Those ratcheting handles and the spring on the mobility kit wheel are the only components of the 14 twelve that I think deserve a rating of "poorly mated to this tool" relative to their overall quality. Now I understand what really good ratcheting handles cost and once a supplier got through adding margins onto his cost, good ratcheting handles would cost us probably something like $75 added to the price of the tool, maybe more. IMO, we would be better off as users of the 14 twelve to hunt up either different ratcheting handles or apply something onto the trunnion bolts that does the job of holding them without actually being a handle....maybe wing nuts or big nuts that we could wrench on. So I am not unhappy with Laguna's decision really other than to say, ratcheting really does not give you much in that application. I would have preferred a higher quality fixture that did not ratchet if that is what it took to get to a price point. I would still have the option to get something that ratchets if I wanted it.
As for the mobility kit front wheel assembly. our poster above who tells us that he actually can't get the tool to stand firmly on its feet....that one bothers me. As I said, in my case, I can get the feet fully engaged with the floor. I just can't get the wheel fully disengaged from the floor. In my case I guess the weight of the saw itself prevents the wheel from causing enough interference. I agree.....if I could not get the tool firmly on its feet because of the darned wheel assembly, I would think that a problem. I do think a good deal of that slop can be taken out of the assembly. There are a fair number of nylox nuts on this tool. I am not sure if there are nylox nuts on the internals of the wheel assembly. There are not any on the bracket for the wheel. That could be an issue. But I really think it is sloppy because there is a spring in there that is just not up to snuff. Whereas the spring on the upper wheel tensioning assembly is a very good choice for our saw, I am inclined to think the slop in the wheel assembly will ultimately be traced to a weak spring. If I was really thinking straight when I had the wheel assembly off of the pedestal, I should have at least tried to find a different spring for it. That said, it would not have been easy to find a proper spring at the drop of a hat and it would have surely slowed up the assembly of the saw.
While operating the pedal actuated wheel and assembly without gravity working against that spring it seems to move the wheel properly. However as soon as gravity and the weight of the wheel and wheel axle bracket and shaft becomes part of the equation, meaning in its proper orientation with gravity in play, the wheel just sags and the spring simply does not appear to have the muscle required. Actually if you just look at that spring I think it is not hard to convince yourself that it would not likely be up to the task. It is not much of a spring even in the face of what does not appear to be much weight. Really while the ratcheting handles is something maybe best dealt with by us, the weak spring on the mobility kit is something best handled by Laguna with a change made in that spring part. The only other way I can think of to deal with it would be to try to find a complete wheel with the right shaft but with a much better spring and swap that front wheel right out......a bit much to expect of the customer IMO. But the only thing I can think of.
Since even the 14 twelve mobility kit at Laguna does the same thing on their saw as mine does, if buying the mobility kit, I would immediately trash the front wheel, buy a different front wheel with a more robust spring and go with that. Again being driven to that sort of solution is a bit galling when you consider the cost of that mobility kit. But its the only thing I can think of that both can be sourced readily and would IMO work. Probably something that would cost between $5 and $10 maybe from a HD or a Lowes.
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Originally Posted by Richard Carner
