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Five days on the road

Started by backwoods sawyer, October 08, 2013, 06:09:59 PM

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backwoods sawyer

 Little Jo and I pulled out well before day light headed to a milling site over a 150 miles out, the directions were simple, go to the end of the paved road and take the path least traveled and follow it to the end, to confirm this we had done the site evaluation while returning from a milling job 50 miles further out.  All the white fir and Doug fir were 24"+ one was 44" logs scattered in clumps of 4-5, no equipment available.
When we arrived a half hour ahead of schedule the sound of a fair sized tractor coming down the road was a real relief. We set up along the road and put the first log on the mill, it was a rough looking 34" Doug fir. Had a box of wm resharp saws and a box of new saws, the first two resharp saws cut 21 waves down a 16' log. I was sure disappointed with those results as they were not cutting waves when I sent them in to be sharpened. So I pulled out the new saws for the rest of the job. We put in 32 hours and produced over 10,000 bft without another wavy cut. The big logs were picking up lots of rocks and each one had to be cleaned and rotated but still lost one saw to hitting a fair sized rock in the bark.
Having a second sawyer saves a lot of steps and allowed us to maintain a good production rate which is vital to keeping cost down while on the road.
We had lined up two other jobs for the return trip, one down town beaver nation, flaggers needed to back the mill across a busy street and setup just off sidewalk milled a nice white pine tree. Then we were off to the little town in the middle of nowhere to follow the pavement to the end and take the path least traveled to the end where we found several nice white oak, one was a 14' 34" log, as the log was loaded onto the mill the customer commented that he had had several mill owners tell him they could not cut oak. It cut just fine all though the 1" choker and other cables growing out of the big oaks around the mill and blue stain in the log did give concern.
Five days on the road over 12,000 bft milled at three milling sites on a 500+ mile loop, it was well past dark, 10 miles from home and the mill gives a shutter as I slow to a stop I see remnants of a tire balled up on one side of the rim. I have had this mill from coast to coast and this is the second tire to give out.  New tire on the mill and another box of saws on order and we are taking the day off.



  

  

 
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

drobertson

And I thought I was wore out,  keep up the pace!  proud and happy for you!    david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Dave Shepard

Sounds like quite an adventure. :)

At least the tire waited until you were close to home before letting go. My mill has less than ten miles on it after it was delivered new, and I have to replace one tire, but that was due to the tire and one of the tines on the forklift trying to occupy the same point in space. :D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

thecfarm

White log dog too.  ;D   Glad things worked out for you.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Seaman

Now THAT'S portable milling! Makes my operation look awfully small. Keep it up, after your one day off that is.
Lucas dedicated slabber
Woodmizer LT40HD
John Deere 5310 W/ FEL
Semper Fi

redbeard

Those Doug firs looked really nice, and you had a busy week. Its hard to see the gravel size rocks in the Doug fir bark sometimes. I hit one last week, of all things I had a small rock fall in between a stack of boards I was edging, hit it dead center and pulled it through the cut. I hate the rock sound!
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

woodNthings

Amazing amount of production! About as much in five days as I have sawed in total :o I like that part of the country a lot, (originally from the n.west)
So what do you make of the resharp's????????? I have been sceptical of mine at times....
'10 WM LT33 Hyd.
'80s Case rough terrain forklift
'54 Farmall Super A
'01 Duramax

terrifictimbersllc

Enjoyed your story of this outing.  Was it one truck and the mill or do you take an edger too?  Are you two doing all the work or are the customers carrying boards too?
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

backwoods sawyer

On the resharp not sure what is up, normal turn around is 4 days and it took two weeks, maybe the saws got switched as all 10 were first run saws that were still cutting good when i pulled them off and 3 out of the box had been rejected and two just would not cut straight.

For a trip like this the truck was fully loaded so Little Jo took the car for all our running, site evals ect, Have not put a hitch on the car yet so the edger stayed home, customer kept logs infront of the mill, roll stack off the tail end of the mill and the customer sorted stacked and stickered from there, we cut sticker stock as needed.

Next job is a 48" doug fir tree and he wants a 23' beam he has a backhoe to assist, have to take the big saw on this one.

Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

mesquite buckeye

Seems that tire could be fixt. ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

beenthere

QuoteOn the resharp not sure what is up,

Best to take that up with resharp. We for sure can't sort it out for you, or know what the answer is. Resharp might help you out. Wish you the best.

Similar note, I have been really down on the brand of game camera I've been using for the last two months. Couldn't figure out why one set of batteries would last for quite a few pics, and another set would only last for a dozen or so pics. Very inconsistent results and figured something wrong with the camera, as I double checked that all 8 AA batteries were put in correctly to get the 6 volts. Knew there should be pics on the card, but none.

Finally the last straw this morning, I called the 800 # for customer service.
Found out it was my fault that I didn't format each SD card before sticking it in the game cam. Apparently the camera will take a pic and try to store it on the SD card, and just keep trying until the batteries run down, just because the format of the card is wrong.

Something I didn't know, but should have. Hope all is good now.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

backwoods sawyer

Over sized old growth doug fir was on the list for today. The tree had been laying around for quite some time 48" down to 38" in four logs. we split, trimmed and milled the first three logs today and saved the big one for tomarrow, he wants 3 each 8"x 20" beams, of course they have to be 23' long as well. 16 rings to the inch makes it worth while to spend the time it takes to get the beams.



  

  

 
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

redbeard

Your going to be in for some heavy work tomorrow. That old growth is heavy. Do you still have your boom truck?
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

backwoods sawyer

this is the ugly log we had to work with, Over sized over length, with a soft spot in it. The backhoe struggled to set the log on the mill and the mill handled it from there, I kicked it off the mill once so it could be turned over with the use of chains. he wanted three 8"x 20 beams 23' long, got two of the beams and one 6"x 16" x 20'
To split the beams i set the rollers 1" off the rail and shoved the beam the first 4' thru the saw then finished the cut, got tru cuts in one pass.



  

  

  
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

backwoods sawyer

here are some more of the process.



  

 

yep still have the boom truck.
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

mesquite buckeye

Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

backwoods sawyer

Looks like over sized logs are on the cut list again.



  

 
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

morgoon

Thanks for the pics and story

That's amazing!
Homemade bandsaw, made by my mentor and dear friend Unto...who turned 85 this year

And I just made my first longbow...awesome

Magicman

It's good to see the work coming in for you Harvey.   smiley_thumbsup smiley_thumbsup
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

backwoods sawyer

It has been a good steady year, changing business plans and going 100% portable serving a much larger area and adding a second sawyer has worked out well for me.
Well? Did anyone fill their tag? If not I can tell you where a herd of 50 + is located ;D
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

dboyt

With logs like that, portable is the only way to go.  Do you require your customers to have the means of getting those bad boys up on your mill?  Great photos, thanks for posting.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

backwoods sawyer

The mill does have a limit as to what it can load. for over sized logs they need to have the equipment they moved the log with present, though it is not always used. but not everyone with a big log has the means to move it. so lightening the log up is nessisary.
The mill will load a fresh 36" oak 14' long. 16' may be a bit much to get it off the ground.

This red cedar loaded with ease today.


 


Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

redbeard

That is a nice cedar, center looks solid.
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

Magicman

Quote from: backwoods sawyer on October 11, 2013, 09:16:37 PM
To split the beams i set the rollers 1" off the rail and shoved the beam the first 4' thru the saw then finished the cut, got tru cuts in one pass.
That was a valuable tidbit that almost got past me.   smiley_thumbsup smiley_thumbsup
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

backwoods sawyer

We started the over sized fir job by milling up 13 western red cedar logs all 1x6 for 2,200 bft, tomorrow we start the morning with the Doug fir, eight logs two are over sized logs that will be split in half. One is a real nice log the other has big knots and will be all 3x12 bridge decking, the log owner had debarked most of the cedar as well as the two big fir logs and has trimmed the knots back some on the ugly one.

Just had a replacement tip put on the long bar, the bars tuned and all chains have been freshly ground, all saws cleaned, tuned and ready to take care of that part of the job.

The 32" log looks small alongside the 48" log.




  

  

 
Backwoods Custom Milling Inc.
100% portable. . Oregons largest portable sawmill service, serving all of Oregon, from our Backwoods to yours..sawing since 1991

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