iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Meadows at the Shootout?

Started by Corley5, November 26, 2004, 10:32:45 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Corley5

Here's the mill I'd like to see compete at the Sawmill Shootout. http://www.meadowsmills.com/mobile.htm  It'd be intersting to see what happened.  A Meadows Mobile with say a 100hp Cummins for power or a farm tractor in that hp range running the mill at 540rpm off the pto. 8) 8) 8)  Band mills lookout ;D
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Corley5

Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

sprucebunny

Those look great! Now...if they were only about twenty grand less... 8)
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Arthur

$35 grand and still NO engine.  thats going to cut a lot of wood :D

would like to see it on the side of a mountain cutting a 1.5m diameter log 8)

Buzz-sawyer

I would like to see a swinger, in a flat spot cutting one foot a second :o
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

UNCLEBUCK

Thats a nice sawmill but I think I would be very happy with  a Corley sawmill . I heard that Corley was like the cadillac of sawmills at one time .  
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

HORSELOGGER

Heck, I'd just like to see a flat spot to set up on :D
Heritage Horselogging & Lumber Co.
"Surgical removal of standing timber, Leaving a Heritage of timber for tommorow. "

Corley5

http://www.corleymfg.com/  Gonna be interesting to see what their new site has on it.  Corley's still in business but the last that I knew they weren't making smaller mills anymore.  The Meadows mills are pretty nice : 8) ;D :) :)  I talked to a JD power unit rep at the GL Logging Congress last year and an 85hp unit with a Rockford clutch out the door was $7,700.00.  For less than $45,000.00 you can be sawing ;) ::)  A top end Woodmizer with all the bells and whistles doesn't miss that mark by much.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

gmmills

Corley5,

   Here in the flat lands of NE Ohio there are a number of the portable Meadows mills around. These mills are set up right in the woods and lumber is cut on site. The logs were skidded to the mill with a team of horses. The finished lumber was hauled out to a landing with a crawler loader with forks on front and winch on the back. I know these mills very well. I skidded lumber for a living for 15yrs. They can be pulled on the highway with a 3/4 ton puckup. Once at the site hooked them up to the crawler and pulled them into the woods via a precut haul road.
    The mills are very durable. Have pulled them through many deep mud holes and they still make good lumber.  ;D
      You think a 100 HP Cummins wood be nice. How about a 6-71 Detroit with 6ft straight pipe. 238 Hp of fuel guzzling  screaming beast. That's the power unit of choice around here.
Custom sawing full-time since 2000. 
WM LT70D62 Remote with Accuset
Sawing since 1995

D._Frederick

Corley,

My 2 cents worth, having sawed with a  circle mill and a band mill, I feel that it is too dangerous for one person to saw with a circle mill. With out an off-bear, there is a lot of danger a saw can catch things and throw it back at the sawyer plus the danger of walking by the saw to off bear by the sawyer. To have any output with a manual circle mill, generally requires 3 people. With my manual (sit on the ground band mill), I could saw a 100bdft per hour of dimensional lumber with minimum danger.

There is no question that a manual circle mill with a 6-71 for power will saw a log about 10 times faster than any narrow bandmill.

UNCLEBUCK

Those are definately nice sawmills , I like the cab on the second one. I thought alot about switching to hydraulic everything and connecting my old 671 to the old family sawmill but I figured just keep it basic and fun . It is tempting to make the switch to automation . I have found that being portable would really increase business ten-fold . My old family mill does have a axle on it but I had all I could do just to roll it into the sawshed. If I lived over in beautiful Michigan I would buy a mill that has all the automation allready on it . To retro-fit my old mill would be a task . I find that a boardman is hard to come by and I like to saw alone but it does take alot longer . But I do have a combine cab that would make a cool sawyers cab and a imagination thats been running on full throttle since I joined the forestry forum !   :P
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

Corley5

I've sawed alone with my Corley and I don't feel that it's that much more dangerous than having a person tailing but it is a LOT more work.  A Meadows with 6-71 at the Shootout would due just fine ;) ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8).  Wonder how a diesel powered bandmill would stack up against it ??? ;) ;D    
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Buzz-sawyer

I saw alone with my manual mill ALL the time Its no more danderous than sawing with 2 others....the only danger is to my HUMP...cause I fracture it hustling back and forth..........
One trick I use alone is to leave a cut board attached by a tiny corner to the cant. so I can return it to me and essentially FLY through a LOT of lumber before needing to stop. ;)
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

