Increasing productivity of a one man sawmill operation?

[longtime lurker]

Thanks for everyone's quick replies.

My mill is on 6x6 cross ties, which is also what I use for my log deck, so they are basically at the same level. I load about 6-8 logs on the log deck at a time.
Thats a start.  Now take the back end of your log deck and raise it until you have a 10-15 degree slope down the deck into the mill. Any more and they have a tendancy to push, but making gravity work for you is always a good thing.

Thinking about where my time goes, one of the first things I need is a better cant hook. I'm using some cheap piece of crap from Northern and it doesn't bite at all. I spend a good bit of time trying to get logs turned. I think a couple of different sized Logrite cant hooks would speed things up and reduce swearing.
A good cant hook is a must. Also get a chain with a nice open hook thats the right length to take a turn and a half of the log and use it with the skidsteer - as you lift the log rolls. I know old time production mills that use similar systems (chain around log and lift) to roll logs when they're too big for the regular turners. Secret is to have very strong backstops because when you start a rolling turn like that it puts a lot of pressure on them.

Another thing that takes some time is trimming knots I missed, knocking off any bark with dirt on it (I do keep my logs pretty clean) and trimming the ends. With these pine logs especially I like to trim about an inch off each end as soon as the log is on the mill. One, to square the ends a little better (I leave them about 6" over length from the woods) and two to get the sap covered wood off the ends, otherwise I'm covered head to toe in sap by the end of the day. Probably an unnecessary step, but makes things more pleasant.

I think I also need more/better stickers as I spend some time looking for good ones and trimming pieces to make more stickers. One thought that just occurred to me is to lay a couple 1x boards along side my cant when sawing 6/4 or 8/4 lumber and therefore make stickers at the same time as milling boards.
Can't have too many stickers - ever!!! And keep all stickers the same size and length so every sticker is the same as the last. Take a day and just turn trash logs into stickers every so often, or buy them in. We buy a lot of ours - factor in the price of time and it's not as silly as it sounds.

As for the low hp of the mill, I think it is definitely a factor, but I'm not sure how much of one. Obviously a mill with double or triple the hp (13-18hp) would saw a lot faster, but I don't think it would double or triple my production, when working by myself. Maybe it is a bigger factor than I'm realizing.
Bigger is always better when it comes to production but my guess is that you probably spend 3 hours doing other mill related tasks for every hour you spend sawing. Keep track of your hours working at the mill against the hours your actually working with the mill. It's no good having a fast mill if you haven't got a system sorted out to make things run smoothly. And always factor in the upgrade after the next upgrade when you set things up in terms of excess capacity of your support gear and systems

[farmer mark]

You mentioned not liking your cant hook.  I replaced a northern hydraulics peavey with a log rite.  Huge difference in bite, like night and day.  Some times the little things really add up the frustration level.

[Verticaltrx]

You mentioned not liking your cant hook.  I replaced a northern hydraulics peavey with a log rite.  Huge difference in bite, like night and day.  Some times the little things really add up the frustration level.

I fixed that problem today, found a hook off an old cant hook in my scrap metal pile (a good, sharp forged one) and swapped it onto mine. Bites like a charm now, should make log turning much quicker.

I also started modifying my dogs/backstops to make them quicker and less fiddly, but realized I was out of welding wire. That project will have to wait till Monday but should fix another source of consternation and wasted time.

[Brucer]

You have lots of good suggestions for increasing production. Try to reduce these suggestions to basic principles.

• Example: Reduce the amount of walking you have to do. Every time you walk somewhere ask yourself, do I have to do this now? Is there some way to reduce the distance I have to walk? Can I combine the reason for this walk with something else?
• Example: Never handle anything more than once. When you pick something up, before you put it down, ask yourself, "Do I have to put it down here? Is this it's final destination? If not, why am I putting it down?"
• Example: Be consistent in your operation. When you do something, do it the same way every time. If you want to try something different, great, but do it the new way long enough to decide if it's better.
• Example: When you see an experienced sawyer doing something a certain way, figure out  why he/she does it that way. Never assume that you should be doing it the same way -- your operation may be different. Knowing the "why" is better than knowing the "what".

It's hard, but try do time yourself in your various activities. How long do you spend sawing in a day, how long to you spend handling wood, handling logs, shovelling sawdust. You don't have to break it down too much -- the main thing is to break out the sawing time from all the other activities.

Now, a little math trick: for each of the activities you collected information for, figure out how many minutes per BF you spent doing that activity. Add those numbers together to get a total time to produce one BF. When it comes time to decide whether or not to buy a faster mill, remember that all you will be upgrading is the mill production (you'll reduce the minutes per BF for the mill). The other activities will still take the same time per BF.

If you spend exactly as much time handling material as you do sawing, and then you buy a mill that produces 50% more per hour, your overall production will only go up 20%.

