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Choosing a mill... Sizing to the job at hand

Started by slowzuki, January 06, 2004, 12:00:29 PM

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slowzuki

My girlfriend and I just purchased 30 or so acres with about 20 acres of woods on it.  We a drawing plans for a heavy timber shop (30' x 60') and a house down the road.

I have started twitching logs out for the shop since the ground has frozen.

I had thought about using a chainsaw mill to prepare the large timbers then getting a friend of her fathers to bring in his LT40 (maybe it is a LT30?) to saw the cedar siding and the smaller lumber.

So now we are thinking some type of manual band mill in conjunction with the borrowed LT40 would be a wise investment as the borrowed mill would only be available every few months.

It doesn't need to be trailered, we can use our terrain to have the deck level with ground for log loading, and the largest tree on our property is probably 32" diameter.

I'm pretty handy with my torch, welder, plasma cutter, chop saw, drill press etc and have access to a mill and lathe.  I know I can easily build a mill.

But...  if I could buy things like the saw carriage and dogs, it would save a lot of time.  Someone with jigs somewhere must be cranking those out?

Any home built sawyers out there wish they hadn't?  Anyone think I should just buy one of those low buck Hudson mills http://www.hud-son.com/portable_sawmills.htm and get sawing?

BTW I'm in Canada so many brands aren't available here.

What does a bottom end Woodmiser go for in Canada?

Thanks everyone, I'm definately new to the world of sawing.

Kevin

An option would be to purchase a mill then sell it when you're done.

Tom

It doesn't sound like you have more than an LT15, Timberking 1220 or a Norwood, like my friend has,will do.   They are not production machines but work great to build a barn or house if you have the time to do it 5 or 6 logs a day.  

I've always been leary of a small machine because I know how I was inundated with calls to saw when I got my LT40.  I couldn't say "NO" and maybe you can. :D

A push mill like that will get you in business for 5 or 6 grand and do everything.  A mill that has log handling and hydraulics and setworks and stuff like that will have you shelling out more than 15 grand.  It's just that you could work faster and take care of the custom sawing  business that you are destined to run head-long into. :)

Kevin

Yes, I found a huge demand for sawing logs when I bought my mill but a small demand for paying to have me saw them.  :D

Bibbyman

Wood-Mizer has pretty good coverage in Canada.  Here is their Canadian web site address.

Wood-Mizer Canada

In fact,  they have three locations in Canada – two in the east and one in the far west.

Wood-Mizer Canada Locations

On their main web site, they have the LT15 listed to be purchased online.   The price is listed at $5,495 USD + shipping.  They have a promotion where they are including a box of blades.

Wood-Mizer LT15 Promo

A couple of things I like about the Wood-Mizer LT15 are,  the way it come in sections and could be stored in a small area like over winter and such.  You can add as many sections as you need to saw long beams.

Also,  it is available with an electric motor – maybe not important in your case but that's the one I'd get.   ;D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Kevin

I bought my LT15 in  Manilla, Ontario.
Picked it up with the trailer package fully assembled and hauled it home.
It's a great personal mill.

LMG

   slowsuki,
may be you should have a look at www.gilbert-sawmill.ca before you make your choice.
their 20HP mill has been a participant in the Great Portable Sawmill Shootout in Bangor at two occasions and it demonstrated consistant production outputs.
and the prices are still attractives despite recent decrease in exchange ( US dollar versus CAN $ ).

   / LMG

    /    LMG

slowzuki

So what makes the LT15 worth the extra over some of the 2000$ mini mills I saw discussed in my searches here?  They seem to be similar (please don't yell WM LT15 owners! Just curious!)

I got to thinking after that very few of my trees will be over 24", maybe only a dozen.

Thanks to all for the pictures and emails I've received.

It appears a wiper motor with cog on it and a length of chain could quickly make a variable speed power feed, on the cheap.

Ken

ronwood

slowzuki

I don't know that much about many of the smaller mills on the market. One of the things that I looked for was the customer service and its resale value. When I bought my LT40 those were two factors that I looked at. I 'm sure that other mills will work fine.

In my opinion how well any saw (bandsaw, circular, swinger) will cut has a lot to do with the sawyer, how well the saw is maintained, and the quality of the blades.  
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

sawyerkirk

You always get what you pay for!! Sawmill exchange has many used mills, that would be my suggestion!

Carl_B

My son bought a LT 15 in the summer we had been using a procut chainsaw mill before that. We look at a lot of manual mills before he bought the LT 15 The woodmiser people let us try out the 15  at a open house that they had. This is one of the best manual mills that you can get .  Carl B.

