Bandmilling in extreme cold

[AvT]

I live in the north and it gets dang cold here.  We usually get -40F temperatures here for a couple of weeks in the winter.  I dont think anyone does any sawing when it gets that cold. What I am wondering is what would be a minimum temperature that a bandmill could operate in.

I am thinking about getting a big mill with a remote and cable track.  I'm pretty sure the wiring and maybe the cable track would give problems below 0 degees F due to wiring isulation and the track getting brittle. snow mixed with sawdust would probbaly cause grief in the cable track as well?

Any comment regarding issues like these or any other cold weather issues would be appreciated.  I'm a little nervous about spending 50 G on somthing I have to park in the winter.

Thanks guys
Andy

[Tom]

I can't really help you on this AVT, but I'd like to welcome you to the forum.  You see, it doesn't get that cold here and we go to the house when it gets to or below freezing.  The people give up long before the equipment. 

I think that hoses and wire insulation would be hard hit.  Anyplace that would generate ice would be hard hit. Blade lubricants might freeze, greases thicken beyond use, metal getting brittle would be down the line somewhere. 

Sawmilling is labor intensive.  It's not like driving a truck where you are inside, or operating a harvester, where you would probably be inside. All of the people on a sawmill are outside, and it tells on them.

To be productive, you might better look at the temperatures you are willing to withstand.

[AvT]

Thanks for the welcome Tom.  I'm sure i will be relying on people here a lot if i ever take the plunge and get a mill.

Up untill 20 years ago or so I was a contractor in the oilfield moving earth with cats and the like.  When it hit -40 we would throw a parachute over the machines and leave them running at about half throttle and go home, somtimes for a few days untill it warmed up a bit.  Steel would start to snap below -40. I'm thinking I could work outside sawing down to about 0 F if it is not too windy.  I'm not as tough as I used to be.   

[Chuck White]

I think I would operate on the "creature comfort" theory.

That is, if I'm cold I'm not sawing.

Some do though.  Some use windshield washer solution on their bands and seems to work quite well, while others will use diesel and it also works quite well.  Myself, when water freezes, I'm done and the mill gets parked in the garage till spring.

[terrifictimbersllc]

You'd need blade lubricant/cleaner that won't freeze, usual is -20 but you might know of lower where you live.   Second is the temp performance of your hydraulic fluid, WM used to have one rated to military plane specs very cold function down to -65 or so I think but not sure what it is now.  Third is where diesel gels if you have diesel engine.  Fourth is what your low temp starting performance (battery mainly coupled with how fast your engines start) of your mill and vehicle(s).  Considering all these I wouldn't go out much below zero F, but I don't have to here in CT. 

Then after all the above brain armchair next to the stove exercises is the real life question of whether you're going to get anyone to help you.  Productive milling usually depends on helpers.  You need people as nuts about milling or wood as you are for what you are thinking about.  Usually each  customer is good for a few hours the first time around if they're total novices and an hour or two longer if they have a slow learning curve. 

But try fixing something on the mill when it's -10 and you have to stop moving to call WM or look through manuals etc.  :'( :'( :'(

[ladylake]

 I like it to be 10 above but have sawed down to 0.    Steve

[beenthere]

AvT
Welcome to the FF.

One plan might be to saw some logs for some shed lumber, and get the equipment under roof.
Then use some of the slabs for heat and manage to saw logs a bit easier in the winter months.

Sounds like fun to me.

I just heard a FF member say today that he is moving his WM into a nice building this afternoon to thaw it out and saw some logs inside. But it is only supposed to hit negative 10 this weekend. A long way from -40.

[AvT]

Thanks guys for the info,  I just put a deposit on a new LT 70 with remote.  I hope I don't regret it.  I tried to insert a photo but didnt get any further than getting it into my album.  I'll figure it out somtime.....beenthere... yes the first project would be to cut some shed lumber, but what would one do with the exhaust from the engine?

[paul case]

build a barn for it when it warms up and put a big wood stove in it. sounds like you could have a use for those slabs that will soon be piling up to keep you warm enough to saw.  pc

[terrifictimbersllc]

Congratulations on ordering your new mill and many happy years of sawing.  You're off to an exciting adventure with many benefits no matter how much money you make off of it.  Yes you could buy gold as an investment or diversification but that's nowhere near as fun. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[red oaks lumber]

avT,
we saw with a w.m. lt 40 if the air temp is atleast minus 10 below we will cut any colder the boards freeze right back on the cant, the sawdust freezes but, above that it's ok we run staight washer fluid with no problems of freezing.
we saw inside a building(not heated) to keep your fingers warm while riding back and forth i mounted an electric heater on top of the control panel as your cutting just being able to warm your fingers really helps.

[beenthere]

..............beenthere... yes the first project would be to cut some shed lumber, but what would one do with the exhaust from the engine?

Ventilate the shed to keep good air when sawing. When not sawing, close the vent.