[DMcCoy]

I just shut my mill down, and because of your post actually kept track of production.
9.2 Hp home made manual mill.  In @3 hrs I cut 266 BF. 18- 2x4, 10 -2x6, and 17 -1x8.  A few 1x4 which I didn't count.   Roughly 86 BF per hour.   Stacked the slabs and trimmings on a pallet but have not cut that into firewood length.

My 2 cents - In order of priority for me.
Power feed for the saw carriage. 
Power up/down for height.   
Larger engine.

[Billikenfan]

I'm not understanding how power feed on a small mill can increase production.  I can crank my handle faster then my engine can cut the log.  What am I missing?  I've never had power feed so I can't compare.  I understand power up and down makes a big difference.  I made my own power up and down on my lt15.  It was a huge time and arm saver.

Scott

[Verticaltrx]

I think my next step will be to build a new trailer/bed for the mill I currently have as well as some improvements. This will include better/quicker dogs, toe boards (other than a stack of blocks or wedges), a better sight for the log scale along with a sliding scale, and a winch for log turning. I have most of what I need on hand so it won't cost much, and should increase the value of the mill if/when I sell it.

As for my layout, I think I have it in pretty good shape. I can set the flitches on my sawhorses from where I'm standing, only have to take a few steps to stack the lumber, and I toss the slab wood onto the forks.

I might try putting a clock on the wall to get a rough estimate of time I spend on tasks, but I think holding and using a stopwatch would just slow me down and not give an accurate representation.


As for the discussion on power feed on a small mill, I think the production increase comes from being able to let the mill run by itself instead of having to push/crank it. This way you could be working on other tasks as the mill makes its way down the log (someone with power feed correct me if I'm wrong)

[WDH]

The power feed moves the saw more consistently through the log than you can cranking it.  You are also not slaved to the crank.  Every little bit adds up to a lot. 

[YellowHammer]

I'm not understanding how power feed on a small mill can increase production.  I can crank my handle faster then my engine can cut the log.  What am I missing?
Scott

Power feed lets you do the repetitive stuff while the saw is cutting.  For example, when I'm sawing by myself, instead of stopping the saw after every cut to offbear the board, I can get it done during the time the power feed is sawing the next, it's like having another person helping.
YH

[johnnyllama]

I have a manual Turner Mill, that does have hydraulic loaders but no other hyd. I recently added an electric up/down and was amazed at how much that speeded up my sawing. Not sure if you have a battery/electric start or not but it's a pretty easy upgrade using an electric winch for my unit. Faster and so much easier on my shoulder and arm!!

[DMcCoy]

I'm not understanding how power feed on a small mill can increase production.  I can crank my handle faster then my engine can cut the log.  What am I missing?  I've never had power feed so I can't compare.  I understand power up and down makes a big difference.  I made my own power up and down on my lt15.  It was a huge time and arm saver.

Scott

My idea is on heavy cuts I can set it and go do something else - stack boards, clean up, for example.  When I'm cutting 24" wide it is SLOW going.  I have power shut off on my metal cutting bandsaw, I never leave it totally alone - like leaving to go eat lunch - but It does free up time.

[DMcCoy]

I'm not understanding how power feed on a small mill can increase production.  I can crank my handle faster then my engine can cut the log.  What am I missing?
Scott

Power feed lets you do the repetitive stuff while the saw is cutting.  For example, when I'm sawing by myself, instead of stopping the saw after every cut to offbear the board, I can get it done during the time the power feed is sawing the next, it's like having another person helping.
YH

Thanks YH, it's nice to know it works like that.  To increase production I need an off bearer or get the mill to push it self.

[Brucer]

... I might try putting a clock on the wall to get a rough estimate of time I spend on tasks, but I think holding and using a stopwatch would just slow me down and not give an accurate representation. ...

Right. Keep it simple. You also have to record the time so the simpler the better. To start with, close is good enough. It's tempting to time everything at first but that just uses up time and distorts the results.

I kept a simple chart fastened to the side of the mill with magnets. I'd write down the start time,  a short abbreviation beside it of what I was doing, and then a finish time. Normally I didn't have to fill in the finish time because it was the same as the start time of the next activity. I also had a space for "interruptions" where I could just write down roughly how many minutes I spent doing something I wasn't planning to. I figured out the actual durations after the day was done.

[Billikenfan]

I'm not understanding how power feed on a small mill can increase production.  I can crank my handle faster then my engine can cut the log.  What am I missing?
Scott

Power feed lets you do the repetitive stuff while the saw is cutting.  For example, when I'm sawing by myself, instead of stopping the saw after every cut to offbear the board, I can get it done during the time the power feed is sawing the next, it's like having another person helping.
YH

Thanks YH, it's nice to know it works like that.  To increase production I need an off bearer or get the mill to push it self.

