Bdft/hour claims...

[zopi]

Every mill manufacturer makes claims of what can be sawed in an hour on their mills, I am curious
as to what numbers you guys actually rack up...There are alot of variables involved, # of helpers,
hardwood or softwood, edger use, product produced etc...considering setup, what mills are you guys driving and what can you saw an hour?

I usually work alone, with an LT-15G, and I am slow as January sap...but I can exceed the 125/hr claim if I am busting my hump, especially now that I have a dead deck I can load a half dozen logs onto before I get started..but I usually go around 85-90 an hour.

I wonder if I could break three hundred with an offbearer and someone to keep the logs rolling onto the deck...

Some of you guys have gone from the regular hydraulic mills to the supers...are the supers really that much faster?

[Dave Shepard]

I went from an LT-40G24 to an LT-40HDD51 Wireless remote. My best footage is still with the manual mill, however I had a hydraulic log deck, and good logs. All things considered, I can produce more in a day with the Super. I'm still beat, but not as beat as I would have been on the manual. If I had an off bearer, it would make  a huge difference.

[shinnlinger]

Zopi,

My feeling is they get their numbers by finding a pile of straight, and clean debarked sticks and have a person run a loader to keep the deck full, while a crew of two deals with the slabs and boards.  If I only had to push my saw up and down the tracks, I would be a production king too!

But like you, I am the loader, the sawyer, the off bearer and the stacker.  That pile of boards I can make fairly quick takes alot longer to sticker stack and put under tin, and that doesn't include dealing with the slabs, sawdust and loading the deck.

THere is a nice comparison article in "Sawmills and Woodlot" where they go in depth on the different mills at some competition.  Had some handy tips for upping production regardless of type too boot.

Dave

[Cypress Man]

I went from using a LT40HD25G to a LT40HD25E super back in 2006.  I am still suprised each day how much faster the new mill is over the old one.  All that being said, with one other person, if we can cut and stack 1000bf/day everyday you dont need anyone to rock you to sleep at night.  Sawing logs is way too easy.  Stacking boards, cleaning up sawdust, slabs, etc... is where all the hard part is.



                                                                                                                             Cypress Man

[Dan_Shade]

if you're busting a hump, you can roll pretty quick sawing 2x6's of 2x8's out of 12-16" logs that are 10' long.

On average, I probably get 200-250 bf/hour, counting lunch and breaks.

The fastest i've sawn is 2350(scaled international) bf of fence and barn material from good poplar logs in 7 hours, which is about 335 bf/hr.  I didn't stop for lunch that day, and only took a few short breaks.

[sdunston]

BDFT/hour is just a comparision or sales pitch from the people that sells mills. I have had days were I was lucky to saw 100 ft/hr and other days I have done 250. Think about it if the bdft/hr factor x 25 cents a bdft = profit what would be the selling point of the mill. I would rather saw 100 feet of good saleable lumber than 300 feet of crap that I was ashambed of, "It is what it is". I think if you focas on sawing good lumber that is uniform in thickness and width you will have all bd/ft comming off the mill useful, but if you focas on speed of bd/ft comming off the mill you might end up with a whole lot of campfire wood :D Just my 2 cents
                                                Sam

[GT]

Hello, I do not know much about big mills but my little Belsaw can saw 250bf and up per hour. I saw by myself and edge all of the edging boards at a later date on a 802 Belsaw edger. I saw most all 4/4 and MY logs range from 8 to 12 feet long and from 12" to 22" in diameter and are nice logs. GT

[sgschwend]

Yep, there are a lot of other things to keep us all busy.  That is why I have a handy all terrain forklift to do the material handling, move log, scrap wood and the final stack.

The common description of speed is how many board feet an hour can be cut of 1" thick boards.  In that vain I typically run about 300.  However, another is to look at the saw feed speed, mine ranges between 30-60 fpm, where 30 is for 12" or larger and 60 is for 6" and smaller.  I would rather run at 30 because it gives me 1/2 minute to keep caught up.

I mostly cut softwood.  I would love to cut more hardwood; I find it tends to be easier to cut than Douglas Fir (my main product).

[zopi]

GT..that is a neat looking mill..MY wife and I were talking about cleaning up the flitch boards after the sawing is done earlier this evening...we are bot allergic to putting boards back on the mill. ;D

Dan, that must've been one aching back sleep-in-the-next-day tired....

One of the things that slows me down is the back and knees...years of walking steel decks have about wore them out, but I find that if I vary my tasks, do one thing for awhile, then take care of something else..keeps me going longer...but if I have a hustling offbearer and all I have to do is saw and supervise...well, that's my idea of a good time...

[Don K]

When I had my 15 I had some pretty good days sawing nice SYP logs (1X12's, 10's, 8's). Some days I was lucky to saw two big logs. Now that I have a 40HD I can saw through faster while sawing and leaving the boards in a stack, but I could definitely raise and lower the 15 head faster myself. I think that is the selling point on the super, bigger motors equal faster up/down.

I know I can saw a 1000 bdft and be alot less tired than I did on the 15.

Don

[zopi]

Don, that is definitely a factor for anyone..not being as tired at the end of the sawing..I'm perfectly happy with the -15..but the chances of throwing my back out are alot scarcer with hydraulics...my wife is onboard with that one..probably because she has to listen to me snivel when I throw my back out.. :D

[Dan_Shade]

to be clear, I had two offbearers that 7 hour day.  I dont think I touched a board.  I only touch cants, to sweep the sawdust off of them to look at the grain :-)

[Don K]

zopi, that is one of the reasons my wife pushed for me to upgrade. She wants me healthy to do other things. :D

Don

[treecyclers]

I get about 200' per hour when I am cutting 4/4 stock, more when cutting thicker stuff.
It is possible to cut 1000'' an hour with proper support, and cutting 12x12x16' posts.
Stick with the 200-250' an hour. It's what the majority of the market asks for in 4/4, 6/4, and 8/4 material.

