Hi Gmason et all:
Nice looking contraption!
the boss and I have looked into building our own. as we have excellent shop and build all kinds of stuff.
the basic principal behind the blade staying on the tires is a principal that I forget the name of but the tires have a CROWN when inflated to pressure. which is a shape that the blade will try to roll UP onto and stay on the highest spot. that means the blade will roll to the center of the tire, unless the tire wears off the peak then you will have to over inflate it some to maintain the donut shape. others use large sheels with a rubber band vulconized on them which has a built in crown rather than inflating the tires over pressure.
anyhow all in all a good job.
p.s. you should lay you're wood FLAT as soon as possable even if it is stacked on top of each other with out the air spaces. letting it set for a few hrs like the one photo shos is enough to put a twist that may never come out when it is dry.
use some spacers
cut down so they are all the same thickness. and space each pile appart with air gaps so the log planks will dry evenly. there is also a lot of products that will help prevent checking and splitting and is only applyed to the ends of the freash
cut boards. from what I'm told if you are prepping them for later use as finished lumber (planed to dim.) then the end coating is almost required to keep the good board feet up.
Mark M [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]