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Tour of Wood-Mizer Sawmill Facility – Madisonville, KY.

Started by Bibbyman, September 17, 2006, 08:08:37 PM

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Bibbyman

As part of our tour of the Wood-Mizer Re-Sharp and Research and Development center outside Madisonville, KY, we got to spend about an hour in their sawmill opperation.

They had two LT300's running tail to tail into one edger and green chain. It was a pretty impressive operation. 

George Curits runs the mill operations.  It not only provides a testing platform for new models and features development but also is a profitable mill operation. 



Standing on the green chain is a man grading lumber and a couple of guys pulling lumber.  Behind the curtain is one of the two LT300s.



Here is looking the other way at the second LT300.  The LT300 are set up to feed into one edger and green chain.



Here is a view over the sholder of one of the sawyers.  He's setting in a nice clean, quiet room all to himself.

Thanks, George Curtis, Operation Manager for letting us tour your sawmill opperations.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

DanG

Thanks, Bibbyman, for posting these threads about the WM operations in Kentucky.  It isn't the kind of thing that draws a lot of comment, but it is valuable and appreciated. :)

By the way, where were you when all this was happening? ??? ::)  You fall asleep in the car or sumpthin? ;D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Bibbyman

Quote from: DanG on September 17, 2006, 10:45:43 PM

By the way, where were you when all this was happening? ??? ::)  You fall asleep in the car or sumpthin? ;D

What-cha-ya mean - where was I?   I was busy taking pictures.

I think anyone interested in setting up a high production bandmill operation would like to see what they are doing in this mill.

BTW,  this LT300 had a couple of features that are not found on production LT300s.  It had a power roller that could shift a log on the deck or run a cant off.  It also had rollers on the stop/loader for better log loading onto the mill.  You may note it also has some home-made looking cover on the right side of the sawhead.  I don't know what's up with that.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

ElectricAl

Bibbyman,

Is the sawdust going into a chain drag barn cleaner?
Linda and I custom saw NHLA Grade Lumber, do retail sales, and provide Kiln Services full time.

Bibbyman



They have a vibrating trough the length of the building that all the dust, slabs, and edging fall into.  The trough takes it to the chipper. It runs beside each mill and under the edger.  It's hard to see from this photo but its right in front of the guy on the right.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

PawNature

GOVERMENT HAS WAY TO MUCH CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES!!!!

logwalker

Leave it to Woodmizer to do it right. Most of the rest of us can only dream about it. Thanks Bibbyman. LW
Let's all be careful out there tomorrow. Lt40hd, 22' Kenworth Flatbed rollback dump, MM45B Mitsubishi trackhoe, Clark5000lb Forklift, Kubota L2850 tractor

beenthere

Quote from: Bibbyman on September 18, 2006, 07:28:34 AM
.............They have a vibrating trough the length of the building that all the dust, slabs, and edging fall into.  The trough takes it to the chipper. It runs beside each mill and under the edger.  ........

Bibby
Are you suggesting here that the product from the chipper with dust, slabs, and edgings is what would be fed to this 'sawdust' burner?   Or just the sawdust?  Maybe at this point that is an unknown (math problem for Arky  :) ).

I'm not clear at this point if this is a device to just get rid of the waste, or if it is to produce heat for a kiln or something, or both.  Granted, it is in the experimental stages by the comments thus far.

Over the past 40-50 years, there have been a lot of efforts to get rid of the traditional, smoky tee-pee burners used to burn up sawmill waste, and include the suspended burning to generate heat for kiln drying and even for producing electricity. Also includes the production of wood pellets from waste to produce a fuel.
But WM is good at developing such things that take a smaller investment to accomplish the task. Look forward to more information.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Bibbyman

I didn't ask but I think the bulk of their chips go to some place that buys chips - like most other sawmills. They certainly don't need all the sawdust they produce to run the two dust furnaces.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Bibbyman

I failed to mention the out-feed tables I saw at the Wood-Mizer Madisonville sawmill location.  They had big power rollers that popped up through the floor of what looked like shallow feed troughs.  The rollers would pop down and the table could dump right or left.  They could be controlled by the sawyer or by the offbearers.   They were painted AWMV gray and had Wood-Mizer on them but I've never seen them on their web site.



I caught a picture of one up (left) and one down.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

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