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Wood-mizer LT35 v/s timberking 1600

Started by red pine, March 16, 2011, 08:46:15 AM

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red pine

 Another Newbie to your Forum. D. I am planning to get back into forestry. Worked in bush and at sawmills when I was a teenager, skidding with a team of horses etc. (that was 50yrs. ago). Anyway I am looking to purchase a saw mill, either a LT 35 or the TK1600. I am in Canada and WM prices are at least $1,000. more than what I see as pricing in U.S.A.  TK on the other hand can be purchased in U.S. dollars and with the currencies basically at par, this is an advantage. Those are the 2 sawmills I can get here in Canada that are hydraulic. The HK salesman told me that he owned 2 WM mills before and that the 12 volt head system motor would not last needing replacement. TK being hydraulic was much more reliable. Also the LT 35 controllers require walk along for each cut whereas the HK ones are stationary. How important is it to be by the saw when cutting? I like the roller hydraulic toeboards on WM with HK optional manual (not roller). How useful are roller toeboards?
I would really appreciate any feedback you may have with regard to any of my uncertainties.  ::)  

paul case

i cant help  with your question much but i can say welcome to the forum. i like the looks of both of those mills as well but my mill is all manual so any hydraulics looks good to me. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

ronwood

red pine,

Welcome to the forum. The 12 volt system works well on the Woodmizer. Each sawmill has it advantages/disadvantages. One reason I did not go with TK is that their salesman spoke negative of the competitors sawmill.  :(  No other manufactures salesman that I spoke to did that when I was looking.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

paul case

that would be a turn off to me also. the mill shoud sell itself no reverse psychology necessary. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

ronwood

Paul,

I talk to Ed (Boardwalk) many times about his mills and I not once heard him say anything negative about the other mills.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

ronwood

Red Pine,

Any mill will only cut has good has you take care of them. Maintenance is important as well as keeping a sharp blade on the mill. Heck I cut some bad board with my LT40 because I pushed the blade to long. Will happen on all of them.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

1938farmall

the hydraulics on my tk1600 are vveeeeerrrrryy slow in cold weather even after having changed to a cold formula oil.  i've been on the forum for some time and have seen very little about mills with slow hydraulics in the northern states & canada.  electric drive motors sound good to me. al
aka oldnorskie

red pine

Thank you all for feedback. I was negatively impacted by TK salesman comments re: WM, but must add here that the place I can buy TK mill in Canada (one location to my knowledge), sales of saws is a sideline with most business in farm equipment. Ron who is Ed (Boardwalk)? What mills does he represent?     Red Pine

DanG

Welcome to the forum, Red Pine.  Both of those are fine mills, as are many others on the market.  Base your decision on the quality and features of the mill, not on whether you liked the salesman's approach.  Also look around for used mills.  They're not that hard to find and sometimes you can save a pot full of money that way. ;)
"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."

ladylake


  I bought my B20 TK cuz it was a nice simple easy to work on mill and I'm glad I did. The hydraulics take about 10 minutes to get moving good at 0* F.   Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

ronwood

red pine

look on the left side of the page. Link to his website. He only has manual mills.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

medic

RP
  Something nobody else has mentioned. If at all possible, try to get a chance to operate both of the mills you're considering.  Sometimes it just comes down to which mill you like to operate better. 
medic
Retired Paramedic, TimberKing 1400, Logrite cant hooks, old MacCullough chain saws.  Too many projects not enough hours in the day.

paul case

the ez boardwalk is a manual mill. ed is the owner of the company/ salesman. i am 3 years into trying to wear one out so i can get something more automated.




pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Brucer

Quote from: red pine on March 16, 2011, 08:46:15 AM
... the 12 volt head system motor would not last needing replacement.

I haven't seen a TK so I can't help you there. I've got 1800 hours on my WM LT-40 hydraulic and the electric motors are working just fine. I think the carriage motor is starting to get a little "tired" but I added the board drag-back 4 years ago and I've been overloading it way beyond the manufacturer's specs.

Quote
How important is it to be by the saw when cutting?

I walk beside mine and it keeps me in shape. It also lets me inspect the cant's surface from the previous cut, check for defects, etc. I'd probably add a remote station on my next mill, but only if it came with the dragback option as well.

Quote
How useful are roller toeboards?

I had a manual WM without the roller toeboards and now I've got the hydraulic with.

If you're going to be sawing timbers, the rollers are pretty useful for unloading. If you're going to be sawing up into the 20' range the rollers are also handy for adjusting the position of the log on the mill -- you' don't get a lot of room to play around with at each end of a long log.


