sawmill for 8x8 timbers

Rick R · November 22, 2005, 07:15:18 PM

I use many 8x8" timbers, 4x4s, 2x10s and 10" boards to construct timber frame buildings and barns. Is there one type of sawmill that could cut this type of wood.
I would like to purchase a mill in the near future and it should be some what portable.

SAW MILLER · November 22, 2005, 07:19:41 PM

Any of the sawmills listed on the left of the screen ( sponsors ) can cut the items you use.Welcome to yooperland :D :D

DanG · November 22, 2005, 07:30:05 PM

Welcome to this crazy place, Rick. I would think that a bandmill of some sort would be best for your application. Some of the sponsors to the left of your screen offer an assortment of them.

You're probably gonna be facing some good-sized logs, since you're looking for big timbers, so try to get something with some hydraulic help.

Look at the top of your screen and see that you have a personal message. ;)

Rick R · November 22, 2005, 08:27:13 PM

I will review the sponsor sawmills and then have some more questions in the future. I have enjoyed the Forestry Forum over the last few weeks and now have much more knowledge about saw milling. I'm thank full that I found the forum and I will be back often.

ronwood · November 22, 2005, 09:09:30 PM

RickR,

Welcome to the forum. What is your max length that you will be working with? Do you have handling equipment (forklift, tractor) to assit you in handling logs. I myself have a Woodmizer LT40HG25. It will do up to a little over 20 ft. Other manufactures do the about the same. If you do a lot of cutting I would recommend a mill with hydraulics.

Ron

Ianab · November 22, 2005, 09:37:54 PM

Hi Rick

Yes, most any mill will do that.

Questions to ask are, whats your budget? what support equipment have you got? how much do you expect to cut in a day? what size are your logs? how long do you need the beams? etc

I run a Peterson swingblade mill, because I need to handle big logs without heavy machinery and be very portable.

If you have smaller logs, a tractor / loader and dont need high production then a decent manual bandmill will do the job. A hydralic bandmill will do the job easier and quicker - but will cost more upfront. A swingblade will do it too, but you may end up double cutting a lot if you get one of the smaller ones. They do seem to loose their production advantage somewhat on the smaller logs too.

Feel free to ask more questions as the various members here have most types of mills covered.

Cheers

Ian

Captain · November 22, 2005, 09:58:37 PM

10" Peterson ATS/WPF. Or equivalent ;D Welcome!! Where in NH are you??

Captain

doublecut · November 23, 2005, 10:01:02 AM

Hi rick. Welcome ot the forum. Ianab brought up some good points.You should also look into cost of running the mill. Blades ,fuel, sharpeneing equipment ect.
We manufacture the all stainless Ecosaw and the D&L twin saw line but as you will find out there is a wealth of knowledge here to learn on the forum. Once again welcome and keep the questions coming
doublecut

JP · November 23, 2005, 04:05:02 PM

Hi from JP in NH: here is a pic of a beam log being cut on my Norwood LM2000--- If I could I would show several pics but it dosent work JP

JP · November 23, 2005, 04:07:10 PM

Here is the beam:

JP

doublecut · November 23, 2005, 04:18:37 PM

Nice beam. How long did it take to cut ?
doublecut

JP · November 23, 2005, 05:29:18 PM

With some help We cut 2 of these from 10:30 to 2:30 today-- the first one took me 6 1/2 hrs standing tree to fin. beam The beams are 24',22 ', 20'. 12"x 12" JP

doublecut · November 23, 2005, 06:31:24 PM

How did you edge them long slabs? Looks like 1" you cut ? Sure some purty wood. we had a customer cut some 41ft beams and 2x6 for a glew lam company. Now that was a long stick. You had to really listen to hear the saw running once it hit the other end of the cut. We are close to doing a 60ft cut for a customer now. Can't wait
doublecut

JP · November 23, 2005, 07:29:06 PM

I cut the edge boards 1 1/4", I still have to put them on and edge them--some boards will be 16" x 24' long--dont know what ill do with them?? The big log was 33" at the butt, had to trim it with chainsaw to fit -- JP

Rick R · November 29, 2005, 07:57:46 PM

Ron, The max length I would most likely cut would be 20 feet. A little longer would be a benifit but only once in a geart while.
Rick R

Rick R · November 29, 2005, 08:06:09 PM

JP - Those long 12 x 12 timbers must be heavy !
I put up a timber frame barn with bents made from 8 x 8 hemlock timber with many of them 14 ft long and I thought they were heavy.
What are your timbers being used for ?
Rick R

ARKANSAWYER · November 29, 2005, 08:58:26 PM

Here I was sawing tapered beams. Some were 14x14 on one end and 8x8 on the other. The other beams were 12x12 to 8x8 and all were 20 ft long. Easy to do on a hydralic band mill. Got paid $40 and hour and could do two beams in an hour most of the time. Should have done it by the bdft. They were all white oak and he took a skill saw and cut the corners off so they were octagon. Pretty slick post.

dail_h · November 29, 2005, 10:53:51 PM

I saw tapered beams sometimes too ;D ;D ;D ;D

moosehunter · November 30, 2005, 07:43:00 AM

JP,
How is your extension built? Looks like 2x6s?

Arky,
Could you make a small jig to hold those beams @ 45deg. and cut the octogon on the mill?

dail,
I'm a thinking Arky cut them tapers on purpose ;D :D

broker farmer · November 30, 2005, 11:50:53 AM

Arkansawyer........what is the intended purpose for the tapered beams?

Engineer · November 30, 2005, 01:19:17 PM

Rick, I cut dozens of beams and lumber ranging from 1x4 up to 8x12 size this past winter and spring for my house frame. All on a Wood-Mizer bandmill. Which is For Sale..... It's an older mill, non-hydraulic, but it worked fine. I had a bit of help from some peaveys and cant hooks and a small tractor with forks, but generally I am able to cut a 24" diameter x 16' long log without a great deal of difficulty. Of course that's the limit for the mill. If you want a new mill I would look at both the bandmills and the swingblades. You're only a couple hours from Craig (Captain) in the Boston area, who is the Peterson rep, and Woodmizer has locations in Maine and central NY. Ask for a demo or visit one of the trade shows.

JP · November 30, 2005, 03:38:40 PM

Hi Moosehunter: The mill extension is 6' long made out of 2 1/2 oak with 1 1/2 x 1 1/2" angle-- I removed the last 2' of angle from the mill and replaced it with the end of the 8' pc on the ext. JP

ARKANSAWYER · November 30, 2005, 08:11:54 PM

You do not need a jig to saw octagons on the mill. I just saw a square then put a 45 degree block of wood to the side and reclamp. I could have sawn the corners off on them tapered timbers but he thought it would be cheaper to do them himself.
The post were tapered because they were going to be exoposed as these were to hold up an outside veranda. I just sawed them.

The post at the top are octagon 6x6's with 4x4 square bottoms to replace some porch rails that were 4x4 pt.