Introduction

[Hookpilot]

Well I guess I need to get my feet wet somewhere and I think this is where I will be spending most of my time. I have been reading the FF for several months and have registered so I can start communicating with folks. I live in north Alabama and have been to Yellowhammer U on several occasions; Robert and Martha are great Americans. I am a former Army aviator  avaitor pilot but I am hoping folks won't hold that against me. :D I spent 23 1/2 years in the Army and another 10 years working for the DoD and am looking for something I will really enjoy doing. I think I have found it. I took advantage of the WM summer sale and have made a down payment on an LT50 and hope to take delivery in November. I can't say enough about the help and mentorship I received from YH and Tim Horsley at WM in GA.  I am truly looking forward to working with people like the people on this forum seem to be; trustworthy, straight forward, helpful and God fearing.

I am truly amazed at how helpful you are to each other; what a great group of people to become associated with.

Looking forward to getting the mill and getting started.

[red oaks lumber]

welcome to the forum hookpilot

[Magicman]

First, Thank You for your service to our country and Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Hookpilot.   8)

[thecfarm]

Hookpilot,welcome to the forum. What's the plan for the lumber. I want to thank you too for serving our great country.

[Peter Drouin]

Hi 

[Hookpilot]

Well as far as the plan for the lumber I think one of my first tasks is to build a barn to keep my equipment in. I truly appreciate the tanks for my service; it was a great ride and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I guess it is worth saying I am a second generation sawyer. My grandfather had a mill in north Minnesota back in the 50s I think; it always intrigued me.

[SamB]

I spent the summer of 69 in Huntsville/ Redstone Arsenal, very nice area then. Welcome to the forum.

[pine]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service

[Delawhere Jack]

Welcome aboard HookPilot. If you can handle the controls of a chopper, learning a mill should be easy. Learning how to approach logs and get the best cuts will be a little more like learning how to deal with winds, up and down drafts and such while piloting a chopper.

Grab your favorite hot or cold beverage and spend a little time regularly searching the forum. You'll be checked out to mill any log in short order.

[Piston]

Another welcome from up north of you  ;D  Congrats on the new mill, you don't mess around with buying your first mill!  8)

[redbeard]

Welcome Hook pilot!

[customsawyer]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service. What kind of support equipment do you have to help the mill?

[Chuck White]

Welcome the Forestry Forum, Hook pilot!

Congratulations on the new mill, a couple of steps up from a lot of us here on the Forum.

[clww]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
I flew on CH-47s a few time when I was in the Army, too. Lots of great information and knowledge you will find on here.

[rooster 58]

I salute you, Hookpilot. Thank you for keeping our great country free ;) The 50 is a great mill, and I'm sure you will enjoy running it 8)

[Hookpilot]

Thanks for all of the kind words and welcomes. One thing I need to say is if you don't hear from me for a couple days I am not being rude, I work in business development for now and do some traveling. I will get back to folks when I am able.

I have been very blessed and my support equipment for now is a John Deere 5085E so it should handle anything I need to be putting on the mill. :D I have about 160 acres and my father in law another 300 so I have a little timber to be able to work with and learn the trade. I would love to turn this into a little business in the not too distant future.

clww looking forward to telling some 47 lies uh stories with you. There I was  :D :D :D

Gotta go unfortunately got a plane to catch.

Thanks again for all the kind words.

[mad murdock]

Welcome hookpilot, sounds like with an LT50 waiting in the "wings" you aren't jus"getting your feet wet"-more like jumping in whole hog 8) congratulations!! I have been in aviation since my older brothers gave me rides in an old CAP L4. The sawdust addiction is just as bad, but at least you get a lot more out of it. Gonna be like Christmas with every log you open up with your mill when you get it going.  Can't wait to see some pics 8)

[sealark37]

Hey Hook- You have come to the right place.  You will find the hydraulics on your LT50 much simpler than the systems on the 47.  The bad news is that you are the crew chief.  All failures, fixes, and write-ups will be on you.  As a tip, you will find that sawmilling is basically a material handling problem with a headsaw in the middle.  Let us see your setup as it progresses.  Good Luck, and Regards, Clark

[terrifictimbersllc]

... you will find that sawmilling is basically a material handling problem with a headsaw in the middle.......Clark

Wow, if that doesn't sum it up.

