Wood-Mizer MONSTER mill!

[Bibbyman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lugpBdvi_X4

Announcement of this mill is posted in the Sponsor section but many of us don't read that area very often.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,51656.0.html

[Woodchuck53]

Whew what hog. Do you know what that thing cost? How much thinner is a thin kerf opposed to a regular blade?

[Chuck White]

That's quite a mill!  ;)

I would imagine that the kerf would be the same as that of an LT40 or LT70, but probably a 2" wide blade.

[pigman]

The WM1000 uses 2"-3" wide thin-kerf blades to reduce waste and maximize recovery.....The starting price for the WM1000 is $49,995.

[Warren]

Bib,
Thank you for posting.

While a swing mill with slabber would be less expensive for the "occassional" big log, this looks like the real deal for anyone who wants to break down big stuff on a regular basis. 

I have a couple oak logs right now that I have been putting off that I would love to throw on that mill for 20 minutes...  ;D

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Thats a bloody Good Looking Mill I Like It  ;) ;D ;D 8) the only down side is you would have tho spend another $50 grand on a 54" wide edger  ;) :D ;D ;D

Warren thats only $2500 a Min  ;)  :D Ill drop by and mill those Big logs up for you as I will be coming through KY Mate  ;) ;D 8)

Regards Chris

[Mooney]

Here's a couple images from a customer up in Portland, Oregon, Art Blumenkron of Goby Walnut and Western Hardwoods.  His WM1000 was just installed last month.

[LOGDOG]

This thing looks awesome! I was actually looking at this last night in the Sponsor section for the first time and found myself asking myself, "How have you missed this?". I've been waiting for WoodMizer to build a large mill like this for years. I asked them years ago why they didn't and they told me that the average diameter of logs was going down due to harvesting and re-growth rates and therefore they built their mills to handle the majority of logs out there vs. being over sized.

One thing that made me scratch my head on this though is at about 1:35 in the video to 1:48 or so, that blade guide arm is really chattering like it's not wanting to be there vs. a nice smooth cut. I wonder if that was because his feed rate was too fast or if the blade guide arm was loose?

Love that operator console. Need to add a pedestal seat to it like you'd find on the bow of a bass boat to put your butt down on but still have it be easy to roll off and out of to handle lumber. I liked my old operator seat on my LT40 as far as riding but getting in and out of it all day wouldn't be practical. I wonder if they offer hydraulic log handling for this mill?

[paul case]

i saw that guide arm moving a bit too. at 101 or so you see the blade exit the log and it falls down out of the cut. i have problems with that on my ez boardwalk when making wide cuts sometimes too, but i never expected to see a mill do that on a promo video! anyone else aver have those troubles?
that is a massive mill for sure. it just kind of hit me strange that wm would go 4 post when their calling card has been cantilever. oops i guess i said it. now its off to the woodshed! ;D   pc

[LOGDOG]

The 4 post vs. cantilever popped into my head too. BUT ... this mill is really designed to be stationary where you can anchor it. Whereas the cantilevered mills are easier to level and keep level in portable cutting situations.

if the blade drops out of the cut at 1:01 it's very faint. But I've seen that happen on mine in the past. Can be several things, feeding too fast, not enough set in the blade, dull blade, improper alignment of the blade guide arm. If the alignment is right though then it's the blade. If the blade is sharp, has the correct hook angle, and the alignment is right and you still have that dropping out of the cut I'd widen my set out to stabilize the blade in the cut.

[Mooney]

Good eye, but looking at it again, it looks like a slight optical illusion. (Now we're going to have half the forum studying that ten-second section and we'll have a three page discussion on it, eh? ;-) 

Here's the feedback we got back from Art in Oregon.
"We recently cut a 15', 48" diameter walnut log and were amazed to find that the thickness of the slabs didn't vary by more than 1/32" over the whole 15'. Our finish on the slabs is much better than [our previous mill] and we yield an extra slab on every log. Another consideration is time...it takes about 5 minutes to complete a cut on a large slab..."

Like Logdog mentioned, this mill is meant to just be stationary and always level, so a cantilever head that makes the portables so easy to set up really isn't necessary in this design.  Good comments, Mr. Case! You'll keep us on our toes ;-)

[LOGDOG]

Good eye, but looking at it again, it looks like a slight optical illusion. (Now we're going to have half the forum studying that ten-second section and we'll have a three page discussion on it, eh? ;-) 

Funny Mooney ... 37 posts and you already have us figured out.  ;) We gotta have something to talk about right?