HORSELOGGER

There is an old boy set up in the timber about 3 miles from me with a mid 70s Jackson lumber harvester. He has a  3 strand live deck, off bearer belt that feeds to a small spiral roll case joined up to the off bearer belt. The cut lumber falls on the belt goes down to the spiral and drops to a pilling rack. After he saws a few logs, he stacks the pile of boards. He saws 99 percent of the time alone, and it is amazing how fast he can wizz through a log. The mill is running a two blade vertical edger, so all the lumber in the drop rack is edged. He sits behind a plexiglass shield right in front of the blade, and pulls levers to control every function of the set up. I cant imagine a safer set up to saw from. He is 65 years old and has more ambition than most teenagers. The guy he is sawing for is 85 years old and they are sawing some walnut now that was planted by him when he was a boy. I should go get a picture of these two, as it is pretty neat to see them still at it :)
Heritage Horselogging & Lumber Co.
"Surgical removal of standing timber, Leaving a Heritage of timber for tommorow. "

Corley5

I'd love to see pics of that operation 8) 8)
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

SwampDonkey

Corley,

I like that meadows mill with the, 'air conditioned cab' ??? Ya need a hydrolic clam of some kind to load'er up and never leave the seat till suppa time. :D Maybe have the loader truck sit'n side by side with your buddy controlling it. Look at the sawdust fly now. :)


cheers
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

D._Frederick

Just got my issue of SAWMILL & WOODLOT, one of the writers was telling about safety, said that his father was killed when he was 5 years old by the saw catching a slap and throwing it back on a circle mill. The manual mills build with belt carriage feed had the sawyer standing within arms reach of the log being sawn. Anything the saw caught would be thrown up and over the blade and back toward the sawyer. I would not saw with this style of mill myself without an off-bearer to direct the slap onto the roll gage.

UNCLEBUCK

I am going to try Buzz"s trick once and see if it works for me .I also have been thinking about unhooking my hydraulic carriage and hooking back up the flat belts for the carriage travel that way I can just pull the big lever and when the blade r.p.m. drops the carriage speed will coincide with it .With a hydraulic carriage I have to listen too much to the tractor and slow down accordingly ,I feel like I am fishing around too much trying to keep the feed to match the tractor. I found rockford clutches all over ebay for my old motor . My sister takes the tractor too often from the mill and it would be very nice to just hit the switch to a stationary powerplant and also give me alot more room where I roll the logs in. What is this "shootout" ? It must be where everyone competes in the fastest sawing. That would be fun to watch .
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

D._Frederick

Uncle-,

The method of not sawing a flitch all the way off and bring it back to the log deck works quite well if you are edging on the mill. If you have logs medium size and larger where you get a half dozen flitch per log, it sure cuts down on the handling. The only problem is you either have to run the carriage thru the saw again to clean the log face up or use and axe. The fir that we sawed alway left kurf size thick chunk on the end of the log.

D._Frederick

Uncle,

Put a tachcometer (sp) on your mill to tell if your RPM is dropping to much instead of tying to hear the engine.

Buzz-sawyer

Uncle, I have a hydraulic carriage on my mill, I also have a small cylinder(12 inch throw 2 inches wide) attached to my control circuit so that when I reverse the carriage it pulls a cable that returns the diesel engine to an idle then when I am ready to cut again, and push the lever forward the cylinder pulls the throttle automatically , putting me at cutting speed....works sweet :)
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Greenskeeper

Now your talking real milling,circle mills.Run it with steam,the older the better. If you can't make any money at this,at least have some fun.

UNCLEBUCK

Thanks D. and Buzz, I always get a sawing lesson from you guys . Sooner or later I will get it figured out good . I definately learned something again . I hope Corley maybe show more pics of his big mill too like close ups of the powerplant ,hint hint !  ;)
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

mitch

Sawing alone and offbearing safety:
Is a board splitter safer than a spreader wheel????? My old Vance mill has about a 10" diameter spreader wheel which seems awful small. All new mills have a tall board splitter just behind the saw. Does this keep a board from leaning over and rubbing  against the saw?

I don't like to self offbear... a neighbor had a slab thrown into his chest... took him a month to die!
Meadows Mills has a 100 year history of building fine sawmills and grist mills. They are very popular in this area (Piedmont) of North Carolina.

Buzz-sawyer

Het Mitch ..good to hear from ya!
It sounds like your neighbor was in front of the blade (sawyers position) in order to get hit with slab??
I dont like to off bear either............Its hard work!!
It is a good idea to have someone around just as a precaution........I ofen dont have that luxury... :)
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Buzz-sawyer

I saw this:
Meadows, all steel, right hand, poratable on single axle trailer, 3 headblocks, 12' carriage, 52" headsaw. No power. for $2700 ??? ??? ??? ;)
in michigan....
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Ron Wenrich

I never listened to my diesel, no matter what the setup.  I listen to the saw.  You want to keep the same tone or sound, no matter what the size of log.  When the tone goes down, you're saws dying, and laying over causing it to heat up or else you can hang it.  

