Any LT-300 owners here?

[FiremanEd]

We just got our LT300 up and running last week. Was curious of there is anyone else who've taken the leap to the larger mills.

Only sawed for 3 days so far but am truely impressed with this mill and most importantly the computer. This takes all the guess work and calculation out of sawing and measures to the 1/32" I can now concentrate on the log and working it for the best grade and not worring about "what's my next cut?" Also never thought I'd saw over 7mbf in a 10hr day w/ a 3 man crew.. (72 ties and 3,500' of 4/4) and this only the 3rd day on the mill. I'm just figuring out what some of the buttons do.

If anyone has one I'd love to hear from you.

Ed

[Bibbyman]

Sounds like you're off to a great start.  I don't know of another LT300 owner on the Forum ... But maybe some have been reading will now join in..  

There are probably more than a few LT40 owners that have made the move to LT70s and thinking about going to the LT300.

Keep us posted.

[FiremanEd]

Thanks for the info Biddyman, It was/is a big step. I plan to run it 8 days a month. As a career Firefighter/Paramedic I have a lot of time off.. (don't say it like that around my wife,, she's not sure which is my full time job) Anyway, we run an average of 2 days a week with myself and 2 men who work for my dad on the farm the days I'm not running.

If anyone is thinking about it, I have extensive budgeting spreadsheets that I've put together over the past 6 months while making the decision to step up. I'll be happy to share them with anyone who is considering a mill upgrade.

In short my budget was based on averaging 600bf/hr or 6mbf / 10hr day. I've already proven to myself that this will be doable by breaking 7mbf on the 3rd day or learning the mill. We cut 7x9'' ties and 4/4 flooring and grade boards which helps keep the averages up.

For our area where the log supply is unlimited and the tie and flooring demand is equally good I am excited about the upgrade. I used very conservitive figures for both expenses and income so I (and the banker) are comfortable. Only time will tell if it was the correct one.

Hope all are well, this is a great forum.

[Bibbyman]

Sounds pretty bold of a plan to justify an LT300 setup with only 8 days of sawing a month.  I think a lot of places running that size mill would plan to run it two shifts – 6 days a week.

What other support equipment did you get or have?  Log decks, conveyors,  board kickers,  edger,  green chain,  dust blowers, slab grinders?

How do you manage your log buying and lumber loading and deliveries? Even with our "mom and pop" operation,  getting logs to the lot, bought, unloaded and lumber out takes a lot of time.

Link to Wood-Mizer LT300 web page

[FiremanEd]

Biddyman,

You make a very good point! I put a lot of work on planning and budgets. The bottom line with me running it 8 days / month is only slightly less than paying a salary for a full time sawyer. I'm a career Firefighter/ Paramedic so 8 to 10 days a month is all I can do. I'm still considering hiring a full time sawyer and me running on other days or in the evenings but we're gonna see how it works at 8 days for now.

I bought a package deal from a man who was getting out of sawing for personal reasons. The LT300 which only had 249 operating hour, came with the conveyer, transfer deck and log deck. Also included in the package were a blower, end trim saw, dust cyclone and large air compressor. We already had an Accu-Trac edger which is doing well.

I buy my logs from my brother so if I'm not there he or his driver unload it with my Case W-20 rubber tired loader. I or my parttime yard man, retired mill man who's "bored" with retirement and wants to work about the same as what I run the mill, take up and sort when we're running. He or I load out flooring materials to be pulled by a local trucker to one of the two flooring plants we sell to, on my 40' flatbed trailer. I pull the ties the 8 miles to the Koppers buyer.

Over all it's just an upgrade to what I was doing w/ the 30" fully hydralic timber harvester we have. It's now set up opposite the LT300 feeding the same edger where my dad runs between farm duties. He 'dead stacks' his flitches and my crew edges them for him when we're running. This allows him to run by himself at odd hours and still produce decent hourly production. He runs much more in the winter and less in the summer.

This is a very unique situation due to the family farm. We have two full time men who work 2 or 3 days a week for me and the same for my dad on the farm. This works out to roughly one full time employee for each of us. This flexibility and family environment are all that make it a feasible plan. So far the production numbers are above my projections. The budget requires 6,000BF / 10hr day. I got over 7k on my 3rd day running so I'm very happy with that at this point.

I'm still learning the mill and we're working on different ways of handling the board packs. The other issue that I'm going to be addressing is slab management. As of now we stack them on a cart where they are rolled to a door for the loader to haul to the burn pile. It's hard to justify a hog based on what chips bring but I'm looking for a used one more for the labor savings than return on the chips. A conveyer running past the edger and passing under the transfer deck then going to a hog would be a great labor saver. It'll come, just not this week.

Thanks for the thoughts and comments. I'll keep you updated on how it's going as we work the bugs out of our operational layout.

[Gilman]

Ed, could we get a picture of your setup?

[FiremanEd]

Sure, I'll work on it the next day or two.

[Bibbyman]

So.... there may be 8-10 hard days of heads down sawing... but many of the other tasks go on throughtout the month - done by other people.  Right???

Are you doing any custom sawing for others?

[FiremanEd]

 :D  I wish there was someone else to do the other tasks. The two hands do the cleanup work on the days I'm not there or during any down time. A local trucker is doing the long distance pulling. I pull the ties at night on our trailer. (the local buyer has a loader on the yard that's available 24/7 of you can unload it yourself) I load all outgoing lumber during lunch, I get 30min, the guys get an hour. I ship blades back to Wood-Mizers re-sharp service so blade sharpening isn't a big deal. I do the routine maintance and any needed repairs in eveing or as needed. We have minimal marketing time as we have open PO's for both ties and boards.

That pretty much hits everything. I have a couple more days off each month from the firehouse that I can do pidly stuff if needed. I just don't like to commit ALL of my time to being on the mill.

I'm still working on the pictures, my wife had the digital camara with her at school all last week.

Be good. Ed