Balkan Boys

Slat Mill
BALKAN BOYS

CHAPTER 1

Balkan Boys Slat Mill

Nothing is better than natural conditioning. A super free spinning mill isn't providing
yourdog with as good and natural of a workout as if he was running across your yard. The
ground doesn't move under your dog when he's running. He propels himself over the ground,
so a super free spinning mill isn't giving your dog the full advantage that he would get from
normal running.
*********************************************************************************
Its not the treadmill you buy that wins your fight for you, nor is it fault of the mill if you
lose.

Thats why I write so much about problems you may have on any mill you use. Treadmills
come in many types and several different designs. The first most important thing about a
treadmill is that it doesnt hurt your dog when you start to condition one.

The second most important thing to do is to have it turn freely with no drag! A thirty
pound bitch should not have to labor at any given pace. It is much easier to get a dog to work
that has never worked a mill before if it turns easily. A hard pulling piece of junk knows nothing about your dogs kidney function.

Also, a treadmill must not have a brake of any kind. I could have said should not but Im
telling you must not! If a dog is allowed to stand on a treadmill without working (lets say you
have a brake and the brake is on), he might stop working if you leave him alone for a minute;he might even change his mind about working at all!

The best way to attach your dog on a treadmill is by using a 4 Point Hook-Up.The
4 PointHook-up has to be adjustable so it fits all size dogs. And, never use a harness on
a treadmill. Ifa dog is running about ten miles an hour and decides to stop all of a sudden, the harness will pull his shoulders out of the sockets or break his front legs. The 4
Point Hook-up with a collar provides enough slack to prevent any harm to the dog.
It also prevents him from jumping off the treadmill and hanging himself. The same
hook-up wont let your dog get too close to the back orfront where he will pinch his
toes or break his toenails. Do not unhook your dog and drag him off the mill or let him
jump down. The belt will turn when he tries to follow you and he will break his toenails off in the cracks between the boards.

Do not leave your mill out in the rain and/or snow. No treadmill is build to withstand the elements. I don't care what they may tell you. If there's wheel bearings, untreated metals ie:bolts and etc. it should be kept out of the weather.Breakage due to
children running on the mill. Believe it or not, I've seen kids running and playing on a
mill I built. Nothing broke, but you never know what kids will do.

HIGHEST QUALITY MATERIALS, UNEQUALLED

CRAFTSMANSHIP!
Engineering Specs
FRAME

My frame design with the slanted back keeps your dog from busting up his tail
while running.

The frames are built out of 4x4 cm. The highest point of the horizontal frame
on the BALKAN BOYS' MILL is 81,5cm. O.D. from the ground up, with NO
horizontal framing in the way of loading your dog, and low enough to easily load
your dog, the frame length is 122 cm. long O.D., by 50,5 cm. wide I.D. The front
is only 1" higher in front, because on average a bull dog is 3/4" to 1" higher at his
hips than his shoulders. So he can run more easily on my mill, than running down
the road. It is a cut away design so you can put yourdog on and off the mill with
no trouble.

BELTS

I use the Gum belting with 2 or 3 ply-poly Clipper Lace. The Clipper Lace is
stronger than just overlapping thebelting, and allows you to remove and replace
the belt in seconds, should you ever need to for cleaning and etc. It also helps eliminate slat rock and noise bybeing a thicker belting.To fasten the slats to the belts,
I'm using Thermoplastic 2 ply-poly belting,with a thickness of 0,2 cm. For superfree turning mill, I use a belt that is 0,1cm in thickness, this belt is super light
in weight, fast, but for me very loud!

The standard belt that is used on the mills, are a gum belting with a 2 or 3 Clipper Lace,with a thickness of 0,3 - 0,5 cm. For proffesional Model I use PVC belting (0,2 cm. in thickness) with a Clipper Lace it is light weight, but yet, heavy
enough to cut down on slat rock, and is very durable, the overall weight of the belting material per mill is 1,1 kg. Forsuper free turning mill, I use a belt that is 0,1
cm in thickness, this belt is super light in weight, total overall weight per mill is 0,6
kg. per mill set up, very light, fast, but loud! Thisbelt is for those who want serious
wind! And for those who are looking for a quieter mill I use a gum belt that is 0,3 0,5 cm in thickness, the thicker belt helps to eliminate any slat rock, (slat rock creates noise, from the slats rolling between the roller bed wheels) so when ordering a
mill look at these options, on how you want your mill to run.

SLAT

I make my slats out of Oak. They are5,6 cm. wide, 0,8 cm. thick, and 34
cm.long. The Slat I build has 5,6 cm.(2-1/4")wide boards. Any with more than 21/4"boards is hard to keep from untracking. These slats are stronger and
lighterthan the plastic slats used by one millbuilder, so they don't flex too
much,which has caused dogs toenails to be ripped off, and toes cut and/or
pinched.
I am using Oak, oak strong, looks nice and will last longer, they are 0,8 cm.
wide, 5,6 cm.thick, and 34 cm. long, it is very strong. I checked out using Lexan,
and some other plastic type materials for slats, but they will be considerably heavier than the Oak slats if they are made thick enough to keep from over-flexing.
Oak will last longer than Pine, and won't overflex like plastic slats of the same
weightand thickness.
The Slat I build has 5,6 cm.(2-1/4")wide boards. Any with more than 2-1/4"
boards is hard to keep from untracking.

MAIN WHEELS

I use 6" Aluminum Wheels or 8" Plastic Wheels with 2 Ball Bearings for my
MainWheels. These wheels are precision wheels.
I use 6" the highest quality spun aluminum main wheels, aluminum hubs with
dualprecision sealed ball bearings, and stainless steel axles! Also I use 8" PVC
main wheels forProffesional Model! Each of the 4 end wheels have an up-downback-forward-in and out.
ROLLER WHEELS

My Roller Bed Rails are made of 4 x 4 x 0,3cm. or 5 x 5x 0,5cm angle iron,

tah eliminates virtually all the vibration, caused by the Belt and Roller Bed
Wheels, that runs through the frame,which causes excessive noise and it has a
98cm. running surface. Plenty long enough fordogs up to 25-27 kg. Dogs over 25
kg. willprobably be too tall,wide, and long, besidesbeing too heavy for this mill.

10

Do not run dogs over 60 lbs on this mill.It is also up to you to keep the wheel bearingsproperly lubed, should they ever require it.

The running surface

My Standard Modeluses 52mm ,,Salomon wheels"with ABEC 1'sbearing or

60mm polyurethane wheels,are better than the 72mm or 80mm wheels in one
row, because they have less distance between the peaks of the wheels, which helps
prevent "slat rock".
My Professional Model uses 72mm, "Salomon wheels" with ABEC 5's or
ABEC 7's bearings. Run 46 wheels (with double row) and a total of 92 bearings
per mill, it is much quieter, when using urethane wheels and bearings, but is more
expensive.
My Model for BIG DOGS use 72mm with ABEC 5's or ABEC 7's bearings.
Run 48-52 wheels (with double row) and total of 104 bearings per mill.
Frames
My frame design with the slanted back keeps your dog from busting up his tail
while running.

11

12

13

14

15