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You can't Lose with the Saw I Use!

Started by fencerowphil (Phil L.), January 17, 2002, 05:26:43 PM

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fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Okay, so I'm brazenly stealing SawyerAl's idea from another forum (WoodWeb: Sawing and Drying)

Whatever you mill with....  Please give a quick description of what you cut, where you are and make and model.

And make it snappy! 8)

Phil L.     Central/South Georgia, USA   090 Stihl w/ Alaskan mill.  Mainly want to focus on unusual cuts, not dimension wood.  
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Kevin

I have one on my forehead but it`s almost healed .
                    

Tom

Well Phil,  I don't mind reporting that I have sawn in N. Florida and S. Ga. with a Woodmizer LT40HD on a trailer for the past 12 years and belong to their Million Foot club.  I have cut Oak, Pine, Bay, Gum, Holly and Camphor to name a few of the local woods and have been lucky enough to be asked to cut imports from Australia, S. America, South Florida and other foreign lands.

I have cut trees with history, The Spyglass Oak and Ohio's champion Cottonwood.  I have sawed pine planted by an older generation and used in Grandsons and Great Grandsons homes today.  That little mill and I have sawed the wood for barns, houses, fences, churches, trailer decks, furniture, paneling, cabinets, baseball bats, laminated bows, bowls, wagons and boats in a circle around Jacksonville, Fl. from St. Mary's Ga. to Race Pond and Folkston to St. George  to McClenny Fl. and around to Middleburg and St. Augustine.  We have traveled to jobs as far away as Two Egg in the Panhandle and Ft. Pierce on the east coast.  It needs rebuilding but is still functional and a fine machine. :)

I also have a Baker 3638D.

Jeff

CMC Technologies Full Auto Commercial. With 3 blade vertical edger and full lasers. 20,000 to 30,000 bf avg production per day.  Species: Northern Hardwoods.

Northern lower Michigan.

8)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

woodmills1

woodmizer hd-40, cut native NH wood have some ongoing contracts and some just customers.  part time so far about 80,000 bd ft per year,  6 years into it. used to be just a firewood maker.  still a high school physics teacher.  still make firewood.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Ron Wenrich

Morbark of Canada circle mill with 2 saw vertical edger.  Cutting grade lumber and blocking.  Average production 12-18 Mbf, depending on species and log size.

Primary species are red oak, tulip poplar, ash and white oak.  Minor species include hickory, cherry, walnut, maple, black locust, white pine and hemlock.

Products sawn is primarily 4/4 lumber for the cabinet, furniture and casket markets.  Also saw 5/4 and 6/4 oak, 10/4, 12/4, 16/4 tulip poplar for the Canadian market.

Blocking is primarily 3 1/2 x 6 for the pallet market.  Also saw 7 x 9 railroad ties and railroad bridge timbers from 8 x 8 to 10 x 17
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Jeff

Morbark of Canada? Ron, I'll bet that mill was built in my backyard and just sold through Canada. Morbark plant is 1/2 hour from here in Winn Michigan.  The founder of Morbark Norval "Nubb" Morey was my boss's brother in law.

Our first mill was a morbark, which we wore out and replaced with the CMC. CMC is the old Forestall company, and the Morbark sawmilll is simply a knockoff of that. So, I imagine our mills are vey much alike.

Funny, when we bought a new mill, we could have gotten one from down the road but we bought the CMC out of New Hampshire. I think the Company is now called Hilltop supply.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Well, it looks like only Kevin can read directions.
(He can't take care of himself, but at least he reads the directions.)
Phil L.

Keep 'em comin', millers!
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Ron Wenrich

This sawmill was made at North Bay, Ont.  They came in and low balled all the competition, then cut corners to make a profit.  We had major problems with design and some of their quality.  They used cheap bearings, for example.  Fast forward wasn't very fast.  

We have eventually re-engineered everything.  We do that with most equipment that have engineers who do the design, but have never used the equipment.  It helps to have a mechanical engineer that can design things when I tell him what I want.

Morbark sold the Canadian operations a number of years ago, probably about 10.  The Canadian managment eventually run it into financial trouble.  Since then, it has been sold to a Canadian mill manufacturer, but I can't remember the name right now.

I went with Canadian Morbark, since their design was identical to the US Morbark.  I knew the parts would be interchangable.  We are still dealing with unknown cyclinders that no one seems to know where they came from.

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Frank_Pender

I have 2 Mobile Dimension Mill, both Model 128's.  The first mill is inside of a building, the second on a factory trailer.  It is one of a kind, however.  It has a number of bells and whistles in the form of hydraulics: loaders, log rollers, automatic log dogs, rack and pinion lifting of carrage and track.  The third is a head rig with a 52" blade. the Mobile Mills can cut  logs 4 1/2 ' in diameter, the one inside cuts up to 24' and the outside 18'.   The head rig is limited to 24' also.  I cut primarely Douglas fir dimensional lumber for construction as well as a large variety of hardwoods for woodworkers.
Frank Pender

Jeff

Ron, your choice between the Canadian and U.S. Morbark was based on price then?  That was why we chose the cmc. But over the years we would have saved the cost of the mill if we would have bought the morbark simply in reduced down time. Its pretty handy when the part we need is only a half hour away, problem is only about half the time is the morbark part the same as the CMC.