One thing you need to consider is availability of parts. Here in southern BC, if I call for a WM part before about 4:00 PM on weekdays it will be at the bus depot in town by 7:00 AM the next morning. Buses run on the weekend so even a Friday breakdown won't have to wait until Monday. Whether you can get that kind of service depends on where you are relative to a dealer.

Some mills use generic parts and will flog that as a "feature". That's all very well if you're close to a business that sells those parts. It's something I would really want to check into.

Have a look at the maintenance manuals, too.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

jdtuttle

Have you considered a used mill. There are lots of them out there & you can get more bells & whistles for the same money. I bought a used 1992 LT40HD & am very happy with it.
jim
Have a great day

Magicman

You have gotten some very good advice on sawmill selection, so I'll just say;
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, red pine.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Bandmill Bandit

There are some pretty good mills out there but woodmizer orange is comparable to John Deere Green  in terms of both quality and dealer support. The question I would ask is this; If you are going to spend 20000 ish for a mill what is an extra 1000 bucks worth to have the orange paint?

As far as the head control motors go I have not any problems with mine so far and I haven't heard of a lot of problems with those motors posted on here.
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

r.man

Redpine, welcome to the forum. There are lots of mills out there when you start looking. I am 20 miles east of Bancroft and I know of a fully hydraulic Baker in my area. There was a top of the line Woodmizer at the old Martin's Mill and I'm sure if you start asking around you should be able to find others. Manufacturers will generally put you in touch with local owners so you can see one on site. PM me if you want to see the Baker. I can't guarantee that you will see it running but I should be able to get you a walk around at least. 
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

red pine

 :P Thanks for all the responses to my posting. More to consider particularly seeing the mills operating. Saw TK operating but WM Cdn. H.O. are still in the freezer (nextmonth I guess they will be defrosted.) Bandmill Bandit I won't see red if I buy orange?    Red Pine

red pine

r.man, yes I would be interested in the Baker if it is a mid size mill with hydraulics, not the one with cummins diesel, which I could not afford. The Wood-mizer (I assume located where the  old Martin Lumber Co. mill existed) may be of interest as well, but the party may not be selling.    Red Pine

Bandmill Bandit

Quote from: red pine on March 17, 2011, 10:57:01 AM
Bandmill Bandit I won't see red if I buy orange?    Red Pine

I forgot to say welcome to the forum.
No you wont see red if you go orange but you may have to breath a lot of blue air around your mill if you don't go orange. I know one mill I tried out had me cussing the *DanG thing about every second cut.
If we were a bit closer to each other I would offer you my 2007 LT40HDG28. I want to move up to an LT50.
Skilled Master Sawyer. "Skilled labour don't come cheap. Cheap labour dont come skilled!
2018 F150 FX4, Husqvarna 340, 2 Logright 36 inch cant hooks and a bunch of stuff I built myself

ronwood

red pine,

One of the things that I notice that works well with Woodmiser (power feed) is if your blade guide gets hung on a knot it will stop the head without tearing things up. I not sure how it is done if you have a hydraulic drive.

Ron
Sawing part time mostly urban logs -St. Louis/Warrenton, Mo.
LT40HG25 Woodmizer Sawmill
LX885 New Holland Skidsteer

ladylake

Quote from: ronwood on March 17, 2011, 02:58:09 PM
red pine,

One of the things that I notice that works well with Woodmiser (power feed) is if your blade guide gets hung on a knot it will stop the head without tearing things up. I not sure how it is done if you have a hydraulic drive.

Ron

The same on my B20 with hyd feed, 8000 hours  and not one problem yet. Steve
Timberking B20  18000  hours +  Case75xt grapple + forks+8" snow bucket + dirt bucket   770 Oliver   Lots(too many) of chainsaws, Like the Echo saws and the Stihl and Husky     W5  Case loader   1  trailers  Wright sharpener     Suffolk  setter Volvo MCT125c skid loader

r.man

Redpine, I didn't mean to suggest that the Martins saw would be for sale, I just thought that if it was in operation you could probably watch it cut. The Baker does have a diesel but I don't know if it is a Cummins. I will check to see what model it is.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

5quarter

   Redpine,

   All great advice your getting. As your still in the research phase, you may want to check out Cooks saw Mfg. They make a really solid machine and provide great service. They are a sponsor here and you can find their link to the left with the others mentioned. Oh, and welcome aboard!

Chet
What is this leisure time of which you speak?
Blue Harbor Refinishing

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