Poll
Question:
What is the total number of experience you have as a sawmiller. (Round to the closest number))
Option 1: 1 year
votes: 338
Option 2: 5 years
votes: 245
Option 3: 10 years
votes: 112
Option 4: 15 years
votes: 59
Option 5: 20 years
votes: 54
Option 6: 25 years
votes: 33
Option 7: 30 years
votes: 19
Option 8: 35 years
votes: 11
Option 9: 40 years
votes: 8
Option 10: 45 years
votes: 4
Option 11: 50 years
votes: 3
Option 12: 55 years
votes: 2
Option 13: 60 years
votes: 2
Option 14: 65 years
votes: 2
Lets try to figure out how many years of experience and knowledge this forum offers in certain areas. Lets start with sawmilling. I'll add a couple other polls as well. We'll start adding all the numbers together and displaying it somewhere on the forum as we get data, and updating it periodically as more people participate in the collection of the information.
When answering the poll, round to the nearest number, either up or down, what ever is closest. It would be just to much for the poll if we added an option for every year. What we will come up with by rounding will be a very accurate number for our total.
Done deal Jeff. I've got 16 but rounded down to 15. This is a great idea. Looking forward to the results. :)
LOGDOG
There we go. I needed to round up one year. together we achieved perfection. :)
Is rounding up 1 months experience to year fair?
Just been a few minutes and we are already at around 160 years. :)
Do we want years or Mbf? I've got 25 years or 60 million bf. I wonder if we reach a billion bf. Maybe a dual poll?
Well I round up to 25. Who's got 30?
Mark
I only have 5 personal experience...but I have spent most of that 5 here soaking up knowledge, learning from others experience. I learned stuff here I did not have to learn the hard way, invaluable really.
Quote from: ellmoe on June 28, 2008, 06:43:07 AM
Well I round up to 25. Who's got 30?
Mark
That would be me. I started on the head rig at Oneal & company Inc in 1979, sawed there until they closed in 1984 after a pallot company named Northland Industries bought us and broke us. I went to work at Billsby Lumber the very next day as Head Sawyer. I worded there for over 20 years, I then bought my bandsaw from DouginUtah. Actual experience is 29 years. Rounded up 1.
Ron, yep, years. Board feet wood be a different subject for sure. I reckon I'm upwards of 80 million using a 3-4 million a year average. Sawing all that aspen really boosts the numbers.
I started hanging out at Grandpa's mill when he sawed as soon as it was set up. That was sometime in the early 70s. I was always dissappointed when he sawed and I wasn't able to be there. I've been sawing with the mill myself since he passed away in 2001 but ran it bit under his supervision also :) :) I don't use the mill much these days as I've got too many irons in too many other fires right now. I checked five years :) :)
We are at over 400 years of experience already. :)
I just ran into the same quandry as Greg over on the log and timber poll. There's pics of me on scaffold with a hammer and apron on at 8 years old. I just checked 20 years over there. Man it feels good to be 28 again ;D.
I would say that Greg's experiences with his granddad are applicable. You don't have to be a sawyer to have milling experience and knowledge. As an example I'll betcha Bibbyman's granddaughters have more experience then many wood-mizer owners when it comes to the way things are actually done around a mill.
Well maybe I should change mine from 15 years to 150 :D :D I'm a 5'th generation sawmiller ;D I remember being at my Grandad's planing mill in Reding California around 1947. That's the year we moved back to Mo.
I spent just a little time at a mill my sister's FIL owned during the early 70's but basically my experience is from 2003, getting my logs sawed by another and then buying my own mill in 05 because he was too slow. I checked 5. Still working on my first million BF, and a long ways to go on that.
554 years experience now. :)
I've had a few days at the mill pulling 16' hemlock flitches that felt like 554 years. :D
Dave
The only Mill experience I have is with the machine that put the dogears on the fence boards and cleaning the de-barker pit. The headsaw was about 20 feet away though.
Other than that I took apart a complete milling operation a couple years ago for future use. I will have to become a Millwright in the future to keep it going I'm sure.
I took credit for one year. ;D
I have 6 and zac has 3 so we marked 10.
The first 15 of my 20 years was all with an alaskan chainsaw mill and should really count for about 100 compared to my "real" twinsaw.
Up to 705 years experience now. ;D
I've got about 3.5 yrs so I rounded up to 5. Like Daren,I have learned alot hanging out here. I figure it gives me a leg up on a sawyer with comparable time but not having the Forum as a knowledge base. ;D
Don
6 years here, only hit the log stops once in a while now. Steve
I've been at it from back in the eighties,but it has never been my only scorce of income.I enjoy building mill machinery as much as using it.Once your a sawyer you never look at trees the same way,people wonder what I'am looking at,just figuring the board feet.Frank C.
Over 1000 years of experience at this point in the poll and less then 2.5% of our members weighing in so far. :)
That's just plain staggering! :o Keep the numbers coming folks. 8)
LOGDOG
20 years total, starting with Alaskan Mill, 18 years band mill.
All of my experience is on Wood-Mizer mills.
I started out tailing my FIL's 1992 Manual WM about 3.5 years ago, and this spring, my wife and I bought our own mill.
We usually work the mill together. Haven't gotten her to run it yet. Says she's too nervous.
She will eventually.