Do you have squaring arms built into that frame by chance?

[Meadows Miller]

Log Dog You beat Me to It Mate  ;) :D :D ;D

[Meadows Miller]

I bet there was a bit of a knot it was working through in that part of the clip you will get it on any mill from time to time in wide or deep cuts but generally not for long  ;) Circ's will load up when you go from normal to hard patch but will generally not try to dodge it unless its really big or hard or you dont let up on feed  ;)

Ill bet it would do well if you where on 18" plus logs most of the time with an edger  ;) Whats the top feed speed and can I get a drag back for it  ??? or would I have to set up a semi auto vac lift  ;) :D ;D

[paul case]

those wide cuts make for a whole new set of problems now dont they!
mooney,
no kick from here. i already told you that my mill does this sometimes on wide cuts. blade problems i woulld say but i wanted to hear someone else say they had seen this. a new band on my mill will make good cuts on a few over 30'' but then it starts the slight cut up entering and a fall when exiting. it will remain the same thickness except for the first 3'' of cut. i know it is the blade and i suspect that it is all on the wide cut affecting the sharpness and set. of course my bands are 1 1/4'' instead of 2'' or 3'' so it surprised me to see that.
give it up on the optical illusion thing. pc

[Bibbyman]

I thought a guy could make a business going around from mill to mill breaking down big logs for them.  It'd have to be set up more mobile than it is.  Maybe on a trailer that could be dropped? Maybe a big diesel engine?  Or all mounted on a lowboy trailer with a generator?   Think portable car crusher.   A guy up the road brings one in about every two months.

[Larry]

Set tooth or swaged?  I bet set tooth as that would give WM a one up on most mills that size.

[Bibbyman]

The power cord going to the motor looks surprisingly light.  The cord to our 25 hp motor is the size of a gas pump hose.  We have our's wired on the low voltage setting (215-220v 3ph?).

[jdonovan]

if you double the voltage, you can halve the amps, so if they are running it at 480, or 600v then it could be a smaller cable than you might expect.

[LOGDOG]

This video really shows the scale of the mill next to some human bodies ...and look at that little bitty LT70 next to it. WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztO8zGcIEc4&feature=related

[LOGDOG]

....And with the log handling deck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf2MhehcvQQ&feature=related

[Chuck White]

Man.......... That is one impressive machine!

The sound in the back of my mind says "KA-CHING  KA-CHING".

But "boy what a slabber"!

[customsawyer]

That mill would have come in handy on the pecan project.

[Cedarman]

Bibbyman,if Mohammed can't go to the mountain, take the mountain to Mohammed.
If someone had one of those big mills and word got out that there was a good market for oversized logs, then loggers might just haul them to the mill.  Talking to all the sawmills in an area might give an idea of how many big logs are out there without a mill.  
The swingers probably already have an idea with their ability to cut up big logs.
I see a lot of big butts cut off oaks that have 3 to 6' of good wood in them because they were doubles or triples.  I am surprized more swingers aren't cutting them up.

[Magicman]

I just saw a trac of very old growth SYP cut.  All of the trees larger than 30" were "jump butted".   :-\

The logger was crying to see all of that waste.

[Bibbyman]

Yea,  there are some big logs that just don't go to market because there are no mills that will take them.  There is one Amish mill that has an overhead saw that will take them.  Also, I've seen one home-made band mill setting behind an Amish mill that was MONSTER size that I assume was built to break down big logs.

There are a lot of big trees still standing because the loggers leave them.  The stave mill has some max size.  We've got a few butt cuts that were too big for stave mill yet had some major defect that kept them from the veneer market.

[Hilltop366]

It's a big one for sure,  I wonder if they were consulting with Fishpharmer on that one?

[wwsjr]

I thinks max size mill will take in our area is 26", at least that is what some loggers have told me. I have had a few 30" and larger show up to be cut on my LT40. There is a land owner  that I cut for  that has 1300 acres of primarily SYP with many trees in excess of 30", no market. He waited too long to harvest. I have cut several for him that had already died, no place to sell logs. I don't think I could swing the purchase of that mill, besides that I am too old to try to expand operations.

