Whatcha Sawin' ???

terrifictimbersllc · May 20, 2018, 02:49:24 PM

Yep don't start trying to compete on price with a local sawyer near him, which is what compromising on travel charges would be. Maybe compete on quality, service, your good looks or something else. Tell him your willing to come if he changes his mind.

in addition to travel costs, disadvantage of increasing distance also includes the ability to assess whether the job is really ready, consequences of it not being ready, and your being on the hook for performing the job at that distance from home no matter what happens including with the weather. That being said I do often saw two hours from home.

My travel charges don't really pay me for driving time, just expense, so I am in some sense compromising already. I am making the same amount of money if I have to drive five hours in a day or a half hour. I'll tell you which I would prefer if you ask.

Magicman · May 20, 2018, 03:04:13 PM

With road trips you are also the one with your neck out (old saying) if you have a breakdown. Last year I had an alternator failure when I was over 200 miles from home. Wood-Mizer overnighted one to the motel and I was up and sawing the next day, but the expenses of the lost time was mine. I am just saying that the risk is there and lodging doesn't really cover everything.

Also as Dennis mentioned above, travel and setup fees do not reimburse me for the 3½ hours that I sit behind the steering wheel driving 230 miles.

scleigh · May 20, 2018, 03:59:03 PM

Haven't been able to get any sawing done, just trying to round up more walnut, cherry and maple.

Brought this load of walnut home yesterday. Hope to get 2 more this week

Magicman · May 20, 2018, 04:22:06 PM

Hey, that is a nice "roundup". 8)

E-Tex · May 20, 2018, 04:34:47 PM

Saturday Job! All went well with these BIG logs. All live-edge....2 3/8"

<br

Just Squeezed Through!!!!

Happy Customer (far right)...and his two brothers. Hard Working Crew, did a great job.

Magicman · May 20, 2018, 04:48:32 PM

Wowser, dat is Whacking-n-Stackin'.

Brad_bb · May 20, 2018, 06:11:24 PM

Very neat and tidy stacks! How wide is your throat opening on your mill?

goose63 · May 20, 2018, 06:49:16 PM

The junk pile did have some good in it

Wasent all bad

Lonny said take it down to the burn pile nope think I can do some thing with it

Teresa was happy with the short fat ones she gave me a$20 tip

Now Lonny will bring the 18 ft by 20 inch wall nut over

E-Tex · May 20, 2018, 07:20:49 PM

Brad...... 34.5" max cut width

WDH · May 20, 2018, 07:32:39 PM

Lance, that is some fine stuff.

E-Tex · May 20, 2018, 08:29:21 PM

danny, thanks.

customers were high-fiving when the slabs came off. it was work, but we had fun!

E-Tex · May 20, 2018, 09:31:00 PM

Magicman · May 20, 2018, 09:58:32 PM

Ken, you should be ashamed snookering Danny like that. Well, no you shouldn't.. :D

Crossroads · May 20, 2018, 10:14:04 PM

I agree and understand that I can't give away my travel time. At $50/hr one way sometimes I feel like I'm already loosing out, but also understand that I'm not selling my driving skills. Terrificttimbers, if I had to rely on selling my good looks, I'd have gone broke a long time ago lol i did lay it on pretty think about how great my new LT40 is with the hopes of getting a call back. Only time will tell.... as for the breakdowns, I wood actually be in a better position in this case because the job is within a half hour of the wood Mizer dealer in Portland.

Magicman · May 20, 2018, 11:06:33 PM

Yup, each potential job has to be weighed on it's own merits and otherwise to determine whether they will be profitable. There is nothing wrong with declining.

I do some charitable jobs but they are very rare and of my choosing and that is also a completely different subject.

Darrel · May 21, 2018, 12:00:57 AM

The small custom job for the irrigation district I was able to get because their manager knew that I had a mill and the price quoted by the local lumber yard was crazy high. There are a whole lot of old dams in this area that are set up to use Lumber that was readily available 75 or 100 years ago but there are no longer any mills that cut to those demensions. Some of these dams have been replaced others are still in very good condition and still do the job they were built to do but the lumber needed for the gates is no longer available. That's where the small guy with a portable sawmill comes in. This lumber, while in the dam, is always wet and like a sinker log, it has a very long lifespan. So we shall see if I get any more orders like this one.

Crossroads · May 21, 2018, 01:59:22 AM

I'm learning MM, jhart gave me some good advice while in Africa last month. He said, "make sure your close to the dock before you jump off the boat". Each of these little lessons gets me a little closer to the dock.

Crossroads · May 21, 2018, 02:04:38 AM

Nice looking slabs e-Tex, the tail gunners did a nice job of stackin too!

terrifictimbersllc · May 21, 2018, 04:33:44 AM

Etex, what engine is on your LT50 wide and how do you feel about the power available during those very wide cuts?

E-Tex · May 21, 2018, 08:23:02 AM

Crossroads, thanks.....yes, they were a very hard-working crew

Terrfifictimber.....38 gas. I was worried about the wide cuts and staying "FLAT". I kept sharp blades (4° - used 5 in 2100bf) and cut slow. The slabs were all flat except one little wave in the middle of one going over a big knot. I probably cut slower than needed but the results turned out very good. Leading up to this job I was sure thinking...."I wish I had bought the diesel". But it went very well with the 38 gaser!

mike_belben · May 21, 2018, 09:27:13 AM

How many gallons of fuel on that job?

E-Tex · May 21, 2018, 09:43:56 AM

about 3.5 gallons

WV Sawmiller · May 21, 2018, 05:13:53 PM

Decided to clean up a little stock. Removed the cover to my mill and found a mother mouse with 4 young ones hanging on like a bunch of baby possums. Killed 3 little one but mama and one offspring made it to my slab pile and escaped. I need the a couple of the black rat snakes over on the outdoor thread to come live in my slab pile and help keep me from getting a bunch of chewed wires.

Sawed one small 10' poplar log into 10-1X6s and one 1X8 for stock. Then sawed a 12' and 15' buckeye into 1/2" live edge boards. The buckeye fell last week and I dragged it down yesterday and cut the tops into low BTU/trashy firewood. The boards I cut I will air dry, plane one side and cut into 9" & 12" blanks and my daughter will take them to Camp Care, a NC summer camp for kids with/survivors of cancer and their siblings. My daughter is very active with Camp Care as a counselor and activity director. Two summers ago they added woodburning as an activity and this will be the 3rd summer I have provided the blanks. The counselors draw figures/scenes on the blanks and the kids burn it into the wood and it is very popular with them. It is a great use of otherwise trash wood and any time and effort that helps these kids is very rewarding. I already have plenty of blanks for this summer but today's cutting will be for future years. When cutting 1/2" I set my Simple Set at 5/8" and set my mark to leave a 1" board on the bottom.