I was about to select "1" year but realized I bought my LM2000 and cut my first board in 2004. Time flies when you are having fun. ;D
I cut my first board on a Frick 00 mill when I was 11 years old in 1981 with an Eclipse Portable Steam engine. So, does that qualify me as having 25+ years experience? ;D
I've milled on several circle mills (Frick, Bel-Saw, American, and Farquar) until two years ago when I started using a band mill. I only mill about 5 ~ 10K bd/ft of lumber per year.
I milled full time from 1995 to 2001, off and on since then. So I just said 10.
Andy
We are over 1350 years of experience on the poll. :)
Gday
I started sawing when I was 13yo ;D 8) (Im 1 of the lucky ones that knew what i was born to do) after naging Dad to build me a CSM based on a logosol m7 to cut DF , Radiata Pine and local Hardwood. brought my 1st new bandsawmill at 15yo ;D and built my 1st circular 44" flattop sawmill at 18yo 8) and went into sawmill management at 20yo and did my own milling on weekends I also managed H/Wood kilns for 18 months drying 60000bft per day . Ive been lucky enough to get exp on almost all types of sawmilling equipment. Been back milling for Myself for 18 months now . 8) 8) And rebuilding Puppa and dads 84 mod # 2 Meadows delux sawmill that was the 1st Meadows sawmill imported into Australia .there is only about 7 of these types of mills (all brands)operating overhere at the moment. my Mate is 2 weeks off
his Morpac mill arriving 8) that I found for him at OSARK equipment MO.Gotta help Him set it up tho (the things you do fo free) ;D
reguards Chris McMahon ;
I put down 15 years ;D
Seems like a few of us started with the Alaskan Mill. Funny how fast that dust gets in your veins, huh. With 45 yrs. of experience, I'd be interested in seeing some pics of some of the mills you been around. I've seen some that you'd swear wouldn't get through a log :-\
Well, I have been involved in sawing wood - but as an owner, not so much as a doer... if you know what I mean. But, if I were to add up all the experience of our workers...
Lets see, we as of last payroll have 63 people working for us now. Of that number, I would say 20 or more have life long experience cutting wood - usually with an Alaskan, but more than a few with bandsaws and sawmills. So, on average, they have at least 10 years, probably closer to 15 as I think about it.
So, if I were to include my workers... say 300 years. I didn't see that on the options though. :D
Well I have worn out a WM so how many years is that? I have checked my box and upped the total a little.
1000 years is awsome! But the 2.5% of registered members is disappointing. Come on guys! How hard is it to vote?
I said 5 years have had my mizer for 56 months had another brand for 18 months [not allowed to say brand] before that had a circler mill for year, gave up on that...before that,built a band mill with snow machine engine ,gave up on that one too......think I should have said 10 years rl
Why are you not allowed to say brand?
ok guys,
I am in with 30 years-got me first mill in 1976-Meadows #1...
Ran this mill on my off time plus weekends-was firefighter city of Ithaca,ny
Had this mill till 93-then got a bandmill-TH,still not sure why they closed down..
Bert
why are you not allowed to say brand had to sign a paper saying I would not bad mouth there mills on any public forum or i would be soued for 15thousand theres been alot of posts on this site that I would have liked to replie to ...but didn't dare to rl
Just don't bad-mouth the other brand. 8) 8) 8)
I'm in for 5. Was runnin the Norwood last night!
Red oak sure looks nice.
Jon
How bout 1 day,.. :D
Rockfarmer,how about telling us more,what kind,new one,HP,hyd,what are your plans with it,do you have logs to cut,what will you be building,what got you started?
Quote from: thecfarm on December 05, 2008, 09:20:55 PM
Rockfarmer,how about telling us more,what kind,new one,HP,hyd,what are your plans with it,do you have logs to cut,what will you be building,what got you started?
Maybe I answered in the wrong forum,.. Its just a small Alaskan 24" on a Stihl 045AV Super w/28" bar. I also got the mini and will run that on my husky 365 or Stihl 041FB. So far I have have 7 logs to cut, started the first one yesterday, tried to post pics here but after I got the resizing right and putting them in my album when I go to post them their in the wrong format :o >:( Its easier to mill the logs :D I'm going to frame a loft in my garage with the wood I'm making, been putting it off for years now. If and when I get that done I'll think about some pine boards for flooring or maybe some cedar planks for my deck. I dont know,.. I got a lot of pines that are taking up my property and would like to open the sky up for some more productive hardwoods :D I'm layed off right now and I like working outdoors, getting some exercise, my cordwood is done for this year and next. I dont even know how I stumbled on this,.. :)
You answered the right forum and you are in the right place :)
Rockfarmer,thanks for the infro.You got lucky when you stumbled across this site.
I said 10 years milling, I think its been 8 or 9 since I got the mill though. I helped chainsaw mill and offbear for a woodmizer and MD at various times earlier than that, but not regularly.
If you count the years spent from the time I was a dust-doodler at my grandfather's mill, to the first cedar I butchered when I assumed the role of sawyer on the same mill, until today where I'm a part-timer it should add up to just over 21 years experience in, around and operating a sawmill. All by the ripe old age of 35 :D
Actual sawing time I'd put around 15 yrs, but I'll be the first to step up and admit there's a mountain of knowledge I still DON'T have. This is one of the reasons I'm glad I finally found this forum... can't believe it took this long.
