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OldJarheads Milling Thread...

Started by OlJarhead, April 06, 2016, 02:06:53 PM

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OlJarhead

Edit:  changed the name from 'here we go, first job' since I'm doing more and might as well just use the same thread...

Got the call to bring the mill to my first job (on the LT40) to mill about 4000bf out of burned pines.  I took a look at the logs and they looked to be burned just on the bark and not too bad so hoping to get decent beams out of them and with luck 2x's etc for a barn build.

Wish me luck!
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

ScottInCabot

You know we need photo's right? 
Not just one, but about three pages full!!!
(some of us are still recovering from back surgery and need something to take our minds off of sitting around).



Scott in Cabot
Timber framing RULES!

Chuck White

I'm sure you'll do just fine, Eric!

The first few always makes a guy nervous.

~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

OlJarhead

Funny thing, I wasn't nervous with the SMTL10 but I ran it a LOT before milling for someone else...with just shy of 20hrs on the LT40 I'm a little nervous because while I have milled a few thousand BF with it for myself I did it mostly alone.  One day though a neighbor came out and helped off-bear.  Man it went fast!

The idea of earning a little towards paying the bill on the mill is thrilling though and if the job goes well it could lead to a LOT more work since she has 60 trees she thinks she wants to mill up and the first batch is only going to be about 10 or 12 trees  :o  Most of the trees I saw were about 20 inches at chest height so they will produce a lot of lumber but she only needed about 4000bf to start so we'll see.

Would be nice to get these done sooner and cheaper than I suggested it would run and have her ask me back next month...and the month after :D
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Chuck White

Just don't hit iron, especially when you have and audience!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

OlJarhead

Been there done that Chuck! lol

I just ordered 10 BiMetal blades (they better pay for themselves!) from WM.  I asked them about the Turbo's and they said they are for higher HP mills than my G26 and that for burned pine which will be dryer and harder, that they recommend the bimetals or a 4 degree doublehard.  Doublehards are a LOT cheaper but they also said the BiMetals are better for old beams with some contamination and can take metal better than the others (I quote "they won't go through a steel spike, but they will handle small nails etc better than the others).  Since I have some old beams to mill too I figure I'd try them out but the $400 for a box of 10 was a bit of a shocker...I bit the bullet and figured if the first job paid for them (since I have a regular job I can afford to put the profit back into the operation if I earn any) than I'd be good to go.

Going to have to start on 10 degree double hards though and hope they make it through the burned logs good enough to get me by since UPS probably won't deliver until Saturday and I have to start Saturday morning -- I could get lucky though and they might arrive Friday night.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

OlJarhead


Here is my cutlist.  The builder (for a barn) wants everything milled to standard sizes.  I offered 1/8" over as well as full etc but I guess because these are burned and thus already dried in a bit he wants to go with straight up standard sizes.

Works out to 3000bf if figuring exact sizes rather than at full cut sizes.

I'm milling by the hour and will have 3 off-bearers to help get those beams off the mill as well as the rest.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

ncsawyer

That looks like a good job!  I can still remember my first mobile job on my very own. I picked up the 1994 LT40 manual that I grew up on from my dad.  When I moved it in 2009 it was the first time it had been moved since the WM guy originally set it up when he delivered it new in 1994!

I responded to a guy's craigslist ad a few months later to saw some logs he had.  Even though I had sawed and carried hundreds of thousands of board feet off of that mill, I was still very nervous.  I didn't even have a clue about what I might need to take.  It was a great experience!  My very first customer still calls me about once a year to cut something for him.

2015 Wood-Mizer LT40DD35
Woodmaster 718 planer
Ford 445 Skip Loader

YellowHammer

You'll do fine, I'm sure! 
Whenever I sawed in front of people I tried to keep these tips in mind.

Customers always want to talk, which is OK until the sawing starts and then it's distracting so tell them they need to stand a ways away for safety. 

Don't let them get near the debarker, that's just about the time it will throw a hunk of bark at them and they'll act like they've been shot.  :D

Always bring a small framing square and tape measure to check the lumber occasionally.

Learn how to mutter "perfect" and "yep that's square" and to nod your head like everything is going right even if things go a little sideways. ;D

Don't ever say "Oops" just keep on sawing





YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Dave Shepard

YH, that last bit is like the discussion my sister had with our vet a couple of days ago. When she was doing ride alongs, the game was to keep up appearances during the call, then get in the truck and say "well, that didn't go according to plan".  :D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

ScottInCabot

Quote from: OlJarhead on April 06, 2016, 04:02:18 PM

Here is my cutlist.  The builder (for a barn) wants everything milled to standard sizes.  I offered 1/8" over as well as full etc but I guess because these are burned and thus already dried in a bit he wants to go with straight up standard sizes.

Works out to 3000bf if figuring exact sizes rather than at full cut sizes.

I'm milling by the hour and will have 3 off-bearers to help get those beams off the mill as well as the rest.


Okay, now I'm gonna need photo's of the finished frame for the barn too..... ;D
Looks like a fun cut list, and I'm sure glad you are gonna have help to get those beams off the mill after they are cut.  I always find helpers to be 'lacking' when the bigger stuff starts coming off the mill....but then again, I typically charge by the boardfoot.

YellowHammer nailed it with that last sentence!  Priceless!!!!




