iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Milling with LT70

Started by Oregon_Sawyer, May 20, 2004, 12:20:29 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Oregon_Sawyer

Finished the milling job last Fri.  This is the first time I have had to write about it.

Originally I took the job and they told me they had 3000 ft of Oregon White Oak logs and some fir and cedar.  I told them I could probably do it in two days.

Well I got to the job.  They had a nice setup, flat spot to saw, three people to help and a boom truck to load the logs.  They had not bucked the logs yet and there was more than they had told me.

I ended up with 5 6hr days.  I wore out the off bearers each day by the 6th hour.  The oak was cut into 8 ft logs and cut at 1 3/16 with both side edged.  The fir was 12ft and 8ft cut into 2x4, 2x6 and some 2x8.

Total volume was 3800 bd ft of oak for flooring.
                           200 bd ft of figured soft maple
                         4400 bd ft of Douglas fir

I also cut stickers out of WRC and moved the mill twice.

The fir was cut in about 8 hrs.  OVER 500 bd ft per hour.  (wow a record for me)   Even then I was waiting for the logs.

I was paid 2320.00 for this job.

This is the first time I got to see what the LT 70 could do.

Loren
Sawing with a WM since 98. LT 70 42hp Kubota walk behind. 518 Skidder. Ramey Log Loader. Serious part-timer. Western Red Cedar and Doug Fir.  Teamster Truck Driver 4 days a week.

Mobilesawyer

Admirable production. I wish I could go that fast day after day. The idea of wearing out three helpers in six hours makes me smile. I am a swinger and we are pretty easy on our offbearers. Were you edging on the mill or using a seperate edger?

pasbuild

Nice weeks worth of work ;)
If it can't be nailed or glued then screw it

Ianab

Having decent logs, a good site, log handling machinery and plenty of help are the keys to good production. Sounds like one of those good jobs where everyone wins   :)
Hope you have many more weeks like this one.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Oregon_Sawyer

I edged on the mill.

I had great helpers they kept the slabs away and picked up the little pieces so we weren't tripping.

Since they were paying me part of the job by the hour I didn't slack off on the help.

You have to have some days like this to make up for all the other kind of days  ;D ( Like today 8))

Loren
Sawing with a WM since 98. LT 70 42hp Kubota walk behind. 518 Skidder. Ramey Log Loader. Serious part-timer. Western Red Cedar and Doug Fir.  Teamster Truck Driver 4 days a week.

Percy

Heya Loren
Lumber barfin on the 70. 8)..way to go. If you just cut and everyone babysits you, production is amazing for a mill this size.... I did a resaw job today and the customer said he wanted to sort all the 2X6 I was splitting into 1X6(OK 15/16X6) into different grades, lengths yaddayadda. I told him he'd need four people tailin while I feed ifn he wanted to keep up, sorting like that. Well, two of em kept up....sorta.... but it was too much work for two people. Lotsa sweat, lotsa production. Split about 7000 bdft of 2x6 into 1X6 in about 4 hours...coulda dunit faster but the tailers were dyin, ...I was kinda sweatin mysef ya ;D ;D ;D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Bibbyman

Did you do the re-saw with an attachment?

We seldom re-saw flatways but when we do,  it's real slow and it's hard to get the board flat on the blocks.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Percy

QuoteDid you do the re-saw with an attachment?

We seldom re-saw flatways but when we do,  it's real slow and it's hard to get the board flat on the blocks.
Ya Bib,I have a WM resaw attachment. The thing is amazing. Ive had it for seven years, it fell outta the back of the truck once at 30 mph while I was draggin the mill(LT40). Got run over, been left in the rain and snow for years at a time and still pushes boards thru the blade at a rapid pace. I been using .050 WM blades lately as they seem to hold up real well on the 70's larger band wheels. The benifit of the thicker blade means feed rates well in excess of a foot per second. (7- 2X6X10WRC per minute).  I been charging $70.00 per MBF resawing fee at the customers location.(Advantage for them as they dont have to haul around their lumber). At 2000 bdft or better per hour, its a profitable venture ;D.
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Bibbyman

We've kicked around getting a re-saw atachment.  Came close to having a major project where it would have really come in handy - but the projects never came about.

We get asked about making sideing and I'm told you can adjust the re-saw to split a board on a taper.  

One project we were asked to quote making red cedar lap sideing for a hunting lodge - inside and out.  The customer had the logs. We were going to saw the cedar to 1-1/8" and then air dry it and plane it and then re-saw the boards on a taper.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

sparks

The resaw won't do tappered boards but the shingle lap sider will.
\"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.\" Abraham Lincoln

Percy

QuoteThe resaw won't do tappered boards but the shingle lap sider will.
Actually, I do tapered(beveled siding) with my resaw  almost as much as makin fencing, You just tilt the thing with the adjustment bolts and shims if needed and wala, you are cookin. Infact you can do 20 footers with the resaw and not with the lap thingie as the droop factor makes the last few cuts impossible. ;D
GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Bibbyman

That's what I thought I remembered what I was told.   ???

It's one of those things that can be done with a piece of equipment that it wasn't really designed for.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

FeltzE

Sparks,

I've got a resaw and a lap sider attachment. I would be happy to sell the lap sider as I hate it! But the resaw will out produce the lap sider for taperd siding by an enormous margin.

First cut the blanks 4 or 5 quarter lumber then put on the resaw set at  an appropriate angle. This will take 15 or 20 min. Then start sawing with a new blade and you will get exceptional results.

We were splitting 2.4's at 30+ feet per min on my last job (for the resaw) at an hourly rate plus cost of blades for tramp metal like old nails and ceramic insulators.


Cutting with the lap sider requires making a cant pulling the cant off the mill putting the sider on then cutting the cants. Handling 12' cants without handling equipment on site is a hassle. Then without computer setworks getting uniform boards is a mental tease. I found it's faster, easier, and more uniform to cut the 4 or 5 quarter thickness boards then resaw on an angle.

Eric

Bibbyman

Maybe WM should look at the re-saw attachment and see where some design updates could be made to assist in making lap siding?  Looks like an un-advertised feature.

The lapsider still would have its place in making shingles and wedges.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

Thank You Sponsors!