderful relief your whole family brings , in a world full of uncertainty . Your mom must have lungs like an opera singer , selling and taking orders over the phone everyday . haha. You whole team is a very cool , funny and my goodness , hard working group. Any suggestions are not criticism. Happy to hear the dozer is back in operation !!!!! I appreciate how every tool , in your yard, has many uses , that pay for themselves. Keep having fun .

Nice video. You could fit the lubricant line with braided hose like brake lines or aircraft pressure lines. Probably overkill but you would need to run it through the sawblade to damage it…

My LT40 is a 2014 manual with the exception of the SimpleSet computer for blade height adjustment, so I don't have the issue with electric over hydraulic. I have a front end loader and backhoe to move the logs as needed. I turn the logs with a pv just fine and almost never use the winch for turning. I like my mill a lot and think it is just the right size for me as a solo sawyer. The biggest log I've milled was a 16' pine that was 42" on the small end. I had to do a bit of whittling before it would fit inside the throat. My biggest complaint is the manual jack stands. Worst design ever and gets me grumpy every time I have to set up the mill.

On your ground bar, those burn marks are due to not stopping the mill head before using the hydraulics. If you let the mill head stop moving and then operate the hydraulics with it stationary it won't cause the burn marks on the bar ;)

We have an older LT40 fully manual mill. I can see much of it is similar to your mill. In 2011 we had about 2 1/4 miles of gas pipeline through our property and had a lot of revenue to upgrade the mill. My stubborn uncle 81 yrs old at the time refused to make the change and still saws with the old mill for his enjoyment mostly.

Yes the power pickup strip is a weak link. But with very occasional adjustment to the bronze contact block and very lite sanding of the copper strip once a month you should not be having many problems let alone replacing them.. Not to minimize your problem, but I've owned 5 mills in the past 34 years and I've never replaced a contact strip. Possibly the bronze block is in too close and grinding the copper strip or too loose and it keeps arcing . I would talk to Martie because whatever it is you should not have to replace that strip for at least 4-5k hrs. Water line problem: I noticed your line runs under the blade guides. My line comes in over the top and plugs into the block above and to the right of the roller. I have the high performance guides but I thought they used the same system. Good luck and be safe.

Hello young ladies. I'm a Disable Senior citizen. I would to submit a request to see your youngest Brother in your videos as he is working. He surely reminds me of my youth, working along side my POPS IN THE 60'S until POPS' PASSED AWAY ON DEC, 17 1973. WE DID A LOT OF LAND CLEARING, BACK FILLING, MASONRY, PLUMBING, CARPENTRY- ROUGH & FINISH, ELECTRICAL, AND I SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID ALL PHASES OF CONSTRUCTION. MOST OF ALL I WAS A CURIOS YOUNG MAN GROWING UP. I JUST HAD TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING IF I. CAN. THANK YOU ALL FOR EVEN READING MY REQUEST. I WAS ALSO SHOWING MY ROSIE / wife of 48years YOUR YOUNGEST SIBLING.

There are a few advantages to electric over hydraulic. You don’t need the engine running to move the head. That’s particularly helpful with an engine problem. Hydraulic performance is consistent and not dependent on engine rpm. Hydraulic usage doesn’t impact cutting power available at the moment. Less expensive. But generally, live hydraulics are better.

I started with a Wood Mizer LT27 back in 2003 and upgraded in 2010 to a LT40HD. The first recommendation I have for the operators is to WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING THE BLADES. I have never had a problem with the Contract Strip, but then I never operate the Hydraulics while the Saw Head is in motion. I also never had a problem with the Water Cord after I secured it to the Idle Side Blade Guide with a wire tie. I would keep the factory hose rather than substitute something complex. I did have the small Micro Switch Assembly for the Hydraulic Lever inside the Hydraulic Control Box that turns on the Pump when one of the control levers is moved fail at about 700 hours. A simple repair.

Very interesting. Very well done. I would think the debarker would be a great feature.

I liked the guage that tells you what is going on with the blade. So, at the end of the day it is a big band saw with some great perks and a few draw backs.

The manual engagement is not dependent on electronics....I like that

Another amazing job explaining everything about the sawmill. Hope your feeling better soon. Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours. Keep up the great videos

This was made on my birthday, thank you.

Great video, thanks. You answered many questions that I’m sure many people would ask. It’s a big leap from that machine to the LT70. Honestly, small businesses struggle with justification for more expensive options. There are so many needs that consume any available funds. In my opinion, and I’ve been doing this sawmill thing for over 40 years, the dollars spent on items that make money never disappoint you. That investment will add to the available funds faster than anything, since it is after all the major producer on the property. One pointer for consideration, I would suggest changing the product used in the LubeMizer tank to an actual ‘lubricant’. Water has no lubricating characteristics. It is an effective coolant, but it doesn’t lubricate. An easy example is to consider the chainsaw. (Which bar oil is too thick). Would you consider running your chain as tight as you run your bandsaw strain and feed it as hard as you can while keeping it very tight? During this exercise, would you run water in the bar oil tank? What would happen? I would suggest a very thin hydraulic oil or there are some biodegradable products. Some folks are scared of the cost, but it is well worth it. Either will improve performance over water. How would that chainsaw perform with water in the bar oil tank? Constantly adjusting chain tension and worn bars and poor performance right! That’s impacting your bands now with water in the tank.