look into our sawing operation.. pic's included

[red oaks lumber]

this part of the operation isn't as nice as the finish mill but, the lumber journey has to start somewhere right?

 
logs waiting in the wood yard to be loaded on the log deck 

   

 

  

  

 sawdust removal chute 

  

  

  

 
when the wood comes off the mill it either goes thru the edger or the resaw

  

 
the sawdust produced by the resaw gets sucked up into the sawdust chute for easy disposal

  

 
slabs go into the rack and are banded when full.

 
check out our awesome stickering :D this customer wants 2 sticks to keep from being dead stacked.white hard maple we saw a semi load every 3 days so it dosent sit to long

 
the oak for the same customer can be dead stacked.

the place isn't fancy but, it sure gets cold in the winter :D
thanks for coming along

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Does all that oak go to flooring?
Good pics Steve!

[red oaks lumber]

for that customer its all flooring,we just saw green for them they supply the logs. right now we are cutting 5000 b.f. a day of oak. last month it was hard maple

[Ga Mtn Man]

Thanks for sharing the pics.  I like your sawdust extraction system.  What are you doing with the slabs?

[Barney II]

Now I know what a real mill looks like. You are running one great operation.  Good show on everything---Don

[kczbest]

Thanks for sharing the pics! You have a real nice setup there.

[schmism]

are you mainly a stationary saw despite having wheels on that mill?

If you are, have you considered going all electric?  One would think the payback would be quick considering fuel cost and engine maintenance.  Although it also looks like your edger/resaw is also engine powered.   You dont have access to 3phase power?

[r.man]

I wish you were near me, I like hardwood slabs for firewood but no-one is cutting near me anymore. What do you do with the sawdust?

[Peter Drouin]

Do you resaw 2" into 1"?

[TeaW]

Nice set up, Thanks for the tour.

[WDH]

Very impressive. 

[Deese]

I'm super jealous 
That is one very nice setup.  _grin

[Larry]

Always curious.  Why not an electric mill?  How many workers?

If neatness counts you get an A.  I like your setup.

[CalebL]

I would love to see your kiln operation........

[Joe Hillmann]

Do you do anything with the exhaust from the mill to get it out of the building? Do you have any heat in the building in the winter? 

[red oaks lumber]

we sell the slabs for $30 / bundle. sawdust is sold $ 20 / 5 yrds approx.
right now 3 phase would run a little over $9 grand so, i dont want to spend that yet. also being "portable" anything over 16' we just move outside to cut.
resaw from cants the mill breaks down, this customer buys bolts so the cants are never real big.
running the sawmill side there are 3 full time workers.
this year will be the first winter needing to run every day so, we are going to direct plumb the exhaust outside, the mill will have a overhead pivot arm with flex pipe running to a exhaust fan to remove it outside. as far as heat, the plan right now is putting a outside wood boiler in with a heat exchanger blowing the heat inside, using just mill scraaps during the day with round stock for over night. the goal is to just keep the building at or above 10 degrees.
if time allows i'll do my best to get kiln pics. within 2 weeks.
thanks for the kind words fellas

[slider]

5000 ft a day in 1 in material is clicking right along .That re-saw must speed things up quiet a bit.Thanks for the show.al

[mad murdock]

Nice setup RedOaks!  5 mbf a day is nothing to sneeze at! how many bands a day do you run through at that production rate?  do you have a "filing" room for doing your own sharpening?  Spooner is nice in the summer, but like all points north of HWY 64 in the land of cheese, a frozen tundra wasteland in the winter!  Thanks for posting 8)

[21incher]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. Do frozen solid logs slow your milling down in the winter? Some of us will not hit 5mbf in a lifetime.

[tule peak timber]

good pics! You have a well thought out setup to say the least. Your incoming timber looks real nice, I am envious ! Cheers  Rob

[SPD748]

Very nice operation! I'm with you on the 3 phase. Its easy math when it comes to monthly costs, not so easy when it comes to installation.

-lee

[customsawyer]

Nice setup. Would like to come see it in person sometime.

[red oaks lumber]

sawing frozen wood is almost eaiser than non frozen but, anything about frozen sucks we sharpen and set our own blades, if the wood is fairly clean we go thru 10 -15 blades a day.
come on up stud, i'll give you skidsteer driving lessons free of charge while your here :D

[WDH]

I will need to come watch this. 

[mad murdock]

WDH, you need to visit about the first week of January to get the full impact of Northern Wisc winter. But dress warm. You will need layers!