If pics are in your gallery, go to it and scroll down below the pic you see, and either click on the "green" message of copy the url to your post. Should work. Click on "preview" to see if it actually does work for you. Once they are in your gallery, you're 99% there.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Hey Atv
Welcome aboard
not sure how far north you are but I am in central AB. Good to see another Albertan on the site.

I have anLT40HD28G

coldest Ive cut is about minus 10C. Has more to do with my ageing bones then the mill but i will say that once the sun hides on a cooler day it just gets plain miserable if you are sawing frozen logs. take a rest there will be better days ahead.

[AvT]

beenthere,, Thanks I think it worked. and everyone else for input.  I'm not too far from Grande Prairie bandit.  Yep not too many albertans on here but there are a couple.  Here is the baby.  I won't get it home for a month or so beacause the dealer is about 12 hours away.  My Job is causing inconvienience in my life, however, it did pay for this sawmill so it's all good.  I'm feeling the excitement.

[barbender]

As long as you can afford that LT70, you won't regret it ;)

[taw6243]

I've sawn white oak all day for two days at minus 4 degrees F with my 2004 Woodmizer LT40hdg28. At that temperature the boards do freeze quick but keep a sledge hammer at hand for that, also the blades stay clean because the frozen sawdust just flaked right off.

[bandmiller2]

Andy,unless you have the mill in a heated building  its folly to try to cut at -40 its too hard on the machinery and you included. Frank C.

[Peter Drouin]

Nice mill!!!! working in the cold is ok you just have to giddyup to stay warm :D :D :D

[kderby]

AvT what species are you into up there?   What markets as well.  Will you have adequate log supply or is that an issue?  I am just being curious/nosey. 

I have a LT-40 and love it.  Enjoy that 70!!!!!

I am just being curious.

Kderby in Oregon

[AvT]

barbender, it will be paid for, it just bites into the retirement fund a bit more than I would like.
bandmiller2, no worries, I wont be working it in the -40 nor the -30's nor -20s
taw6243, thats good news
Peter Drouin, thanks and true on the giddiup.  Thats a fantastic setup you have there Peter
kderby, my business plan is not well thought out at all.  The purchase is all based on gut instinct.  I hope my gut is not out to lunch.  I have plenty of spruce, pine and aspen here and a bit of birch and i might try somthing with tamarack.  I had a couple of hundred tons of aspen delivered a couple of months ago that i have been cutting up for firewood and saving the bigger ones to saw.  The wood was skidded limbed and decked, I just had to pay to get it trucked to my yard. the wood was free other than the trucking.  There are few small sawmill operations here.  Just a couple of days after I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about getting a portable sawmill I got a call from somone wanting a bunch of logs sawn into timbers but I wasn't ready yet.  I guess I just have a feeling that it might work.

[customsawyer]

You will do fine. I see that you have some other equipment to help handle the logs and with the firewood processor you are used to working with the logs and such. What I am trying to say is the sawing is the easy part handling all the logs, lumber, and slabs is where the work is. With the tractor and all you have part of that whipped. ;D

P.S. Welcome to the forum.

[weisyboy]

geez you guys are keen.

if it ever gets below 15 deg C here (60 deg F) ill sit in front of the fire, even at 65 deg f im flat out getting outa bed. that being said i am more than happy to work at 40 deg C (105 deg c) with 88% humidity all day.

i spent a few years on the darling downs where the watter trofs would freze over in winter, still only got to 0 deg C (32 degf) and i hated every day of winter.

cold is not my freind

[customdave]

Congrats on the new mill AvT!! 8)

I've done sawing with my WM in minus 10 deg, the mill works fine, my trouble is cold fingers, sometimes if its cloudy I build a small fire close to the mill to warm my hands (no shortage of slab wood ;D) I use windsheild washer fluid for blade lube & syntheic grease all year round, no freezeup issues. I see by the pic of your mill you have a trip planned to Marvs in Salmon Arm to pickup your mill, couldn"t ask for a nicer crew than the boys in Salmon Arm. I just went last weekend to look @ a sawing job about 180 trees so I know where my mill will be for the winter, I told the customer - 10 deg is the limit , he was all for that as well. I saw part time, so it will be a while. Anyways enjoy the new mill & play safe...


                                           Dave

[barbender]

AvT, if it's paid for I say no worries, especially since you are already involved in the wood industry with firewood, etc. If you're getting calls before you even bought the mill, that is a good sign! I think you'll be fine, as far as the cold, WM offers cold weather hyd fluid,as others have mentioned,  and all fluids and greases can be changed over for cold temps. My main concern would be the cable track, otherwise the mill should be able to handle any temp you can ;) That reminds me, I might have to try to fire up my mill today and see how it works at 0°. I just got it this fall, so I haven't ran it in the cold yet. I better ante up with all of this big talk I am making :)Weisy, I'll take these cold days over 105° every time, that heat kills me. I can always put more clothes on, but if it gets too hot I can only take so much off before people get upset :D

[Tom]

I never ran into a log that needed cutting that bad.  :-\