ARKANSAWYER

 Ken,
  You got 20 acres of trees and want to build a timber frame shop.  Before you skin the cat you have to catch him.  So are you going to be able to saw down the trees and move them to the mill site?  Now that we got the cat what do you want?  Meat or hide?  What length do you wish to saw these timber to?  Can the mill you are looking at cut that long and can it hold up the weight of the log.  So many times I have gone to saw for owners of small mills that can not saw a 28 inch 20 ft log.  The mill  would sag under  the weight and they could not turn it after they got a flat side down.  EZ can tell you about having a mill without enough frame under it.
  I would look for a name brand used mill that I could get service and parts for in your neck of woods.  If they do not have a Canadian office then I would not even consider the mill.  Now my blood runs orange and I think the LT 15 is a good mill but you should play with one before you spend any coin no matter what type you buy.  Maybe you should call WoodMizer and find out if there are any local sawyers for hire because $5 grand can buy alot of sawing and a hydralic mill can take alot of work out of it for you.  Snorting to much sawdust can be a hazzard and it will interfere with hunting and fishing.
ARKANSAWYER  
ARKANSAWYER

EZ

A cheaper mill(around $5k) will saw good lumber,IF, the ground where it sits is solid. With my old mill I spent more time releveling then sawing, then at the end it just gave up. If I was to do it all over again in the beginning I would have bought a lt30 or lt40 WM. Check them out, the frames are very tuff.
EZ

slowzuki

ARKANSAWYER,

Luckily I recently purchased a Stihl MS260 that I have been felling trees with.  The other lucky thing is I have 2 x 52 hp tractors available to me, one is 4wd with a loader.  I have been twitching trees out with them.

Haven't looked at any particular mill yet so I don't know how stiff any of the mill frames are.  I assumed mine would be setup on the slab of the shop we are building (32' x 64')

The longest timber so far is 8, 18 ft long, haven't calc'd the dimensions needed yet.

I hear you about the service and seeing one in action.  I visited a WM mill on the weekend but it wasn't in action.  I think it was a LT40 but looked short?  Maybe there are extensions for it.  We are hoping to rent the mill or hire the owner (friend of my gf's father)
Ken

Captain

I also took a look at the SMG - Gilbert bandmills before buying a swing blade.

Nice mills.  Nice engineering. To top it all off, Canadian for you too.

Captain

slowzuki

Ok, our friend with the LT 40 manual mill doesn't want to move it off his property.  It is a trailer model but he does not move it, so...

We are looking at mills again.  The Norwood 2000 and the SMG are two Canadian models.  Have read lots about the Norwood, anyone have an SMG?  Can't seem to find much about them.
Ken

EZ

I've seen both of them mills saw and did a good job at that. If your going to saw on a slab, I'd say grab a coin and flip it in the air. But I would still consider a LT-30 or 40. ;D
EZ

steveo_1

slowzuki,check these guys out http://www.enercraft.com/docs/sawmills.htm      havent heard too much on here about enercraft/baker but we have an older model that we got from our aunt after our uncle passed away,and he bought it used as well.It has a rigid frame and still cuts very well,ours is red though,not sure about the blue ones i guess they are still made the same,but they're home office is in Canada.
got wood?

slowzuki

Just had the Enercraft / Baker price list faxed to me.  The Model 18 would be the setup appropriate for me but the price is quite high, 8700 Cdn$ for the 13 hp all manual model.  On par with the WM LT15 more that the Norwood.
Ken

Quoteslowzuki,check these guys out http://www.enercraft.com/docs/sawmills.htm      havent heard too much on here about enercraft/baker but we have an older model that we got from our aunt after our uncle passed away,and he bought it used as well.It has a rigid frame and still cuts very well,ours is red though,not sure about the blue ones i guess they are still made the same,but they're home office is in Canada.

Kevin

I have the 15hp on my LT-15 and I wouldn't want anything smaller.

slowzuki

Kevin, I've seen some neat pictures of your LT 15 in action.  Do you saw only for yourself or are you in it for some $$?

I'm shying away from the high priced mills as I have to sell it to my gf too :D  She gets scared enough when I mention tractor!

I can see it becoming addictive, so I need a mill small enough to ensure hard work when using it and dispell ideas of sawing full time :D :D :D

I think I'm going to prep a spreadsheet up soon and post it.
Ken

rbarshaw

Cooks saw sells a lot of prefab parts, and if you don't mind spending alot of time building one, and depending on how much you can find by way of parts, you can build a good manual mill for next to nothing.

take a look at my post "the band mill that i built" should be on page 1 or 2 of the sawing forum. It took me a year total to collect parts and build and test/adjust it. I probably have around 100 actual hours in it to get from an idea to good lumber.
Been doing so much with so little for so long I can now do anything with nothing, except help from y'all!
By the way rbarshaw is short for Robert Barshaw.
My Second Mill Is Shopbuilt 64HP,37" wheels, still a work in progress.

slowzuki

Re building my own:

Would love too, but time is the problem.  Also the building it is going to be sawing is my shop...  I have a plasma cutter, welders torches drill press chop saw etc but would eat up all my time that could be used building the shop!


Kevin

I mill primarily for myself but I have done a few loads for others.
The frame on the LT-15 is solid and the cutting accuracy can't be beat.
I'm very happy with it.

Bob_T

Slowzuki,

I ran across a guy on the yahoo.groups milling forum who bought an SMG milll last year.  He seems to like it.  Sorry I don't have his email address, I think I found his post while randomly reading through their archives.

I've been looking at the SMG too, and it seems like a good machine, just hard to find references on.

Bob
1959 FWD Model 286 Dump Truck
1955 Allis Chalmers HD-6G Crawler Loader
1941 GMC CCKW 6X6
Wood-Mizer LT30 G18

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