Peterson Sawmills

Steve_M · November 05, 2003, 07:50:16 PM

Rod,

Nothing wrong that I know of.

I must have added one and one and got three. :-[

I should spend more time on updating my profile instead of disecting someone else's.

Steve

Haytrader · November 06, 2003, 03:50:41 AM

Steve,

Just so ya know. It crossed my mind also.
Guess we were both wrong.
First time this year for me.

;D

HORSELOGGER · November 06, 2003, 04:42:55 AM

The guy you two are thinkin of has changed his name to Dirk and moved to Illinois , and is attempting to corner the lumber market with Wisconsin timber ;D

RevCant · November 06, 2003, 05:31:40 AM

Okay, Rod. Have you ever seen a Peterson work? I live in MD and you are invited to come down and saw with me for a day or two. I've been doing this 9 years, and though I don't have as many bdft as Arky to my credit, I've done a bit of lumber.
You will have blade costs. They will be less than a bandsaw, but you will have to figure it in. If you hit a nail, teeth will have to be replaced. Teeth wear, get chipped, etc. I finally found a decent sawdoctor. I tried putting the teeth back on myself with Peterson's jig. Save the money - find a sawdoctor. Figure on $40-$60 a blade.
Material handling is everything. With the Peterson, you're doing it by hand or auxillary machine. Its slower and harder. The ASM will only pull the cant back to the end of the log. You've still got to do something with it. Forget loading logs from the high side. Set up a log deck and load from the low side.
Nobody is going to produce 800 bdft an hour with one of these mills. Selling ties is living on the bottom of the heap. The market fluctuates was than pork bellies. If you can do it, great.
In my market, I can make far more custom sawing, charging by the hour, than I could wholesaling material. I have a kiln and sell some FAS and Selects to local woodworking shops. Retail is the name of the game. Many a farmer has gone out of business trying to plant more $2 corn.
By the way Arky, I guess I may be as close to a full time swinger as you're likely to find. If you define full time as supporting one's family 75-100% with the sawmill, that would be me right now. And yes, I do miss the hydraulics and the WoodMizer ... ;)

Sven Christiansen · November 06, 2003, 05:53:25 AM

QuoteAnd yes, I do miss the hydraulics and the WoodMizer ... ;)

I'm sure we can work something out!

;) ;D ;) ;D

ARKANSAWYER · November 06, 2003, 06:26:27 AM

Sometimes I just miss Trapper and have to have a run at these things. I makes me think and ponder the aspects of the business while looking back at the many logs I have skint. Some times to know where you are going you have to take a back azmith reading to see where you are going. It is good to see the new try to show the ole how to do things and the fire in their bellies even if it is just mostly smoke.
Some times us little guys and our small mills putting out 2,000 bdft a day have to remember that there are mills out there putting out 150 to 200mbdft a 8hour shift. I used to run a circle mill and put out more in a day then I do in a month now. We have to raise our heads from time to time and look past the saw head and see where we were just 20 years ago and where we will be at in 20 more. Urban timber and smaller sticks are going to be the real issue and soon like oil we will import more wood fiber then we can produce to fill our needs. These million dollar mills are selling off their timber lands to keep the bankers off their backs and tracks of land are getting smaller and smalller. Can we get loggers to go to a 5 acre hobby horse farm to log one load of 12 inch sticks? I am surrounded by timber but when I leave my hills I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it sounds like the train.
ARKANSAWYER

RevCant · November 06, 2003, 07:42:09 AM

Don't get your hopes up Sven

. I guess that was a "Freudian Slip" or maybe the effects of trying to saw toothpicks the last couple of days. I've come to the conclusion that if you have a constant run of logs under twelve inches, a bandsaw is probably the best option. Fortunately, that is not my average job. My quote should have read "...hydraulics on the WoodMizer." But that's okay. Its raining today, and since I still have another day of toothpicks to saw, I figure I need a day to rest up for it.

This thread leads to a good question. How much do we produce in a given time period, with all the variables included? I'll start a new thread with that question. I don't believe its the machine as much as the person running the machine. The branding issue only means something when you're talking about customer service. Sven, you can smile now - WoodMizer sets the standard there. ;)

Rod · November 06, 2003, 09:31:55 AM

RevCant,no I have not seen a Peterson run and I might have to take you up on thr invite here soon.

I know what you mean by the $2 a bushal corn, its been that price for a long time,but some farmers are still making a living it at those prices.Not the small famer tho.