Ok I didn't know it worked like that.

Scott

[YellowHammer]

Notice the clock on the wall, staring at me.  For everyday sawing, I use it to keep track of how many logs I saw in a one hour set, and once I get a rhythm going, it's amazing how repeatable the time is.  Then all of a sudden, I look up and have lost 5 minutes doing some odd task, and that's one of the first things I try to fix.  Maybe it was loading logs on the deck, maybe disposing of slabs, maybe even moving a stack of wood.  Either way, it cost me time and broke my rhythm, so while I'm sawing the next set, I try to figure out how to reduce it or eliminate it, or saw more logs in the set, before I get interrupted again.  It's all about keeping sawdust coming out of the chute, and it doesn't matter how fast the saw is, if it's not in the log, its just wasting time....

Another thing, I always tell "new help" to slow down, quit running, quit trying to do too much.  Faster and chaotic is not more productive, it takes smooth, predictable movements to get in the "zone." 

[BrentRobinson]

We have a woodland mills and I find having everything to be edged very well organized to be where I gain the most production. I try and have everything laid out where I can look at it and size it up as I push the mill: planning the next move. Stacks of boards with two live edges in piles that will make x4,6,8 and so on. a second set of stacks with one square edge and one live edge that will make x4,6,8 and so on. As i'm working through a can't I'm always pulling a pile back in and edging it against the current can't. for example, when I get down to 4" on the lumber gauge the stack of good one edge one live edge that has sufficient width for 1x4 will be set against the can't and one push through will produce 6 or 7 boards instead of 1.

I also always try to minimize the time I spend with the blade cutting into the outside of the log. When opening up a log I will always try to keep the blade running into a cut face, not the outside of the log, seems to make the blades stay sharp longer.

[dustintheblood]

We started last year keeping records on all things around the farm & mill.  Always kept track, but now doing far more details.  I find it helps keeping it all in perspective, and will be handy someday to be able to trace back at what we did for timber cuts, wood production etc.   Even though it's a family operation and we don't sell wood anymore, it's a good habit to get into.

[Alligator]

BrentRobinson is right. If you have a fork device (tractor with forks, skid steer, fork lift) lay some cross pieces beside the mill. On the cross pieces make 3 piles as it comes off the mill (1) square edge - live edge (2) 2 live edge (3) slabs, use your forks for finished lumber (it requires no more sawing). You can carry the finished lumber to the stack area, move your 2 edger piles to their own separate piles, move your slabs to the slab pile, and put another log on the mill. Then re-position the forks to saw another log before you get off the fork device.

[dboyt]

Lots of good suggestions, and some ideas anyone can use.  Yellowhammer's photo shows something else... sawdust removal.  No point shoveling sawdust when you can be making more!

[Verticaltrx]

Did some milling this morning so I thought I'd give an update. Milling about the same lumber as last time, 1x6, 1x8, 2x6, 2x8, 10-12' long

Changes from last time:

-good cant hook
-new improved dogs/backstops
-installed wheel covers/track sweepers
-employed a few time saving ideas posted here

Went from 80bf/hr last time to 110bf/hr today. I think 110bf/hr is pretty good for one man and a 6.5hp mill, might see if I can push it up to 120bf/hr 

[Joe Hillmann]

Another way to speed up your production with a mill without a debarker is to take heavy slabs.  By doing that you will get longer blade life because you are cutting into less bark and you have less edging to do.  When I start on a log and want to get every bit of lumber out of it I remind myself,"firewood has value too" then I don't mind so much taking heavy slabs.

Also when rolling the cant when taking off slabs roll it so on the next cut the blade will enter into the face you just made and exit through the bark.  This may actually slow you down because you may need to use a square to make sure the cut you just made is square to the bunks but it will mean you can go longer without changing blades because the bark is hard on blades.

[Verticaltrx]

To answer my own question: 'How to increase productivity of a one man sawmill operation?'

Answer: get a bigger mill.

Ordered a new Woodmizer LT15G19 today, should arrive at Woodmizer Carolinas next week 

Just got the basic setup but it will be a huge step up over my little 6.5hp Hudson. I'll add power feed, an extra bed section and maybe an EG50 edger as funds permit. Would like to eventually be able to mill 3000bf/day with an edger, helper and good support equipment.

On a side note, I can't believe how fast those LT15s are selling right now. I called WM Carolinas yesterday and they had three coming in today (already sold,) two coming Friday (which sold yesterday before I could even get a deposit on one), and another truck coming next week which mine should be on. 

[downsouth]

That sounds good. You will like it!
Congrats! I would recommend the power feed for sure.

[WDH]

The power feed is a game changer.

[Magicman]

Congrats Verticaltrx, on the upgrade.