My father had a tie mill in our back 20 acres where I grew up as a boy pushing saw dust and listening to the guys stories.Worked there until finished high school,then went to work for Biose Cascade at a large production mill.Stayed there until the shut downs in the early 80s.Moved to Alaska in 82 and went to work at a small building supply yard that had its own circle mill,ran that head rig until 90n when moved back to Idaho to try the mills there again.That did not work out and moved back to Fairbanks,been running our own mill and firewood business since.I also travel all over the state trouble-shooting and repairing a vast variety of mills.Training:Certified log scaler,finish lumber grader-WCLB,welder-manufaturer,currently have 13 of my own built mills in the alaska bush.
I started grading tropical HW shorts when I was 12 also went to Nos La on the WE to help grade and tally for Robinson and Citco they had a place in Chalmette La on tre docks where the lumber came in from overseas they'd unload it and in the meantime we would grade it and reload it as soon as we got a load they also used trucks so it was a little easier to keep up with it.I worked for Weis Fricker Mahogany co My old man ran the mill I started sawing at 15 on a left handed bandmill that still had a blocksetter on the carriage Carriage was pulled by a 12" steam shotgun feed .You had to give hand signals for the next set and if you couldn't see him I had a small whistle I would toot for the signals. we had for and reverse just no setworks had a 9 ft bar tturner with 150 # of steam The largest log I ever sawed was a mahogany 8 ft across and 32 ft long and it took a while ;D It was an old lineshaft mill built in 1898 all babbit bearing all steam driven most of the parts at that time were made in the blacksmith/machine shop They still ricked the wood pulled it out with old tricycle allis chamers and ricked it by hand when it was close to dry they put it in the steam kilns and then loaded all rr cars by hand they loaded very few trucks. All the logs came in on ships and of course I got the good jobs I had to tally string and boom logs then ride the booms in while walking them and watching for sinkers and if I found one I had to out a chain dog in and dog it to another log so we wouldn't lose it Well after all the embargo crap then they blocked it again after we found a way around it She shut down then went to a pine mill Alger-Sullivan until things got slow then I just moved around some Back then a sawyer of my age had a hard time making folks beleive you could do it It was still Black magic back Then I sawed at sev small HW mills Then the old man went to So America for Nickey Bros out of Memphis Then of course he needed a flunkie So they talked me into going down there .WE went to a hole in the jungle called Intacoatiera Brazil The closet civilization And I use the term loosely was Bogota Columbia first Stayed for about 8 yrs then they moved the miklk and while they were moving it We worked for Gilbert Out Ala and WV. We out a mill iup in a town called Abatatuba Brazil rt off the amazon on a river called the Rio Negro We stayed the for about 7 yrs it was another hole in the jungle closet town was Belem about 90 miles away only way to get there was plane or boat. We also traveled to Ecuador Argentina all over the inteirior of Brazil buying lumber and logs WE also tried to help some of the smaller mills when they had electrical or maint probs saw probs and the such It made for a lot of good will I really enjoyed my time down there BUt it'was hard on the old personal life But thay's the way it goes. Well I left there and camre back to the states and went to work for Coastal lbr until they built a ply wood pant where I was at and wanted to send me to diff mills to train and trouble shoot I'd done killed two marriages and decided I'd try to save the third so I worked in Ala and Tn for the rest of my carrer I still do a little trainig Grade sawyers or help out some of my friends if their sawyer needs a vac. or they get stuck between sawyers I'll help them for a short while also do some installation J8st can't stay away from that sawdust altogether I've got a little over 4o yrs in the sawcab, millwrighting grading mill management you name it I've prob had to do it one time or another BUT I loved to saw anw if I was able I'd saw full time still today Well sorry for the book
Chico
I grade sawed in large mills (all band)mainly on the west coast. I started sawing at 18 and quit when I was 33. My wife and I have had a business unrelated to saw mills but in 08 I could no longer resist and bought a Kara circle mill (those round saws are very strange) Now we are trying to figure out how to sell what we cut.
Papa Bang
It would be interesting to see this overlayed with the age of the sawyers.
I'm 57 and have sawed prob close to 200-250 millionBd ft combined H#W and pine
Chico
new here but i've been sawmilling in one way or another for about 5 years. first bit was slabing logs free hand with a 460 magnum, loved it so much i purchased an lt40 manual from family member who had lost ambition, now i'm gearing up to log and mill full-time come May 8)
Quote from: Chico on October 22, 2009, 05:15:53 AM
I'm 57 and have sawed prob close to 200-250 millionBd ft combined H#W and pine
Chico
Hi Chico I'm 60 and I just sawed my first 200bf , I probably won't catch up to you. Holmes
If it was all bulldozed into a corner about 7, but that would be over about 20 years! cheers john
3 years of taking logs to another local sawyer and building projects with wood. And two of those years watching every DVD made of our sponcers mills and others. I have more media hrs than hands on milling hrs. 7 years of actual operating time so I submitted 10.
It'll be 20 years in January .... actual milling using my own equipment.
Just over 10 years over 2 million bf. Steve
13 years all part time.
Pete
:christmas:
and how many years we up to now Jeff?
Sawing experience - I'll be starting year 9 in Feb.
with 338 votes a total of 3741 years
Thats ALOT OF LUMBER :) ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D 8)
Regards Chris
I started out picking up stickers in the field where lumber had been drying for a year until it was packaged for shipment when I was 13 yrs. old. (1964) This was part-time after-school work to help my dad.Continued doing odd jobs around the mill(Lane tractor mill powered by a 4-71 Detroit,Tower edger and trimmer),also filled in as needed sticking/packaging,running trimmer,debarking(later) until I left for 2yrs. after graduation from H.S. Worked a while as a mechanic after trade school,drove truck for 6 yrs.,then went back to work for dad full-time in May 1977-it's been full-time since then so I'll only use the last 36 yrs.