Scott in Cabot
Timber framing RULES!

Brucer

The worst mistake I've made when the customer was talking, was to forget to lower a toeboard :(. Just saying ;D.

I've made it practice to always finish the task or step I'm on before I let someone distract me. And I always push both toeboard levers down at the same time right after I turn a log or a can't -- even if they weren't up in the first place.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

OlJarhead

Was supposed to start tomorrow but the customer didn't get the excavator to deck the logs for her so they are where they were dropped and bucked into length.  She seems desperate to find someone as her builder told he he didn't want to use his to deck the logs. 


I suggested if she couldn't find someone to do the work I'd bring in my tractor and an operator and do it myself but that we needed those branches bucked off each log down to the bark....and that my guy could do that too.  I'll charge her $65/hr for the tractor I think (I don't normally do that -- ever -- so am thinking that sounds reasonable and I know heavy equipment runs higher, around $85/hr) and operator and pay the kid to buck the branches off too if she doesn't.  If she does he'll make a few bucks and I won't be delayed in getting the mill running.
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

Chuck White

Sounds like a plan Eric, and a fair offer!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

ScottInCabot

Nothing is ever easy...but fair offer, and some extra cha-ching for you in the process.  I've shown up to messes like that, I just look at them and say "Let's get started!"(I have an hourly rate to do that too)  I've cleaned up, dragged logs, bucked limbs, and whatever else needs to be done to make sure I keep a customer, all while watching that mill sit right there until its needed.


Scott in Cabot
Timber framing RULES!

Chuck White

It's also a good idea to describe the difference between a "pile of logs" and a "stack of logs" to the customer ahead of your arrival.   ;)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

OlJarhead


They got a mini-ex and started moving logs....I stopped by and (note: these are very nice people, they just don't understand) explained again that the logs are best in the same deck, must be limbed to the bark flush as possible, and should be decked in like sizes/groupings (so 16 footers, 14 footers etc if possible)...I then noticed there didn't seem to be any 10's, 12's, or 14's in the piles they had sorted already......seems their faller dropped the logs, bucked them to 20 and 16 feet (even though the cut list has nothing that is 20 feet long) and left....oh wait, he left after first attempting to make a large beam freehand for them  ::) he made me look REALLY good and I haven't done anything yet.

Tee sad part is that they will get a lot of 16 and 20 foot lumber and will have to cut it down themselves or they will need to start bucking the logs smaller -- they did notice some 29 footers and asked about bucking them down to which I enthusiastically suggest 'absolutely'!

In the end I explained that they want me making sawdust rather than moving my mill (which is in my contract too) and that I can buck, limb, move etc but all of that is at my hourly rate (so they began calling friends etc).

Looks to me like a lot more than 3000bf of lumber laying there and one log is 20 feet long and about 30" in diameter!  I hope the mill can pick it up! :o
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

OlJarhead

If that big log scales out around 24" it will run about 540bf  :o :o :o and weigh in around 2900lbs  :o :o :o

Hope the mill can lift it!
2016 LT40HD26 and Mahindra 5010 W/FEL WM Hundred Thousand BF Club Member

mad murdock

Sure looms like some nice sticks there. Hope it goes smooth for ya! Confrats on the first job 8)
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

Chuck White

Quote from: OlJarhead on April 09, 2016, 09:26:16 AM
If that big log scales out around 24" it will run about 540bf  :o :o :o and weigh in around 2900lbs  :o :o :o

Hope the mill can lift it!

Your mill shouldn't have any issues with lifting the 24"x20' logs.

I've sawn some large logs (36"x16.5' Hemlock) with no issues on my 1995 LT40HDG
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

WV Sawmiller

   Yep, I am sure you will find your mill will lift it and you will probably find the hydraulics/claw will rotate the big better than the little ones.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

ScottInCabot

Quote from: Chuck White on April 09, 2016, 10:00:29 AM
Quote from: OlJarhead on April 09, 2016, 09:26:16 AM
If that big log scales out around 24" it will run about 540bf  :o :o :o and weigh in around 2900lbs  :o :o :o

Hope the mill can lift it!

Your mill shouldn't have any issues with lifting the 24"x20' logs.

I've sawn some large logs (36"x16.5' Hemlock) with no issues on my 1995 LT40HDG


I hand cranked(LT-28Manual) a 32"diameter x 16' piece of Southern Red Oak on mine.....I was thinking towards the end. "Is this really worth $0.38 a boardfoot?"  But at the end of the cutting day....that check made me feel a lot better!



Scott (I'm a fool for some cha-ching) B
Timber framing RULES!

Magicman

You are finding that customers have to learn too which is not always a bad thing.  If they don't know, they don't know.  They will certainly appreciate and remember that you took extra steps to provide the expertise that they needed.

Don't worry about loading that log, but try to have it well centered before you load.  Remember that black line on the rear of the sawmill frame.  The blade does not go to it.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Peter Drouin

Have the customers put the middle of the logs in line with one another.
8' would be at 4' 16 at 8'  4 and 8 would line up to the middle of the mill.


  

  

  

  

  

 
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Chuck White

That's a good point Peter!

That's one of the first things I always tell my customers to do is "center-stack" the logs.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.  Recently purchased a 2020 Mahindra Roxor.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

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