Wheel vs bar type splitter?  I'se used both and prefer the bar.  You have to be careful with any type of splitter.  Where you run into problems is when a slab goes behind the splitter and you keep on feeding.  That will cause the slab to come straight back.  

I had it happen one time to me, when I first started sawing.  We had a reinforced glass safety window that saved me.

I had less problems with hand mills than I have with automatics, as far as flinging things back.  With handmills, you tend to be more careful.

The most unsafe mill I run was a short husk Frick.  You could touch the saw without too much trouble.  

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

DanG

My MD will throw a slab or board every now and then, but it is always away from me. Just the nature of an "over the top" type of saw, I suppose. I've had one slab travel about 30', but there is a large clear area in front of the mill. I can see if anyone is in the danger zone, long before they are actually at risk.

As far as proximity to the saw, I guess you would consider mine hazardous. I could easily reach in and lose a hand if I tried, but the guards keep me from encountering it in the natural flow of things.  The portion of the blade that would throw things in my direction are totally guarded. I don't feel uncomfortable at all running my saw, but 34 years worth of safety meetings have had an effect. I automatically think of the hazards with every move I make, whether it involves a sawmill blade or a slip/trip hazard on the way to the bathroom.  ;)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

ex-racer

I like the disc type of splitter. I think there is less chance of a slab or board "hanging up" on it and tearing the dogs loose.
 
From habit, at the beginning of each cut, I watch the splitter through my Lexan guard, to make sure a tapered slab doesn't go behind it.

The off-bearer can kill you quick if he lets a piece touch the top of the saw. I don't turn my back until he has the piece clear of the saw. Years ago my younger brother let a piece of edging touch the top of the blade. It went whistling by my head like a spear, and went about 50 ft.

Stay safe,
Ed


beenthere

I had the experience when sawing of having an 8', 4x4 white oak fence post get dropped on the saw by the off bearer. It rode the saw the full length of the 8', and went by me, the fellow helping turn logs, and was still on the upward rise when it went through (and messed up) two large apple trees about 40 ft away. Ended up somewhere around 75-100 feet away.  
The off bearer was an older, but supposedly experienced circle saw man. He was trying something fancy that he had no business doing.
Left some very sobering thoughts of what could have been. ::)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Arthur

Quote from: Greenskeeper on November 30, 2004, 07:51:48 PM
Now your talking real milling,circle mills.Run it with steam,the older the better. If you can't make any money at this,at least have some fun.

Steam power, now isnt that the eco way to go.

We have been able to do this but its not portable anymore.  The boiler comes in at 800kg all on its own but you only need a 7.5hp to do the work of 20hp petrol. 

And fuel cost nothing as you can use all that sawdust and offcust.  Power is smooth and torque is amazing.

I have a ceramic 30hp steam head available but nothing yet to reduce the weight of the boiler.

arthur

Ianab

Back about 100 years ago they did make 'portable' steam engines for sawmills... Of course the definition of portable may have changed since then. Warm up time was about 2 hours but at least it had wheels  :D

Cheers

Ian

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

Arthur

Just try to get that up the side of a mountain in PNG.

Ianab

Quote from: Arthur_Dyason on February 05, 2005, 03:51:53 PM
Just try to get that up the side of a mountain in PNG.

Very true... I think thats why it's sitting in the museum  :D

You need to apply a fairly broad definition of portable there.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Arthur

Ian

I think the word portable has become some what of a joke!!!

arthur

woodhick

I started out at the ripe old age of 19 wanting my own sawmill.  I found a "nice" old Frick a few miles from home.  The only thing really pretty about this mill was the price.  But being young and dumb I bout.  Mill had been setting for years, grown up in multiflora roses.  Brought it home and had to rebuild absolutely everything on mill.  What a learning experience :P :-\.  Ran mill for a couple of years then along came kids.  My mill was setup on a family farm about 12 miles from where I lived and I usally would go and saw by myself.   Wife never said anything, but I could tell she was scared to death every time I went to mill.  Long story short I sold it and built my own bandmill.  I've probably sawed 100,000 feet or more with my bandmill.  It does the job ok but I will never get over the circle mill.  If someone has sawdust in their veins the way most of us here do and never run a circle mill they don't know what their missing.  Words can't describe the sound of the blade cutting a good poece of timber. :-[ :-[.   I enjoy the bandmill and it is a lot safer and I love my wife and kids and know and accept my responsibilties to them, BUT , someday I would like to get another circle mill.  I do have a friend that has one that I can use anytime but it's not hte same.  Didn't mean to start a sob story here but after being around both types of mills there really is NO comparison.   :)
Woodmizer LT40 Super 42hp Kubota, and more heavy iron woodworking equipment than I have room for.

Thank You Sponsors!