Mike
woodlandtractors,welcome to the Forum. Still have the same mill in use today?
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, woodandtractors. :)
thanks for the welcome,guys.
None of the old equipment is there now. It was all traded in late 1977 when Ireland Lumber Co. moved to the other side of the property. All new building(roughly 35'x 100',plus an ell over the debarker and another over the greenchain)with all electric machinery-HMC rosserhead debarker and Morbark 48'' Chip-pac from the old mill, used HMC mill frame,husk and topsaw,HMC AC40 carriage with air dogs,verticle edger,20' 2-saw Blanchard trimmer,vibrating slab conveyor and various rollcases and lumber transfers. This mill burned on a Saturday in Feb. 1995,fire started in furnace room(yes,we had heat!) and we lost everything but a forklift and a Trojan wheel loader. Some insurance,but only about half the loss was covered.
Dad was sure he wanted to rebuild,so we started planning a new mill with a few improvments.We re-used the old foundation and all new HMC equipment and made the new building 72'x110',replacing the previous ells with poured concrete so as to have a standard pitched roof and less snow hanging up in the roof valleys. No oil furnace in this one-small space heaters where needed,the extra floor area in the green chain area was used for lumber carts and keeping the loader and forklift undercover at night. This mill burned down Nov. 10,2007 with the cause listed as "accidental". My nephew had been "managing" Ireland Lumber for 5 yrs. as Dad was being a caregiver to my mother(both in their 80's) during this period.Said manager decided not to rebuild(over my objections) citing the poor state of the industry and not enough money to rebuild. Several months later we found that he had been siphoning off money since he took over in the office and the business was broke and in debt at the time of the fire. The insurance money paid off the debts,my folks wouldn't press charges on their grandson,and I was on my own.
I borrowed money from a friend and bought a used(68hrs.) Baker 3638 bandmill and Baker gas-powered edger. I have one helper and we saw lumber when there's no firewood orders to do.
Mike
Mike, Glad to see you made it on,i knew who it was as soon as i saw woodandtractors. Don
We fall into 65 years. This company is now 4th generation at Hud-Son forest with Dan Hudon Senior starting up the business in 1965 and selling Ross bandmils in the early 70's with his son Dan Jr. The family experience with forestry dates many years before that as Dan Seniors father got him involved as young boy at 7 years of age. The name of Hud-Son's mills comes from Dan Seniors father, Oscar, making the Oscar line of portable sawmills have true meaning to the family business and made in the USA. Currently, 3 generations of Hudon's still work daily for Hud-Son Forest in rural upstate NY!!!
I grew up along side construction equipment and sawmills. My grandfather owned an old wooden carriage and husk. He always said it was "rough" cut and planers were invented for a reason. He passed when I was ten but I will never forget sitting on the skidway watching him saw. His power unit was a diesel mack engine. Stepping over the driveshaft always scared the crap out of me.
My uncle was in the process of building a mill at the time of my grandfathers passing. This mill was full foundationed, generator powered, lane husk, home built carriage (hand operated but some hydraulic controls), green chain, debarker, 2 sided edger and planer. Because of fire threats the building had no heat and heat was the enemy in his eyes. He had seen too many mills burn from heat sources. As a young boy I hung over his shoulder and helped where I could. Mostly I ran wrenches. Actually my uncle unknowingly taught me fractions by asking me to fetch a 9/16 wrench. As years went on he would say we can either work on it or run it when it came to equipment failures. Every item was fixed with the least expense.
I worked at the mill part time him from the age of 16 to 32. He had plans to sell the mill summer of 2008 and retire but passed away winter of 2007. I assisted my aunt as best possible by operating the mill for five years until she decided it was time she sell in 2012. The land value far exceeded the value of the mill operation.
After my uncles passing I slowly repaired, when needed, breakdowns we bubble gummed for another day. The saw dust pipe had about an inch of duct tape and numerous 1/4" board pieces patching holes right above the blower. I never did replace that section. Every time it blew out I added more tape and boards thinking my uncle would be proud! There was so much to do with little funds and time but I did my best.
I miss the sound of a circular saw and my brother and I purchased a belsaw. The blades condition was beyond ill and is in New York having life hammered back into it. It is a 2-1/2 9 gauge. Not the best but it will bring some lumber. Plan is to purchase a simonds or Payne F 7/8 gauge in the coming years.
My production will never compare to what my uncle and I could produce but I will be able to hear the familiar sound that puts my mind at ease.
torqueporting,lots of memories in that post. ;D Thank you,I enjoyed reading it.
Quote from: thecfarm on January 18, 2013, 09:04:39 AM
torqueporting,lots of memories in that post. ;D Thank you,I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you for the words. There are many more fond memories which most are down right funny.
On my own bandmill probably only 15-20 hours, lol. Since I figured you meant on non commercial businesses, I didn't vote.
In log mills and planer mills probably 10 years a chunk at a time.
Re-saws, single and twin
P.E.T.
