iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Small mill support equipment

Started by ex-Engineer Wannabe, October 21, 2005, 06:19:25 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Howdy, folks!  :)

I'm sure this has been asked more than once, but here goes:

What type of support equipment works best around a small milling operation?

To clarify this vague question somewhat, I should explain that my next project involves using native White Pine from a plot of land to build a timber frame (on the same piece of land).  Obviously, I will use a portable mill to "free" the posts and beams from the logs, but I'm wondering about what small mill operators find comes in handy the most for mill/farm/woodlot support: Skid Steer Loaders?  Backhoes/Front End Loaders? Simple Tractors w/ PTO attachments?  Or, perhaps, there's something else out there that I haven't even thought of?

As my project also involves as much personal home construction as I can possibly get away with, please keep in mind that there may be some digging involved with this.  In short, perhaps I should be asking:

What are folks out there using to enhance their small milling operations that might also facilitate timber frame construction (from the ground up)?

Any thoughts much 'preciated  ;D
Bill in NOLA
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

Bibbyman

I get my best support around the mill from my good wife!!  8)

Got to go.. Supper's ready! ;)
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Thanks for the reply, Bibbyman.

Once you've finished your meal (of course), why don't you consider whether or not your "support equipment" likes skidding logs or digging septic tank holes?  I've got a feelin' the answer wil be a resounding NO!   :D :D :D

Perhaps metallic, not carbon-based, support equipment would be a bit more appropriate for this kind of work?  :)

Bill in NOLA
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

Ernie

Quote from: B in NOLA on October 21, 2005, 06:44:47 PM
Perhaps metallic, not carbon-based, support equipment would be a bit more appropriate for this kind of work?  :)

Bill in NOLA

From all of Bibbyman's posts, Mary is most assuredly "carbon based"  precious diamonds are. ;D ;D
A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

Kelvin

Loader tractor with 4 wheel drive and hydro, at least 37 hp+, loader cap at least 2,000 lbs.  THis is what i've found most useful for everything around my place.  Quick attach bucket and pallet forks.  3 point for grading and possible cable winch.  Pull trailers, and easily pulled on a trailer!  Clearence and traction for work in the woods.  For a small operation they can't be beat.  Course a nice shooting boom forklift for the yard and a skidder for the wooods would be ideal, but who has $100k they don't know what to do with?  Skidsteers are limited for me as well.  Low clearence, slow, limited attachments, and very pricey.  big ones are really heavy, but this is the other most common piece of support equipment.  My next one is a old back hoe for the big stuff and digging, but only second cause no 3 point!
KP

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Thanks very much, Kelvin!  :)

Would you elaborate a bit more, please?  Are the "3-point" and cable winch attachments you can use on the 4x4 Loader/Tractor you suggested?

Perhaps I should also ask what a 3-point is?   ;D

Thanks for the input on skid steers as well.  I wasn't aware that the lack of attachments would be a possible impediment.

Have a great night,
Bill
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

Dan_Shade

what kind of terrain are you getting logs out of?  a winch and a log arch are a good place to start.  You can skid logs with a tractor and logging tongs if you can get the tractor into the area.

Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Doooh!!!  It just came to me, Kelvin.  "3-point" are the arms you attach implements to on the back of the tractor, right?  Man, I've been off the farm way too long.   :D
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Thanks, Dan Shade.

Would you elaborate on the "log arch" you mentioned?  Is that one of those wheeled setups that you roll over the end of the log to facilitate lifting one end (with the winch)?  If so, that's a good idea as well.  That would make skidding with a tractor a heck of a lot easier.

By the way, the land I wrote about is fairly steep hill country.

Bill
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

ElectricAl

Bib's right ;)

Linda is the best support I got ;D

Picked her up in 1988, finalized the deal in 1990.
Then bought a WoodMizer in 1993.

We added a couple forklifts, Wheel loader, and SkidSteer later on.


As far as digging B in NOLA,   Linda dug in a phone line with a pick through 12" of 2" road stone base. :o





Are you sure she'll say "NO", or you just think she'll say "no" ?


Some ladys like logging and sawing, just ask Patty.




Kelvin,

We love our skidsteer, and there are at least 100 attachments for it. Most don't apply to logs and lumber, but they are out there.  We have 6 attachments, with one more coming :)
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

submarinesailor

Al and Bibbyman are very lucky men.  My jewel/wife won't go anywhere near the mill.  Oh – add Jeff to that list.

Bibbyman

Well,  let's see...Mary can run a..

Chainsaw
Loader of most any type to move about anything and everything
Farm tractor with most any attachment  - plow, disk, loader with fork or bucket, bush hog, blade, post hole digger.
Scoop shovel (to remove sawdust and snow, etc.)
Edger
Mule – (to skid logs)
Ton flatbed
Ton flatbed pulling 16' trailer
Phone (to talk with customers)
PC (to do bookwork)
Scale (to scale logs)
Banding equipment to band lumber
Load binders and chains to bind down logs on truck when need be
Axe to trim limbs or dirt from logs

And a kitchen to keep us all fed!






Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

ex-Engineer Wannabe

Thanks, Al.  And I'm with you here, Sub Sailor.

