Starting Green!!!

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Hey Tree Dude,

I have seen many a comment here and on WoodWeb, verifying
that it can be a good thing to cut "7X9 cants", which we have
taken to mean railroad ties.

If you can get lots of cheap medium sized hardwoods, you saw
less.   Let's say you could get SweetGum the right length for either
one or two ties.  Make four cuts.  Get $18.
                          Make four more.  Get $18.
                          Slabs?   Chunk 'em on SweetGum, unless you have a market
                                       for that sidewood.
Hickory, low grade oaks, and other stuff:             
Same, but make Eight cuts and save the 1by for cabinet maker wood.
You get the idea.
About the only hardwood they won't take is Black Jack Oak, so I hear.

Now this would be B-O-R-EENG sawing to me, but it might be your first
bread and butter sort of customer.   You never know.

Phil L.

[tree dude]

Thanks for the info folks.I am going to try to break away to go talk to the guy tomorow hope I can do some good we will see I  guess. Going to see if I can cut on my off days because when winter hits tree work comes to a stand still,then I get cabin fever in the worst kind of way. preciate all the good advise KEEP IT COMMIN!!!! smiley_beatnik

[Rodney Sinclair]

Also as far as I know there isnt that many small sawyers in my area.could be wrong though,

Is there a reason for that? When I first started looking into getting a bandmill, I started looking around to see who had a mill, and what they were doing with it. I found over 25 bandmills within 20 minutes of my house. Only three were operating commercially, and some where not even being run at all, which is a shame. Now there are only two operating for hire.

Dave, I think he will find the same thing here. As far as I know I don't know this guy, but I do live just across the state line from him  and I can think of six that are not in the phone book. And there is no way of knowing how many of those old Belsaws that are sitting in a barn somewhere. As a matter of fact, my girlfriend's nephew gave one away last year on the WoodWeb site. Some of you guys might remember that. He was going to use it to cut ties with but our tie plant closed and left town. Something to do with the EPA I think. Anyway, he kept his NorWood 2000 and I have a TK 1220, so the smaller mills are here. He just hasn't found us yet.

Rodney

[tree dude]

Hey rodney,are you cutting for hobby or proffit? Just kinda nosey is all,did talk to a cabinet builder here in town said he had a mill but didnt use it much.And besides the tye  plant closing I heard the pallet plant closed to. smiley_beatnik

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

One of the creosote treating plants I knew of is now on the EPA Super Fund site
list for cleanup.   It was in southwest Georgia. (I guess that puts it on the "closed" list.)

Things change.   Hard to keep your finger on the pulse of the lumber biz at times.

Talked with the manager of a large hardwood mill near Wadley, GA the other day.
They have around 300 folks in the mill, nearly 200 in a flooring mill 90 miles away,
and are starting a prefinished flooring division.  In spite of this, considerable amounts
of their lumber goes overseas.

Phil L.

[Rodney Sinclair]

Dude, I guess you would have to say hobby. I saw mostly for my own use, but do take a job every now and then. I just retired from Lone Star and really don't want to work that hard anymore. I'm just shy of 63 now and will leave all that hard work to you other guys.

Phil, this place is on the super fund list also. And we just "cleaned" up one of those "super fund" sites out on that plant I just retired from. It is an Army Ammo Plant that is on the BRAC hit list. They are giving away over 1600 acres of prime timber. Belive me, all the Fat Cats around here are lined up at the gate lickin' thier lips. We did have a guy inside the plant that ran three huge kilns drying all hardwood. He booked it out of there also.

Rodney