30' set of trimsaws
rip saws
moulders
chopsaws
I love the polling idea. What's really cool are the guys with 40 plus years that are using the internet. Kudos to you older folk that aren't scared to dig into Internet Technologies and blaze a path. I know a bit about the internet but way less about sawing so I look forward to the advice.
I am new to the forum, but I am listing my experience at 30. I am 42 now, but literally started in the family mill when I was 8. I started sawing when I was 14, and am sawing on the same husk that my granddad and dad used. My great grandfather started the mill in 1936, and we're still going strong. Nothing fancy, just a small circle mill built around a 440 Corley husk and frame.
;)
Welcome 4thgensawmiller. Carrying on a family tradition is wonderful. Start a thread below and give us a full rundown on your sawing activities. I am sure that it will be of interest. :)
Gday
Welcome to The Forum 4thgen ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) Im 4th generation myself and would not be caught doing anything else Mate ;) ;D 8)
I know your website as I spotted it a couple of years ago your running a custom Meadows carriage ;) ;D 8)
here it is ;) http://www.grayssawmill.com/history.shtml
Regards Chris
Bought my first mill (Frick 01) at age 21(48now). Now using a Woodmizer. All part time and still learning every time I start the mill.
Hello, I,m new and looking for answers to all kinds of issues about my new mill. I ,ve had a belsaw for 25 years. On a good day I,d rate it at 50 bd. ft. per hour. My new mill is rated at 500 bd. ft. per hour. I,m in upstate N.Y. Tuesday pouring the concrete for new mill to set on. A 220 diesel power plant. Hydralic feed. Lots of plans here and equipment. Never a day off here.
What,s the best set up for the edger, and saw to cut slabs into fire wood?
Many parts to my mill are from a Frick.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
Look forward to some pics soon, as you proceed with the mill site and the mill build (or re-build).
I started helping my uncle in 1975. Certainly was a weekend kind of work. Never actually ran the mill but tended everything else. Bought my own mill just 2 years ago so you can put me down for at least 5 years
Jeff, I checked 1 + 2 learning to saw. And learn something new every day.
Third generation sawmiller . I once had a fellow tell me that I cut my teeth on a sawmill when I was a baby! lol!
Welcome to the Forestry forum, bsawmill. :)
Just wanted to say hello to all you guys. I'm new to the site. I just invested in a new WMlt35hydro. I have much to learn and 60+ spruce, popul, pine and oak to play with. I'm already running out of space to sticker boards until this Maine winter leaves for good! I'm sure I'll be back on with questions for ya guys.
Hello True east, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. 8)
True east,as in Down East?? Welcome to the forum. I suppose you brought that from Ross in Chesterville? Going to the WM open house April 12?
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,74034.msg1124028/html
Well I will be 67 years on the ground in a month or so. I have been making sawdust or shavings since I was old enough to pick up a board. It was just part of growing up in my family. What I have found that if you ever had a sawmill in the past but don't have one now, odds are you are going to do it again. I was talking to a guy the other day about a local outfit looking for basswood stock for shims. Then this evening I walked past the J.W. Penny bolter I have out back and that little voice of reason kept saying "Don't do it, you know things will get out of hand again". Never did pay much attention to him. Maybe that is why I walk this way. If there is one thing I have learned about sawmill men is they don't know when to leave well enough alone. Then again there is nothing like the smell of fresh sawdust. I am going to have to think about this some more.
Big welcome to the Forestry Forum svart.
Would sure like to see a pic or two of the Bolter saw. Not something we see much of anymore.
Look forward to hearing more about your sawdust past as well as possible new things in the future.
Im still mew enough to figure my sawing experience in hours. ;D
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, svart ole. 8)
svart ole,I got a feeling you won't be thinking for long. ;D Welcome to the forum.
I started sawing in 1984, worked at our neighbor's sawmill canting before that. Bought my first portable sawmill in 1990, second in 1992, an LT40HD and upgraded to a LT40HD remote in 2004.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, marktwt!
Good to hear you have lots of experience around sawmills, the info you know likely will be useful to other members here on the forum.
Tell us a little about yourself, Where you're located etc.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, marktwt. As Chuck mentioned, adding your location and sawmill to your profile is always very useful. :)
How'd I miss this thread for so long?
I started working at my Ex's families sawmill in 92, the year we got married. Worked part-time logging and as the edger/green-chain man for nearly 18 years--guess I hung on so long cause I really wanted slice lumber myself. The mill was a 52" wheel portable tie mill which hadn't been moved in 25 years. It surplanted a completely home made wooden framed mill which would cut 36ft long doug fir sticks. For 3 years I was almost full time. I also worked the planing mill, delivered lumber & sawdust & slabs. When I moved back East to Maine I realized I'd never bought lumber my entire adult life and I wasn't about to start. So around 5 years ago I got my Thomas Mill.
So all told, and with liberal rounding, let's call it 20 years sawmill experience.
Started logging when we bought our land in 1986, tried to saw some lumber freehand with a chainsaw, hard to get it strait that way. Dad bought me a LT30 woodmizer in '89. I cut several hundred thousand bd ft from it. Not a lot but enough to get as efficient with it and as good maintaining blades as I possibly could. (built us a new house out of a little of it) Sold it last spring when we were starting a trucking company and needed money, knowing I'd miss it. So today I'm going over and load up an old bellsaw mill owned by a friend, just the metal parts, the wood is all rotten. I have some 30' steel beams I'm gonna mount it all on. I'm going to enjoy doing it the older way for awhile just to see how it goes. (I drove truck all summer but my brother and cousin is out doing it now)
Hello everyone I'm a new member. I had a old circle mill for 10 years cutting ties and pallet cants mostly. I bought a woodmizer lt15 last fall for my son to use because he was having a hard time keeping it cutting straight.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, East ky logging. Start a new thread and I am sure that you can/will get your sawing problem corrected.
