Without support from Hudson or the dealer, feeling frustrated, feeling abandoned, but still needing the thing to work, we started trying our own solutions. Although we were able to eventually get the manufacturer and dealer back into the mix, we decided to tackle the leveling problem with a vengeance.
We had to find a way to take the crown out! The only way we could think of required a significant materials expense and a trip to the supply house for some serious steel. Although this is entirely uncalled for, the product should work w/o throwing extra steel at it, we saw this as the last option. However, we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money on the type and size of steel it would take to counter the effects of the 1/4" crowned steel angle iron.
So, I hadn't messed with it in a while, so I pulled it out of the shop, took it to a family friends house, setup and tried to tinker and see if I could get it to cut. It was blatantly obvious that we were going to spend way too much trying to level the unit out in his pasture. Then it was obvious that even if we did get that part handled, that we'd be right where we started. We really needed the material to pull the crown out of the track.
It turned out that our friend had a stack of 3x4 ibeam. We loaded some up and headed back to the house to build the new track frame. Of course this project turned into a portable mill trailer by simply adding an axle and a tongue. The important part of the story is that we were not able to adjust the track and push/pull the crown out by using bolts in the 3x4 ibeam. Although we did end up with VERY straight track and the ability to move the sawmill easily, we did not solve the violent shaking problem.
Once again, in a holding pattern and wishing I'd just left the thing stacked up in the shop...
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