norwood super lumbermate 2000

[mcarso1]

I am new to the sawmilling hobby as well as this site so i have a few questions i need answered. I am purchasing a norwood lumbermate 2000 and was wondering what you all think of them? I work for a power company and get a lot of poles and would like it to mainly cut them up for fence posts for the farm anybody have experience doing this? How do i search on here for norwood info and past posts?

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome to the Forum! There are a bunch of Norwood owners on the forum. At the top of the page is a "Search" button.


Dave

[Tom]

Norwood makes a good mill.  I have friends who have them and the only complaints are about the sharpener, not the mill.

I'm not one who favors sawing old poles.  The hearts aren't treated wood and when you make a post, you open up untreated wood to the environment.   The outside "jackets" of sapwood are treated and you can get some pretty good boards from there.   I would also wear a face mask/respirator and bathe thoroughly after each sawing session too.  Ingesting poisons of any kind are not good for you.  The heavy metals may be years showing up in your system.

[Ironwood]

Norwood is a GOOD basic mill. I have just bought one used. The 23 HP seems a good investment as it seems quieter and catches rpm's way quicker than the 13 Honda.
it is a GREAT choice for an occasional user. The Norwood was my first choice for my occasional professional use. Like one poster said, "I veiw it as any other necessary piece of woodworking equipment" I could not agree more. I love the convienence of running over and resizing a timber or cant and then back into the shop were I make the real money. For me it is all about the convienence, if I were cutting volume it would not be my first choice. I will, and have already, used it to resize some salvage and raw material for a select few other folks, only by the hour and IT IS EXPENSIVE (manual will put some wear and tear on your body), that's why I charge considerably for it. People are fequently asking me to mill for them, I generally give them the numbers of other volume mills in our area as there is no economy of scale with such a small operation. I will mill some stuff for our house (locust decking and such) but it's more for my business needs. Overall it is a GOOD choice.


             Ironwood

[Larry]

What Tom said and this in particular.

The hearts aren't treated wood and when you make a post, you open up untreated wood to the environment.

I've sawed and used many poles....the only part that makes a good fence post is the butt with heavy creosote...and used whole...not sawn.  Cut the top with an angle and plant the post with the angle to the south so it will dry quickly after a rain or snow.

[treenail]

I have the LM2000 with the 20hp Honda engine powering it, and I have been extremely happy with the results. Purchased it new, back about seven years ago, and have added many extras to it since it came as the basic mill  which really extends it's ability to be quite versatile. As I use it only part time, then it provides every thing I need to get along. If I was going to use one full time, I'd probably upgrade to a mill with hydraulics, to be able to lessen the work load and increase production time with less handling. For what it was made for, it is a great piece of equipment, and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Sawing poles is not something that I have done much of except to split them in half for log cabin deck steps.  Am not really into  having the treated sawdust particles flying around too often. Heed the earlier advice about wearing  breathing protection. Good luck with you purchase.

[gizmodust]

Welcome to the forum and to the hobby.  I have a Norwood with a 15 hp. Koler and quite pleased with it.  I got the base model and added my own extensions.  One thing for sure, now that you have a mill, the other half may not see much of you  ;)  I've cut some poles and found that you will definitely want to use a metal detector.  Treated poles call for protection.  Good luck and welcome.

[thecfarm]

mcarso1,welcome to the forum.Did you get the search worked out?Have not heard much good about sawing old power-phone poles on here.Don't want to scare you but.......

[ohsoloco]

I bought my Norwood new about seven years ago...it's a great mill.  Ironwood makes a good point about how much it can beat you up.  I've milled 1,500 bd. ft. of lumber in a weekend for others many times.  My back hurts  :-\

It's great to just mill a few logs over the weekend for your own use....you get to cut it however you want (I like natural edge boards). 

[mcarso1]

I am happy to hear all the positive feedback on the mill. I feel like I got a great deal on the mill and made a good decision. Now all I got to do is learn how to use it and get a game plan together.

Ironwood and Osoloco any chance either of you fellas be interested in teaching a newbie?

[Dave Shepard]

Personally, I'd go straight to sawing off a backstop. :D Just kidding. I think we've all done it, at least once. ;) Any questions yet? I'll can give you a few starter tips. Try to keep you logs clean, the dirt can dull a band pretty quick. I've used a couple of methods for debarking, a Logwizard chainsaw debarker, and a bark spud. I also have one of those 6' bars with the wide blade on it, I think they are for peeling up kithcen tiles, has a wooden handle on it. Some bark will peel, other won't. Just reread your first post, are you going to be sawing any logs, or just poles? If you've got locust, they make a great post, too.


Dave

[Ironwood]

You can come here any time, near Pittsburgh.

Ironwood

[ohsoloco]

I'm a few hours East of Ironwood, near State College, PA.  Where are you located?

First piece of advise is to practice on some low grade/value logs.  My first try at milling was on a bunch of cherry logs I had in the yard.  Wish I had them back to do over  :-\

[mcarso1]

Hey guys thanks for the offers, I am in Monongahela Pa. 20 or so miles south of Pittsburgh. Where exactly are you Ironwood? You are definately closer and it may take more than one lesson so let me know what works for you and how often you mill. Thanks in advance. My cell #is724-317-2723 ask for Shane.