Thank you for welcoming to the forum. Most of the problem my son had was inexperience a lot of those old mills is very tempermantal and you have to keep your eyes on it before a small problem becomes a big one
East ky logging,welcome to the forum.
I put down 10 years, but my experience was in the form of working in a sawmill as a lumber grader. I worked as a grader for 7 years and as an inspector with a grade stamp agency for 1 year.
I've worked around a Wood Mizer since 1994. Of course I was pretty young in 94 so all I got to do is work the green end, but I eventually graduated from toting slabs and now operate a small mobile custom sawing business.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, ncsawyer.
Foley Bellsaw in 1980, woodmizer lt 40 in 1986, cooks accutrac in 1995, sold out and started other business in 1999. looking for sawmill now to get back in it.
I have about 3 years on Foley Bellsaw and around 9 years on a Woodmizer Lt 40 manual mostly sawing for myself and for family and friends.
I'm betting the reason that 2.5% of the people has not voted is that the voteing log is missing a number...
0 Zero years...
Quote from: Kbeitz on April 17, 2015, 06:07:53 AM
I'm betting the reason that 2.5% of the people has not voted is that the voteing log is missing a number...
0 Zero years...
This. I a new bee. Less then a half a year.
Back when I moved onto my own acreage (1973), there were few jobs around here. I got a CETA job at the local high school but was lucky to meet a shingle sawyer who got me out of there when someone at his mill got canned. I worked there for a couple years, running the big old Pettibone out to the yard, cutoff saw, splitter, and the deck chain, until I got canned for the old BTS equipment frequently breaking down.
Most guys who got canned there would get rehired, but I moved on and got into a partnership with my best friend (now ex-) on a new LT30 which I ran for a several years, custom sawing. I really loved the sawmill but the partner was making more money doing construction and decided to stick me working with some relative of his who I couldn't work with. I hired someone I could work well with and stuff started hitting the fan. He maneuvered for control of the company after incorporating when EcoTrust liked my sustainable business ideas and offered some financing. When money started looming large, things suddenly changed in our relationship. At cross purposes, we made a deal for him to buy me out. Then he stiffed me for most of the agreed buyout. He went deep into debt, figuring that was how to roll as a businessman. The company died and he went on doing construction as his mainstay.
So anyway, I knew if I could ever afford it again, I would get another Wood-Mizer. I'm over two years into having this one, bought as a first step to building a shop to make something that will be from sustainable harvested log, or resaw salvage, to end product. I have an idea for a product that I'm playing close to the vest for now. I want to set up a worker owned company.
One product that I have planned is sawdust substrate for growing gourmet mushrooms. I now grow shiitake mushrooms on logs. Not big enough to go pro on that right now with over 200 logs. Most markets want steady supply streams, and logs is a tough way to go for that. The ones you get at the market are probably grown on sawdust bags. Bandsaw sawdust is perfect.
I just have 3 months at this point. But i love my mill, and have got a lot to learn about bandmilling and lumber. Need some experience life lines please.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, rconkie. Now how about an "intro thread" and telling us about your sawing interest.
Quote from: rconkie on July 16, 2015, 12:36:49 AMNeed some experience life lines please.
The Forestry Forum is already a huge lifeline. No one person knows all of the answers, but collectively the answer is here. The only dumb question is an unasked question. Unlike other forums, you will never see harsh words or less than a friendly family atmosphere here.
Adding your location and sawmill description to your profile will help with questions.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, rconkie!
Quote from: rconkie on July 16, 2015, 12:36:49 AM
I just have 3 months at this point. But i love my mill, and have got a lot to learn about bandmilling and lumber. Need some experience life lines please.
Those are scars in this business...
Be careful!
Have been using an 8" Lucas Mill for 16 years, and just added a Cook's MP32 to the operation last fall.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Scott Webb. How about adding your location and sawmills to your profile. It is interesting plus helpful. :)
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Scott Webb!
5,045 years answered so far.
I wonder how many Bandaids that took...
After 13 years of sawing, only Johnson & Johnson has a record of my Bandaid usage. :D
15 years here. It has been some of my best years.
20ish
I have 20 years before I became a nurse, 1971 - 1991 then another year after I retired from nursing. So 21 years altogether.
I used 50 but it may closer to 60 I can rember working the green end when I was to small to lift a 2 X 8 X8 . Gearbox
Quote from: Tim on August 08, 2015, 08:17:11 AM
5,045 years answered so far.
I wonder how many Bandaids that took...
And that 5,045 does not even include all the years of experience gained after all you guys answered the question.
I had about a month of experience when I lived in Montana then I move to Bolivia. One of the local wood shops here had a 1979 Wood-Mizer LT40ish(didn't have any identifying labels left on it). I got a job working there because I knew what the mill was. I have learned a lot about the mill in the last 3 years and recently it was traded in for a newer model (1998 Super Hydraulic). So between the month in Montana and here it rounded up to 5 years.