I guess that is a good concideration when these guys are looking to buy a mill. Price of the mill means only a  little in the scheme of things. Quality, part availability, and parts compatability are a much more important aspect then sticker price.  
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Ron Wenrich

Price was the ONLY issue.  Montgomery mills are within 50 miles, and they are a Frick knockoff.  Mills are well made, and custom built.  We had talked to them prior, but never had them come up with a design.

We were running Jackson mills.  They are a great little mill, especially their portable jobs.  Very low tech.  Their commercial mills are well built.  Mgmt never contacted them.

We had a local mill salesman come up with a design.  His theory is if he doesn't handle it, you don't need it.  His prices were too high, so we went factory direct.

I came up with a mill design, then the salesmen took over.  We also had an industrial engineer at our disposal.  Mgmt decided to listen to the salesman, and froze me and the engineer out of the process.  So, I got to sit back and get entertained.

The salesman sold us a 40 yr old gen set.  It was off of an on dozer, and was barely enough power for our needs.  Then we had to get electric motors that fit the Canadian power scheme.  Those are primarily used in mining and are hard to find and expensive to replace.  They also sold us a new saw that I couldn't even buy teeth for unless it was special order.

Morbark does have an excellent mill.  It is heavy duty and runs well, now that we've made some improvements.  In this case, their support equipment was sub-par.

The point of this story is that equipment should be bought with the guys who know something about how they should operate and how they should be built.  Salesman are only interested in the deal and moving merchandise.

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Gordon

Ok I use a Husky. But I don't mill with it so I guess that leaves me out of this thread. :D

But I do use it to saw the logs to take to the mill. ;)
Afterall someone has to get the logs for all of you to saw.

Gordon
Delaware

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Come on guys,

Tell us what you use.  There must be plenty more sawyers out there in ForestryForum land.
Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Bibbyman

Started out in 94 with a Wood-Mizer LT40G18.  A couple of years ago we added a 96 Wood-Mizer LT40HDG35 Super.  Sold the 96 Super a couple of weeks before Christmas and ordered a new Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25-RA.  Then a little over a week ago we sold the 94 LT40G18.  

We installed the new Super at the end of last week and just have 5 hours on it.

We saw grade hardwood - mostly red oak, farm lumber, shipping blocking, novelty blanks, survey stakes, and aromatic red cedar.  We also do custom sawing and have a Blockbuster firewood processor.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Alright! 8)  That's one more.

Keep 'em comin', guys.
Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Don't worry, Bibbyman,
We haven't forgotten the real secret to your success:
The Proverbs Woman,  Mary. ;)

How does the verse go?

She considereth a woodlot and buyeth the timber thereon.
Makes so much money a sawin', makes other work seem ... just for fun. ;D

Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

Papa Dave

OK Phil, If you insist:

I have a custom mill that I built and it looks very much like any four post machine with an 18 hp vangard engine. It takes a 13'2"  11/4blade and will saw up to 36 diameter logs. It is on a trailer and will saw 9'6" logs. I plan to build an extension next year.  Have all the material, just have not found the time.

Just finished painting it real Ford Red. It is so pretty. ;D

I whack logs part-time on weekends. Mostly Oak.

fencerowphil (Phil L.)

Thank goodness, Papa,
You didn't paint it you-know-who ORANGE! :D
Thanks,
Phil L.
Bi-VacAtional:  Piano tuner and sawyer.  (Use one to take a vacation from the other.) Have two Stihl 090s, one Stihl 075, Echo CS8000, Echo 346,  two Homely-ite 27AVs, Peterson 10" Swingblade Winch Production Frame, 36" and 54"Alaskan mills, and a sore back.

kat

A Wood Wizard, all manual, does a decent job. Mill mostly hardwood, main hobby.

Steve

Since I'm new hear I figure this is a good thread to introduce myself with. I bought my first mill in 1978 and milled in Washington, Alaska and Oregon. I have lived here in Hawaii for 10 years now and just bought a new Mobile Dimension. I saw hardwoods here for grade, Koa when I can get it and Mango and other woods when available. I saw a lot of big rough logs some only yielding 50% or less of gross scale. The wood is very valuable and getting the best grade is very important. Here are some pictures of the first log with this new mill. http:www.curlykoa.com/gallery

Steve
Steve
Hawaiian Hardwoods Direct
www.curlykoa.com

Jeff

Hey Steve be sure to add your website address to your profile. I did some looking around and I wanted to post this link to a page on your site. It's a good one :)
http://www.curlykoa.com/maunakea/tippedtruck.html

We now have forum members from all 4 corners plus Alaska and Hawaii!  

Steve, I hope you have some pictures you can share with us, you ought to be really able to challange us in the tree I.D. forum!  Welcome and thanks for introducing yourself.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

shinglemaker

New at milling here in NH.Been researching for quite some time. Bought mag subscriptions and went to a show in Bangor Maine.
Ended the search with a Baker all manual. Having the time of
my life. Best way to get all the necessary exercise.
So far only sawwed pine. Built the building around it with
harvest from where the building is. Now making shingles to side my existing buildings.

Don P

Steve,
Awesome pics! I,ve never done that to a big truck :D, did it to a little truck full of molding right in front of the boss one time ::). Koa is beautiful stuff, i've only gotten my mitts on it a coupla times and I can see why its hard to keep, don't even have a sample anymore, everyone loves it on sight.


Frank_Pender

  Great pictrues, Steve.  Welcome to the Forum.  It is sure nice to have another Mobile Dimension Mill owner "on board".  I have two of them and I am located in Dallas, Oregon. ;)
Frank Pender

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