My home "support equipment" thinks that soil is something you buy at Lowes  :)  She wouldn't touch a pick axe out of fear that it might break a nail.  N-o-o-o, motorized support equipment is the only help I'll be relying on for this project.   ;D

Bill
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

ex-Engineer Wannabe

:) That's fantastic, Bibbyman! :)  But my lovely wife is a town girl that thinks I'm joking when I tell her that we raised ALL of our own food when I was younger.  Considering that, I don't believe she's up for anything even resembling logging.  :D

Have a great one,
Bill
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

whitey

     I use a skid steer aroud  the mill and constuction site's  use one to clean up after the back hoe on excavations  i can move dirt faster than backhoe . will lift beam and lumber to 9 ft you just have to watch your center line and load limit.  Aset of forks and a bucket  is all you need for that . if your logging get a skidder its alot safer than a tracter. uloading logs and over 9 ft i use a1968 utilitfy crane I bought 12 years ago  for $3000 .  A far as around the mill the skid steer was the best money I ever spent but I only mill pine and juniper so weight isn't a problem   
you  don't have to be crazy to cut juniper but it sure helps !

JP

Here is some pics of a small log arch behind an ATV--it goes on the tractor as well/

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4231442&a=31361344  JP
Norwood lm2000,Newholland 30 hp tractor, log carrier/winch, log arch  JP

brdmkr

I have been making do with cant hooks, a small trailer, a rack on my truck, and a chainsaw.  My wife really likes to saw. 8)  Of course that means I off bear :o when she is working.  That means I don't get to use my mill  :(
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

Tobacco Plug

The best money I spent for mill support equipment was for a tractor and loader with forks.  I can move logs and cants, skid logs in the woods (carefully), pull equipment, move most anything.  If your timbers for the structure you are building are going to be of any size, you will need something to move them other than "man strength and awkwardness". 
If you have lots of logs to skid from the woods to your mill, if might pay to have someone with a skidder do it for you.  Much safer than using a tractor in steep terrain and faster too.  Log arches are neat but slow.
How's everybody doing out in cyberspace?

MemphisLogger

Absolutely the best in small mill support equipment . . .





;D
Scott Banbury, Urban logger since 2002--Custom Woodworker since 1990. Running a Woodmizer LT-30, a flock of Huskies and a herd of Toy 4x4s Midtown Logging and Lumber Company at www.scottbanbury.com

D Martin

I built a log arch for my atv with a few small I beams, angle iorn, channel iorn for the A, rear wheel bearings off of a front wheel drive car and the matching 14 inch tires. It works great for the 24 inch or so logs with a 700 cc wheeler. I hav a 3/4 ton truck I use for plowing only, I had an Idea, mount the plowframe on the rear, skid with that. Only i cant figure out how to plow snow in reverse. :D   down the street from me is the bones from an old logging truck with the nuckleboom still attached, i'd like to attach that to a tandem trailer for picking up logs from the occasional tree removal that I do.  I know that anything is possible but how much motor would I need to feed the hydrolics, would the weight of the knuckleboom motor etc.. make it unfeasible to still cary logs on the trailer?


oakiemac

Electric Al-what attatchments do you got for the skidsteer? BTW that old fordster has been running good lately. (I hope I didn't jink myself). :)

Bill I think a skidsteer is one option to really think about. If you want a tool that can dig and do construction work as well as mill support then the skidsteer might be a good option. A four wheel drive tractor is another option but they are not as manuevarble. I have been skidding logs with my skidsteer. The main problem is clearance over stumps so it is not ideal but it works and I have not done too much on real hilly terrian. I think if it was real steep I'd hire a skidder, but then again must of the woodlots that I work in the owners don't want big equipment in and that is the reason that I'm there in the first place.
Mobile Demension sawmill, Bobcat 873 loader, 3 dry kilns and a long "to do" list.

Duncan

I use an old, (1980~) CAT Forklift with 14,000LB capacity.  Although it is lacking in its off road capability's it works wonderfully as a multi function device.  I use it for unloading log trucks, carting logs around and sorting, loading the mill, and it works well for a mobile lumber stacking device.  A friend asked to buy it from me and I couldn't imagine running the business without it.  I feel that it would be impossible to run without some sort of machine that had this level of capacity.

In the Pacific Northwest almost all of the loggers cut their logs in 30' to 40' lengths and with a big log running 40" at the but and 30"at 40' the back of my fork gets really light and bounces a bit while hauling them around.  So I think if you handle long logs or need to unload a truck then a capacity of at least 10K is required.  If it is shorts and or just for personal use probably 2-3K capacity is suficient.

Kelly

Kelly

Gilman

Bill,
First off, I'd got to the in the upper right corner and then go to Toolbox.  In that screen there is a log weight calculator and lumber weight calculator.  Spend a minute there and determine how much weight you'll be needing to move around.  From there you'll have a good idea of your minimum weight capacity.

I'm in the same delima.  I've looked at skid steers, loaders, forklifts, back hoes, booms, Egyptian rigging crews...

The best source for me was to look and ask locals what they are using.  I've decided upon a Hyster H200E or equivalent.



You know what?  It won't as much skid a twig out of the woods though.  :(

The funny thing is that with over a year's worth of planning I've ended up with:   :D













WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

Corley5

Something with forks to lift logs, lumber, slabs etc.  It could be a farm tractor, skid steer, rough terrrain forklift (I've got an Oliver 552 and it's great) just as long as it makes moving heavy stuff easy
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

ElectricAl

Oakiemac,

Good to hear the Fordster is cruzing around helping out 8)


Smooth bucket with bolt on dirt teeth


48" Pallet forks


Quick Hitch for ball or pin


Dump box - 4' wide 5' long 4' high. It has quick mount plate for skidsteer and fork pockets for the forklift. This is the first one.


Dump Box new style


36" Log Splitter


73" Flat bottom Grapple.


On order - 72" Tine bottom by pass Grapple



John Deere Skidsteer loaders have 7" of clearance , so getting hung up is pretty remote.
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

Thank You Sponsors!