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A Day Milling on my first Lumber Share

Started by Ruffneck, August 15, 2014, 12:04:11 AM

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Ruffneck

I've been working my first lumber share job for the past couple of months now. I had no idea how it would pan out, but so far we have both been happy.
We have split the lumber three times so far and should have it done in a couple of weeks.
I wanted to get some accurate numbers on cost and return on my investment, so I came up with the following yesterday:
Nine hours of milling today. 3.7 hours of mill run time. Produced 420 total board feet of one inch thick Western Red Cedar. Cost to run for this time about $50. Using Home Depot as a comparable, I've produced a total value of $788 worth of lumber. That makes my shares' street value $394. I'm making the equivalent of $43/hour tax free.... And that concludes Steve's fuzzy math for the evening! If I want a raise, I better start working faster :D

 

Magicman

Your smile is easily worth another two bucks.   ;D
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

timberlinetree

You've got to love it when the numbers work out. Nice job!
I've met Vets who have lived but still lost their lives... Thank a Vet

Family man and loving it :)

drobertson

Heck yea! there's no doubt when you pick up the numbers your gain will be substantial.  Cutting on shares is a good way to go when the need arises,  happy for you!   more pics too! ;D
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,

justallan1

I like it when a plan comes together.
How close to the fires out there are you? Between the haze from the west coast fires and the lightning storms here we all stay nervous this time of year.

Allan

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Dear Mr. Ruffneck,
As an I.R.S. agent, I am interested in speaking with you on your "Tax Free" money.
We will be in contact with you in the next 10 to 14 days.

Sincerely,

O.L. Goat / Internel Revenue.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

red oaks lumber

the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Ruffneck

But the money that grows on trees is tax free, right?  ;D
So many lessons learned doing this job. When I started in may, I thought I'd knock this thing out in three to four weeks :D:

 

Well, I've now been doing it for three months and am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel:

 

My partner and I have developed a pretty good system. He lays out the logs with his bobcat. I then come in and debark and buck the logs:

 
He'll then load the biggest log on the mill, usually an eight footer. He'll then stack the rest of the dailies quota in front of my ramps. It turns out I can load pretty big logs faster than I can track him down and have him load another. Once you get use to hand cranking it ain't so bad :D
I will mill as small as 6 inches on the small end, making 4x4s out of them. I make everything else one inch thick from 3 to 12 inches wide. In the beginning we did random width material even leaving a live edge on some. I decided to stop doing that after our first split, I decided I didn't want to have to re-saw anything later.

My partner says he doesn't really care if there is sapwood on the boards, but I prefer not having any. The only time I've seen any mold was on the sapwood.

The best lesson so far is once I've conditioned myself and developed the muscle memory needed to run this manual LT 35 mill, the work wasn't so bad. I'm already planning the next big job so I don't lose that edge :D

This is me working the grind on this job:
http://youtu.be/ihoCCMu7s24

Did you catch my mistakes? I did :) :) :)

HAPPY LABOR DAY ALL!!!

Magicman

You made me tired trimming those flitches one at the time.   :o
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

thechknhwk

All the similar sized flitches can go on at one time.  You might lose a lil bf, but save a ton of time.

Peter Drouin

 smiley_clapping smiley_clapping

That was Nice, Made me smile :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

thechknhwk

Love the music too.  Sawyer Brown, I'll take the dirt road.

Ruffneck

 The project has ended and the mill is back home. In four months, 7,774 total board feet of WRC lumber was produced. My take was 3,887 BF.
Other than some scratches and bruises, no injuries to report. I have other jobs to do. This little hobby is keeping me busy.  ;D
Like a Boss:


 
:D :D :D

Ljohnsaw

You sure made it look easy!

I'm a little confused, though (keep in mind I've never sawed a single board (yet)).  Why, when you were trimming the live edge off, taking little slices after the first cut?  Were you taking out the sap wood?
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

Banjo picker

Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Magicman

Pat makes me wear my "everyday" tie when I am sawing.   ;D
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

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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