Hey, guys! This message may not suit the topic, but I'm considering to buy some new equipment for sawmilling. I have some questions about it like if anyone here has any experience of using it and how good it is.
I've read the info on advertising here and I'm aware that my account can be banned if I give any advertising-like info without a permission. I utterly respect the administration of the site, the moderators and the community and I don't want to break any rules.
So, I'd like to know where I can post my questions about the machine I wtb and not get into the ban-list?
Quote from: CarpenterPaul on April 22, 2016, 02:27:11 AM
Hey, guys! This message may not suit the topic, but I'm considering to buy some new equipment for sawmilling. I have some questions about it like if anyone here has any experience of using it and how good it is.
I've read the info on advertising here and I'm aware that my account can be banned if I give any advertising-like info without a permission. I utterly respect the administration of the site, the moderators and the community and I don't want to break any rules.
So, I'd like to know where I can post my questions about the machine I wtb and not get into the ban-list?
You can post a general description of the machine you are looking at and ask folks opinions.
The links to things like Craigslist are a no-no, both because other members might have an eye on the same deal, and someone else may see it and beat them too it. And it removes any question of someone trying to get sneaky free advertising.
If it's a new machine, just ask. Anyone can find the manufacturers site and look at it easy enough.
Quote from: Ianab on April 22, 2016, 04:31:57 AM
You can post a general description of the machine you are looking at and ask folks opinions.
The links to things like Craigslist are a no-no, both because other members might have an eye on the same deal, and someone else may see it and beat them too it. And it removes any question of someone trying to get sneaky free advertising.
If it's a new machine, just ask. Anyone can find the manufacturers site and look at it easy enough.
You mean no detailed descriptions like characteristics and no links and photos on the machine, am I right?
For example:
"Hi, mates! I'm considering to buy "the model" from "the manufacturer name". I want to buy it for "the purpose". What do you think of it?"
Have I got the idea right?
The layers of the enjoyment I get would make a "Dagwood" sandwich. From just being outdoors to the people I meet and the look on faces when you open up a log. Better yet is my Grandson standing next to me, itching to run the mill. Gotta admit, he is gettin pretty dern good.
Greetings All
10 years since we got the new woodmizer lt40, now with 1600 hours. Yesterday's images added before the 30 inch d fir got cut down to 6x10 timbers.
Cheers
When a was young(er), I worked at a cypress sawmill outside of Kissimmee, Florida. I was the line-bar sawyer and operated a bandsaw whose blades were 26 foot in diameter, and 9 inches wide. I remember one day I heard the dreadful "tick, tick, tick, tick" of a cracked blade. I stopped the saw and checked...sure enough, there was about a two-inch crack. I told the mill foreman, who told me to keep cutting, because we only had three more logs on the rack. Unfortunately, one of those logs had an 18 inch cant. On the third pass of that log, the blade shattered, sending two-foot shards of the blade flying everywhere! One piece missed my head by inches and I could hear it whizzing by.
I worked there nearly two years, until one day, I had cut up all the logs we had in the yard, so went out back to help the guys put together orders. As I was reaching down to grab a board, a cottonmouth water moccasin bit me on the index finger, putting me in the hospital for two weeks, eleven days in intensive care. After that, I got a job at the Texaco Station. 8)
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, NavyRet98!
Quote from: Chuck White on September 22, 2016, 01:03:05 PM
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, NavyRet98!
Thanks, Chuck! ...and thanks for your service!
What's a good price for a 2x12 x8 with bark?
Im actually around 19 years experience. I've done almost every job in a typical sawmill. Ran and maintained several types of headrigs. An old handset. A Cleereman double cut band rig a left hand circle and a Timberland scragg.
Just realized I should post here. I'm 41 and grew up from day one at a sawmill. I'll call my experience at 20 years. I started stacking lumber at age 6. Knew how to sharpen and lead a saw when I was around 15. I know pretty much everything about an 0 frick and an Edmiston automatic mill. I can rebuild a Miner edger from scratch. Still using a shop built scragg mill, a terribly worn out chipper, a brand new lt50 woodmizer and a rotochopper cp118.
I am new here and so far, really like this site..I had always wanted a sawmill. My dad had been woodworking for years and I was the one tasked to find the timber to make the lumber. Just that it was a little expensive to have the logs turned into lumber so I suggested that we buy a mill and it will pay for itself. It never happened. when he passed, I turned around and bought a woodland HM126. Now we have a mill. I have about 5 years or so till retirement from my day job. I plan to supplement part of my retirement with the mill as well as offering skidsteer services. I have a 1993 Thomas T133....Been milling since 2015
Cheers...Jeff Foster
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48693/IMAG1388.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1518138593)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48693/IMAG1388.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1518138593)
Welcome to the FF Jeff.
glad you figured out the pictures. ;D
Nice set up and that mill will make you some retirement coins.
Good luck and post more pics.....we love pics. :)
Goat
Good for you on the mill. And welcome to the forum.
My Father never got to see me buy a mill. We looked at the kind that I bought. He would of enjoyed it.
Jeff, welcome, you have come to a good place.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Jeff!