[LOGDOG]

There's a mill over here that saws high grade pine. First and second stick only. I think the max diameter they'll accept is 28". I had an estimator come out to give me a bid on soil cementing about half a mile of my driveway. He was telling me that he and his family members had a large tree farm. The largest pine on their was 56" in diameter. It was going downhill though. They just left it because no mills would take that big of a tree. He says they have tons of trees that are 36"DBH and don't know what to do with them.

I wonder what the cost is for the blades on this WM1000? Mooney ...you have an idea?

[Magicman]

Foresters call waiting too long to harvest; "overgrowing the market".

[Bibbyman]

The problem with a lot of oversize logs in our area is that they're of no value to begin with.  Most are water oak/pin oaks, cottonwood, sycamore, etc.  Or some other large field tree or urban tree.  If they were of some kind of value, they'd been cut long before they got that big.

Had a guy talk my ears off about sawing some big sycamore logs for him.  Said the loggers just gave them to him.  He has a brother-in-law with a manual band mill that had sawn a few but they had to quarter them with a chainsaw.  He wanted to bring them to me.  I told him that the loggers didn't do anyone a favor - just ridded themselves of a problem and I wasn't taking them on.

We just had a guy pick up about 2,000 bf of cottonwood sawn from 7 logs.  There were no butt cuts as Mary told him nothing over 30". So there are some large butt cut logs pilled somewhere out of this project.  The logs he brought us were given to him.

[WDH]

In most big SYP mills, the bottleneck on size is the ring de-barkers.  Most today have a throat diameter of 28" maximum diameter, but the log would have to be a perfect cylinder if it was 28".  Hanging a big log in the de-barkers gets a bunch of people upset, fast .

[GAmillworker]

As a lot of you have mentioned Big logs in my area stay in the woods to rot or go to the land fill if there in Atlanta.  I have a good start on collecting them.  Thats the reason I joined FF to see what type of mill I could build to break them down.  Have been to busy trying to pay the bills to build the mill.  I'm going to make mine portable.  Going to build it on a 26K LB 36' gmc truck frame.  Also going to make the head rig adjustable from 3' to 6'.  will post some pics when I get started.  Ordered my 3X31" wheel covers last week.

[Brad_S.]

I have never been a WM fan...always said you'd have to give me one before I would use one.
That one, I may be willing to pay a couple of $$ for.  ;D

[Ianab]

For breaking down the occasional oversize softwood log a swingblade or twin-saw would be more economical as it's probably going to be sawn into dimension lumber anyway, which the small circle saws are really good at. This mill could do it, but you are going to be handling some large heavy slabs to resaw them into 6x2s.

But those big slabs of walnut etc that were shown in one of the videos, now that's where this mill would shine. A steady supply of those logs and it would soon pay for itself. Sure you could saw them with a chainsaw slabber attachment on a swingblade, but not as quickly, and the extra kerf would add up.

Very impressive looking mill, but I'm thinking a niche market?

Re the oversize logs, you would think that there would be a niche market for a twinsaw or swingblade. There is often a LOT of high quality wood in those big logs as the trees have self-pruned over the years, so those big butt logs have a lot of high value clear wood in them. This part of the world 36" isn't a big log, even for plantation grown pine, and up around 72" isn't rare. Heck I passed a local logging truck the other day that was hauling ONE big cypress log, and he was down to about 30mph on a hill, so it was a serious load. Not sure where he was taking it, but someone was planning to mill it  ;)

Ian

[Cedarman]

The first time I saw a swing mill was at the Richmond Expo sawing a 4' wooly hard maple and doing a heck of a job on it.  That was when they first came out.  I saw the potential of teaming up with our local loggers and mills to saw all the great big logs and the big cut offs that they leave inthe woods.  I was just too busy sawing cedar.
There are none in S Indiana that I know of so there is still that opportunity I believe.
A weeks worth of research would show whether it would be viable.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday


Its sort of Amazing the amount of timber you have access to over there for timber production  Australia,s about stuffed in some areas due to over regulation as we only have access to about 8% of our forests for timber production due to the Greens changing Public opinion and the National Park system now as off today we are one of the first countries to have a Carbon Tax and you guessed it one of the first questions was will  there be further reductions on native timber harvesting operations also Native forest residual for Biomass production  is not going to be counted as Green Energy its abit stupid imho  ??? : 