Have you seen the ASM run?

I think the reason I am asking so many questions is I use to work in the Industrial Engineering deperment and did a lot of time studies and cost cost justification studies.

ARKANSAWYER

were is all this timber land for sale at?

It sure isn't here.

Captain · November 06, 2003, 04:53:01 PM

When running remote with my Peterson, I roll the big logs into my mill with a winch attached to my truck whenever possible. That is, if the logs are staged properly (I require them on skids/skid logs) and there is enough room on site for the truck. Log handling is no more cumbersome than rolling the log to the hydraulic lifts on a bandmill. Plus, we swing bladers don't need to lift the log waist high before cutting it. I find that once my skids are properly placed, repetitive log loading is easy. Because I charge on a BF basis, I have studied the aspects of efficiency and keeping the blade in the log.

When the logs are not staged, I need a piece of equipment anyways (usually my tractor with FEL forks) so loading is not an issue. Certainly this is an additional charge.

By the way, RevCant. Loading on the high track side is now even easier with the slide-up center support leg.

Captain

ARKANSAWYER · November 06, 2003, 08:12:51 PM

There was about 9,000 acres for sell in Tenn for about $600 an acre just in the last paper I got. "Lumbermans" has them in there all the time. Arkansas Game and Fish just bought some old timber land for a WMA off of one of the timber companies.
ARKANSAWYER

J_T · November 06, 2003, 08:27:50 PM

Sat Nov 8 Latham Tn 900 acres at auction some old crypris trees come on down.

Oregon_Sawyer · November 06, 2003, 11:39:34 PM

Arkansawyer: We are such small potatoes compared to the big mills. At the coffee shop this morning someone said that the Hampton mill in town set a new record for the month. 52 million board ft. (That is not a typo)

That does not mean we can't make a good return on our investments. Especially if we stay in nich markets and let the big mills do production.

Loren

C_Miller · November 08, 2003, 04:04:22 PM

Okay, had a long drive today and got to thinkin about tie sawin on the peterson. I'm not sure if it would work but I would buy enough track for a 40'+ run and then set up three stations for sawing ties. with a couple of helpers you could be loading one station, sawing on another and off loading the last. Also from the video it looked like the high side track could be supportted from above, if I was working inside I'd hang the hi-side from the rafters and get clearance on that side. one tow motor and two towheads wood do it I think.
C

Captain · November 09, 2003, 03:47:02 AM

Hey C

That's a neat idea for the high side of the track, I'll have to think about that for my "permanent" set of tracks in the future sawmill shed. I was thinking of setting up a permanent set of low-low tracks, but it really is much easier to keep the guide rail clean when positioned high.

Captain

Fla._Deadheader · November 09, 2003, 05:10:31 AM

I been doing a lot of thinking about swing blade mills, also.
Concerning your proposal to use 40' track, how are you planning on allowing for the taper from each log, as you saw down the track??? If each log is not near exact as the ones before and after, won't you need to constantly adjust up-down, to get the most from each log???

Captain · November 09, 2003, 05:21:19 AM

Honestly, for taper in softwood, I usually put all of the taper on the top of the log, and cut short boards with it. (usually my softwood is dimensional lumber) In hardwood, I start with the top parallel to the blade and get the best boards, then lower the log somewhere in the pith and low grade so the bottom of the log is parallel with the blade to get the grade out of the botttom. I've been using a handyman jack for this, but on a permanent set, I will have some sort of screw or hydraulic jack for this.

Of course, on logs where taper is minimal, I split the taper top and bottom.

Captain

HORSELOGGER · November 09, 2003, 05:34:13 AM

Harold, in that set up you would work each log start to finish individualy. Unlike the lucas mill , the peterson track is never moved, the mill is riding up and down in a 4 post frame. You probably knew that, but maybe somebody else was trying to picture it. If I was gonna set up permanent, i would by the mill without tracks and with a 3 phase motor. Thw mill can run on simple 3/16 angle iron tracks , with the high rail suspended from the rafters. You would have totally clear access for log loading and sawdust removal, plus make it as long as you had a building for. Would be sweet!

Fla._Deadheader · November 09, 2003, 07:42:59 AM

I understand how you guys are looking at the taper on the logs and sawing multiple logs. I was wondering about C Miller's outlook for 40' tracks. Guess it would work out the same. A little difficult to picture the sequence between a swinger and a bandmill :

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