Have just purchased a Wood Mixer LT40 Hydraulic. I have never owned a mill! I'm 63 years old....have always wanted a mill...I have a wonderful wife that said if you want one, gray it. I farmed for years & still love on the farm & rent my land. One of the reasons I really wanted to get the mill is I have a grandson 11 years old & absolutely loves the outdoors. I figured helping me on. the mill would gain him some good work ethic & I could pay him & thus he would see the benefits of hard work. When he graduates from HS in several years...he can have it! The dream has always been mine to own a mill & now I have a grandson that is sharing the dream with me. My mill delivers December 7th & we are excited. We have built a trailer with a log arch as well as purchased a Logrite T36 log arch to retrieve logs close to the farm.
One question for all....how many extra blades do I need?
I have 60 coming with the mill. I am 200 miles from the dealer & absolutely want to have plenty of blades.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
tuckerrandy,welcome to the forum.
Lucky grandson and good for you!! We work hard our whole life and should have things to fulfill our dreams and wants.
Going to need a peavey or a cantdog from Logrite too.
Whatcha pulling the Logrite arch with? Good choice on that.
And what's the plan for the lumber?
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, tuckerrandy. I use Wood-Mizer Resharp service and 60 blades should serve you well.
Welcome tuckerrandy. My grandsons love helping me on the mill and it is so good to see them learn to enjoy hard work.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, tuckerrandy!
It makes a difference in the blade quantity required whether you sharpen them yourself or use ReSharp!
If you sharpen your own blades, you don't really need 60 blades, but they won't go to waste!
If you use the ReSharp service, 60 blades should insure that you always have sharp blades on hand!
I have over 30 years billproef rounded down about 8 to 10 years should be about 40
I have 10 years cutting my own lumber. Grew up in Oregon working in a Georgia Pacific sawmill for 3 years, coos head timber company sawmill for 3 years. Then off to the military. 30 years later I finally got to cut lumber myself. Love it.
Marvin69.welcome to the forum.
Looks like a chainsaw mill you got there?
What do you use the lumber for?
Started sawing with a Mobile Dimension Saw in the mid-1980's. Did custom sawing on the weekends, sawed out lumber for my own use, and sold some lumber. The mill was new in 1979, we were the second owners, it was getting a little tired so it didn't get used for a couple of years. Every year the mice would get into the engine during the winter and make a mess.
This spring someone approached me asking if I wanted to sell the mill, it was kinda like asking if I wanted to sell an old friend, but I agreed. Then the thought of not being able to convert a nice log into lumber struck and my wife said why don't you get one of those band saw mills you are always looking at. So, late this spring a
Wood-Mizer LT15 with power feed arrived in the driveway.
The transition from a circular saw with edgers to a band mill without edgers has been interesting. I like to ability to saw a board wider than 12". I'm still getting educated about what blade to use in different woods and what to add to the water for lube and cooling but I'm getting along.
Randy
Happy birthday Randy!
Started on 60" circular (late 70s) for 20 yrs., Mobile Dimension for several more, Wood Mizer for several more, so round to 25 yrs. making my living at making sawdust. Sawing here and there on the side for many more. Now that I am "Retired", I'm getting the 60" going again.
One year into this passion, beginning with a Lucas 7-23 swing arm purchased in early 2021. (The day before I was about to purchase a WM band saw, I discovered swing arm, and never looked back.) I won't repeat what I posted here (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=117584.msg1876437#msg1876437) yesterday about my background. Perhaps worth mentioning that I'm now in this biz/hobby/addiction due to the CSU Wildfire that incinerated most of my coastal Santa Cruz County ~4 acres in August 2020. House survived, but shop and everything else gone. A few months later I stumbled on free Doug Fir logs, some old growth, in the nearby state park, killed by the fire. That lured me in to milling, which lured me in to an F350 crew cab dually Powerstroke 7.3, a skidsteer, dump trailer, drying (solar DIY at the moment, though considering a Nyle L200M), which then lured me into a Minimax CU300 and an assortment of great woodworking machines. Still married despite my unchecked addiction, though it helps we live an hour from the mill/shop operations.
Fascinated by the fact that 1/3 of the survey respondees are like me, ~1 year in. How many wash out? How many still going strong?
Quote from: wkf94025 on January 08, 2022, 01:02:19 PMHow many still going strong?
Well, I've been schlepping around long enough that I had to change my answer in to polls from 25 to 30 years... If that helps you with part of an answer to that question
Quote from: wkf94025 on January 08, 2022, 01:02:19 PMStill married despite my unchecked addiction,
Man... my wife and I know the pain that can be in that stress... I'm sorry to hear about the major set back that you folks suffered with the fire.
Quote from: Tim on January 09, 2022, 11:50:23 AMMan... my wife and I know the pain that can be in that stress... I'm sorry to hear about the major set back that you folks suffered with the fire.
Thanks Tim. I did not lose the house, and it wasn't my primary residence in the first place, so my pain is minimal compared to the ~1,000 wildfire families here in Santa Cruz County, and the thousands more throughout the West. Most of the pain in my case is suffered by my insurance company. I get a new shop, and a chance to improve on the design and materials from Shop v1.0 in 1991. My neighbors on the other hand are personally suffering through loss of their home, and in many cases, are under-insured, uninsured, and/or lack proper entitlements to what they had built in the first place. Unhappy place for sure.
Don't know if I ever answered this but if I did was a long while back!
So I now have 11 years on a bandsaw and some time before that on a csm ;) Thanks to FF too!
I was curious and got out the calculator.
As of Feb 11, 2023 the sum for those that answered the poll: 6,390 years.
It's a whole lot more than that I bet... I see I responded to this 15 years ago as did a buncha others. We're back to the big bang :).