I was thinking the same Cedar  ;) I Might Just Buy Myself a Lucas and Move to the USA Mate  ;) ;D 8) Ill Be Free to Saw up any Large logs You Boys want sawn up while I am there this time too  ;) ;D Only 10 Days untill I land In Sacramento  ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

Regards Chris

[DR Buck]

The first time I saw a swing mill was at the Richmond Expo sawing a 4' wooly hard maple and doing a heck of a job on it.  That was when they first came out.  I saw the potential of teaming up with our local loggers and mills to saw all the great big logs and the big cut offs that they leave inthe woods.  I was just too busy sawing cedar.
There are none in S Indiana that I know of so there is still that opportunity I believe.
A weeks worth of research would show whether it would be viable.

No swing mills in my area any either.  Ever since GA Boy cashed in it in over in S. Maryland I've had no one to call for oversized logs.   I've started breaking them down with a chain saw when I get a big one given to me.

[bandmiller2]

Guide rails would be just like building a railroad,all the expense is in the head.That rig is not only good for large dia. but legnth too all you need is a long extension cord.Frank C.

[bandmiller2]

Chris, sorry to hear of you guys problems down under.Its the classic city people vs. country people and almost all the folks live in the city.They don't want you  rough outback blokes cutting trees and hurting those cute fuzzy wallabees.Too bad farmers and foresters couldn't quit shipping to the city for 6 months,they would realize where their life support system was. Frank C.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Nah She'll Be Rite Frank  ;) Ill Always Find Logs To Saw Mate  ;) :D ;D ;D ;D 8)

With the Wallabies and Roo's theres over 100000 of them loose in the bush around home and if you live on a property you can get permits to shoot as many as you need to most of my mates have permits for 50 to 100 pa ea they get used as dog food  ;)

Back to the Mill  ;) My choice would be two deck packages and a genset then mount all that on a 48' trailer  ;) ;D 8)

Regards Chris

[Mooney]

For those wondering about blade price: around $80.00 a blade for a 2" x .055 offered in both 7/8 and 1 1/8" tooth spacing. The blade length is 32 feet!

Since the product is brand new, pricing is still being worked out for other profiles and sizes, so stay tuned! :-)  Enjoy these photos we got late last week from Art in Oregon. Looks like they're staying busy!

[LOGDOG]

That is one impressive block of Black Walnut!

[Bibbyman]

That is one impressive block of Black Walnut!

Would make a lot of salt and pepper shakers!   

[WDH]

That would make a lot of anything  :D.

[D Hagens]

Cool mill
A few questions though
1: Why does the sawdust have to shoot out onto the operators side : I read here and a few other places that with the cantilever mills  there was no choice but to blow the sawdust onto the operator and all the controls.
2: This is a 4 poster am I correct So what's the reasons for not having the sawdust shoot out the side that it should ??? Seems to me for the amount of money and knowledgeably that went into this design that the operators health and safety should've been in the equation am I correct
BTW I think it's cool that WM keeps up with the customers in mind

[LOGDOG]

You could do it D Hagens. My Logmaster LM6  had it. THey called it the "clean side cut system". You have to reverse the direction of cut but the perk is that when you take the top off the log and then rotate it counter clockwise like we do on our Woodmizers, you are now cutting into a clean face. (Although , pending the thickness of the round on top, you may still end up cutting through bark on the on the first few flitches.) Just depends on how wide you open that first face before rotating 90 degrees.

[Brucer]

1: Why does the sawdust have to shoot out onto the operators side :

'Cause that's the way the wind is blowing ;D.

[SwampDonkey]

In most big SYP mills, the bottleneck on size is the ring de-barkers.  Most today have a throat diameter of 28" maximum diameter, but the log would have to be a perfect cylinder if it was 28".  Hanging a big log in the de-barkers gets a bunch of people upset, fast .

Worked on a town woodlot once, had a bunch of 40-48" dbh sugar maple that were figured a tiny bit with birdseye. The buyer didn't want them as it was not through the logs enough, only on the outside. Had 1/3 heart-1/2 heart so that didn't help much either. A whole trailer load of them big logs went to the Kraft pulp mill down river.  :(

Can't make a silk purse from a  sow's ear, as they say. ;)