[m wood]

sealark37 does paint an accurate picture.  Your service toward freedom is  appreciated here also.  Welcome aboard Hookpilot.
mark

[Gadrock]

HookPilot thank you for your service to our country and a hearty welcome to the FF.

David G


carry on

[Texas Ranger]

Yep, welcome to the forum, we need more southern folks to off set some of that northern, er, not to say damyankee, presence here.  Ya get a chance, pull up a stump around the camp fire and jaw some.

[pineywoods]

Welcome hookpilot. You are right, this is a good place. You will find there are a few airplane nuts on here as well..I just got home from the grand daddy of all flyins, oshkosh..

[slab]

welcome aboard hook former USMC and  pilot also  fixed wing-rotorcraft & LTA (hot air balloon)

[Deese]

Welcome to THE FORUM  ;D :D ;D and thanks for your service  smiley_clapping

[Piston]

...  As a tip, you will find that sawmilling is basically a material handling problem with a headsaw in the middle.  Let us see your setup as it progresses.  Good Luck, and Regards, Clark

Clark,
That is a really good way to look at it!

[Alligator]

Hookpilot, Welcome! Your suppose to state your age :D. You might be a teenager or something? But my math says no. 23.5+10+ at least 18=at least 51.5. Just remember help is close by

[Hookpilot]

Again folks thank you for the kind words and encouragement. So in full disclosure I was looking at the LT40 Super but the LT50 was actually cheaper during their summer sale.  8) 8) 8) (Thanks Tim Horsley at WM) So I like the crew chief anology as well.

[ljmathias]

Son in law is Army National Guard- two tours oversees in construction, although he spent most of his time operating a rifle... go figure.  Anyway, while I was down with heart valve failure and replacement surgery, he learned to operate my LT40 hydraulic in half a day, then proceeded to cut up two logs till he had to go back to work.  You should be fine with your WM, but one word of advise- learn all you can from others first and as you go.  So here's the offer- if you are in the area (Purvis, MS isn't all that far from Huntsville and if you're on the road, you might be passing close on Interstate 59), stop by and practice on my LT40.  Glad to show you what I've managed to put together here so far- 50 acres plus a few barns and such.

Oh, and as to barns, bigger is better.  One thing you'll gather in reading about sawmill sheds and barns here is that you make your best guess on what size you need, then multiply by four.

Lj

[YellowHammer]

Glad you made it,  Hookpilot 8) and welcome.

One day this guy Hookpilot comes up to me and says, this sawing looks like fun, I want to learn.  So we chat for a little while and it seems he has an eye for this kind of thing, (I didn't know he was pilot then) so a few days later, on a rare laid back day when I wasn't pushed for time, we fire up the saw, and I show him a few things.  After a little while, I hand over the controls and before long he is sawing logs, listening to me, talking to himself, and moving all the little knobs and levers with a big ol smile on his face, ear to ear. 

We finished that day up, no problems, (and no crashes, thankfully) and a little while later he wants to come back and "learn" some more, and this time I had a nice whack of logs and was about to put the pedal to the metal, and said something like, "Uh, I'm not sure you want to, because we're fixing to SAW..."  Hookpilot didn't miss a beat, assumed the role as off bearer on that nice, extra hot summer day, and I did my best to keep the saw head flying and let the big diesel eat while keeping him and my other off bearer buried in boards. 
We finished a little while later, and I took this picture of Hookpilot in front of the stacks he helped saw.  A good day by all accounts. 


I'm looking forward to his membership and contributions on the Forum with his new LT-50.  Got to find a good place on the saw to paint some nose art, it's only fitting for a pilot.
YH

[Hookpilot]

Thanks to all of you who have served and or have family members serving. Lj part of how I got to the size mill I am getting is wanting to work this into a business and as I spoke with YH and others one of the constant messages was buy all the engine you can afford, well i dont know if I can afford it or not but i figure more HP will never hurt. I am planning on starting with a 40x60 barn when I get things going.

YH when I was reading some of the old threads and saw where someone said they had been to YH University I just laughed, it could not be more true. Thanks for the time you have already put into me and my learning.

Clark - I get the logistics thing. I am collecting layouts for different mills and will adjust from there.

Talk to you all later.

[scsmith42]

Hookpilot, welcome to the sawdust pile!  You're in a great part of the country in terms of support from fellow millers. 

Scott