[Chuck White]

I usually get between 200 & 225 bf/hr of 1" lumber.  That's movin' right along and no interuptions.

I'm sure the manufacturers claims are based on clean logs, ideal size (20" X 10') and new blades, along with good help!
There are probably some other variables figured in there too!

[mike_van]

My sawing rate is whatever it takes -  :D   Matters not to me if I spend  .66 hours on  a log or .772 on it.   No time clock to punch here!  You get all those logs done too fast, I'm sure the wife can find something for you to do!  Something important too!  :D

[customsawyer]

 

[moonhill]

Around 200 BF/hr is comfortable, it's getting the hours in that is the hard part, too many other distractions.  So in a 8-10 hour day I get 1000 BF, one person with reasonable logs, I am happy to see a pile of 800BF.   

Other distractions, the list is long, here is a few.  Running out of fuel, sharpen bands, hunting for the jack I or someone else left elsewhere, starting machinery when it is 3°,  plowing snow, lunch, the cell phone, another machine ran out of fuel, have to run to town to get more fuel( I'm too poor to fill my bulk tanks), the wind blowing the wrong way and making it very uncomfortable to saw(some of us don't have remotes), Tweaking the grinding wheel to the right profile, you know stuff like that. 

Tim   

[stumpy]

I have a little different take on this.  I'm a one-man operation with a LT30 non-hydraulic.  I should also say that I don't have enough business to keep me going.  For that reason, I don't look at bdft/hr as my measure.  I look at maximizing my revenue and building a customer base.  Now that may sound like I don't worry about efficiency, but that's not the case.  I have two things that drive me.  1)Work hard (keep moving and don't waste time) and 2) give the customer a good value.  1) is easy, just work like i would want someone to work if I were paying the bill.  2) takes more focus.  I try to educate the customer and I explain what I do and why so that he is comfortable with the end result.  I advise him on things like weather the log is worth sawing, How to cut it and how to treat it after he gets it home.  I also always refer him to the Forum to learn more. I'm sure I could be faster with a hydraulic mill, but I do believe I give the customer a good value for his money.  As for sawing for myself or sawing logs to resell, I constantly am looking for ways to be more efficient around the mill.  Most notable, support equipment and lot layout.

[WDH]

Since I do not saw as often as others who custom saw as a business, I keep records of each day's production and the sawmill hours.  On my LT15, sometimes with a helper, most times not, and cutting 1" hardwood, I have averaged 108 BF/hr.  This is based on actual sawmill engine run hours and not total elapsed time.

My best day ever was cutting 1x12x10 SYP for Dodgyloner who had is Dad helping also and we produced 1550 BF that day.  For a LT15, that is really kicking up the sawdust :D.

If I am sawing alone and I produce 500 BF, then I consider that a good day given all the tasks that you have to perform. 

So if you assume 6 sawmill run hours in a day and you can average 108 BF/HR with the LT15 over time, that is 648 BF/day.  If you were custom sawing for $.30/BF, you would make about $200/day.  With the cost of the mill, the support equipment, and your time, that is why you cannot make a go custom sawing with a smaller manual mill. 

[ladylake]

 

  It can vary a lot , sawing small pine logs (5" all the way up to 8") the other day, just over 150bf hr with a helper.  Sawing nice pine logs had 838bf  in 2 hours with good help.    Steve

[Magicman]

I attended a "short class" put on be WM at one of their field days.  I'd hate to think that I would have to be as productive as they were to reach the limits of a particular mill.  In short, what a mill is capable of producing and what you will actually produce are not the same.

My advice is to work at your comfortable level of productivity.  When you rush, things start to happen.  You hurt yourself, you hit stuff with your blade,  you don't open the log correctly, etc.

I was sawing a job for a customer that worked at a commercial mill.  We sawed about 1500 BF that day.  The next day he asked his sawyer "how long it would take him to saw 1500'.  The sawyer said......"about 3 minutes...... :D

Every thing is relative...... 8)

[Dodgy Loner]

My best day ever was cutting 1x12x10 SYP for Dodgyloner who had is Dad helping also and we produced 1550 BF that day.  For a LT15, that is really kicking up the sawdust :D.

I recall that we had it all sawed and stickered after only 5.5 hours that day, which makes for a rate of over 280 bd.ft/hour. We weren't hurting ourselves, either. So if you have great logs and plenty of help, you can easily outpace their stated bd.ft/hour claims. However, if I am sawing on our LT15 by myself with small or crooked logs, I sometimes don't surpass 50 bd.ft/hr.

[zopi]

As soon as I get the intesinal fortude to go out in the cold, I am gonna run the mill the reat of that day...and I can assure you that I won't be setting any records today..but my ability to obtain free logs and fetch them home far outraces my ability to get them in lumber onad on stickers.. :D  Dumpster diving for logs..

Gotta couple Mbf standing or laying around the county...need to make room for it.. ;D

[zopi]

heh...did a couple hundred bd ft in a couple hours this morning..of course it was mostly edger boards and cants...gonna git out thar and hit the heavy stuff in a bit, now that the log deck is clear...

Had a holly stump a buddy asked me to haul off this fall...for giggles, and so I wouldn't have to move the heavy bugger, I threw it in the mill and cut ten nice
turning blanks..all of them spalted..frosty white and black..nice contrast..

Think I might PEG 'em and throw 'em up on Ebay or something...