Building my own sawmill

[tuolumne]

I am in early design stage for a homemade sawmill. I would like to power the mill using tractor hydraulics (JD3520 power beyond) to save on buying another engine, and to keep the volume down. PTO power would mean stationary cutter head and moving logs; the hydraulics would allow a moving cutter head and stationary log is seems far better.

Specs: 8.6 gpm and 2500 psi available. I assume this is at rated engine RPM and I would like to figure out what the output is at lower engine RPMs

Questions:
The hydraulics need to perform two functions; driving the band wheels, and driving the head along the track. Can some kind of spooler split hydraulic flow to keep it constant for the band wheels?

 

[Egon]

What about placing the logs?

 

[J_J]

How about a valve with a priority circuit.

The priority circuit could power the band saw, and the excess flow would power the track.

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-4158-5&catname=hydraulic

 

[AKKAMAAN]

I think you should look into a, straight from PTO, mechanical powered cutting unit. Run the rest off hydraulics. That way you can focus maximum power where it is needed the most, the cutting.

If you are still planning on hydraulic cutting, I would advice dual pumps, one large for cutting and one smaller for the rest...

 

[wdchyd]

I think you should look into a, straight from PTO, mechanical powered cutting unit. Run the rest off hydraulics. That way you can focus maximum power where it is needed the most, the cutting.

If you are still planning on hydraulic cutting, I would advice dual pumps, one lrage for cutting and one smaller for the rest...

X 2......:thumbsup:

 

[J_J]

tuolumne,

Are you talking PTO hydraulic pump, or using the PTO drive shaft to power the band saw. You should look at your tractor HP to see how large a PTO pump you can run if that is your choice. You could use a combination of pumps and hyd motors to power everything.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

required power should be determined by cutting dept (dimension of logs) and cutting speed....I am sure there are "rules of thumb" about this among saw mill pro's....try to check out the web for band saw mill forums/QA sites...
Here is one for a circular saw...

 

[kennyd]

Specs: 8.6 gpm and 2500 psi available. I assume this is at rated engine RPM and I would like to figure out what the output is at lower engine RPMs

Pressure will constant, flow is basically linear. So at 1/2 of the rated PTO RPM you'd have about 4.3 GPM.

My gut felling is that you will not have near enough flow to properly power this machine.

If you really want to power it hydraulically, then use a PTO powered pump and keep it isolated from the tractors system. That is the way these Hakki Firewood Processors operate, a friend of mine has one.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

required power should be determined by cutting dept (dimension of logs) and cutting speed....I am sure there are "rules of thumb" about this among saw mill pro's....try to check out the web for band saw mill forums/QA sites...
Here is one for a circular saw...

Try this forum for Saw mills

 

[tuolumne]

What about placing the logs?

I am planning an inclined loading ramp that can hold 8-10 logs. I'll need to disconnect the tractor to load up again. I'll probably want a break at that point anyway!