Cat d13000 power for my new circle mill

[RockyMountainSawyer]

it was a good day today! I got the everything on the carriage up and working 8) what kind of boardfootage can a guy get out of this mill?

[bandmiller2]

KTF,I didn't write "pith" quess it was cleaned up a little it rymes with wiss.Rocky,walk before you run get your techneque[sp] down then go for production.That old mill, with that diesel, will work you right down to parade rest.You'll need at least one helper to get production and proper placement of tools and waste.Frank C.

[Dave Shepard]

Does parade rest involve snoring?  :D

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Your right Bandmiller, i'm not looking to get in a hurry and get hurt. I just wanting to make sure I made the right decision in the equiptment i've got here. Unluckily enough this all i have right now to make a living. I have a couple thousand acres of cottonwood trees to log and mill, and i already have a buyer. Before with the little wood mizer i cut for this guy but just couldn't cut enough to make it, so i did some trading up for the circle mill. I have two employees, a case tractor with a loader, and I'm rearing to go. I don't listen when poeple say it can't be done, because i now it is happening. If  you haven't already quessed we are cutting cants for a pallet manufacturer. And are only getting paid $140 per thousand. Not much so eventually i would like to see between 5 and 10k bdft  a day leave my yard. Did i pick the right mill to start. By the way i don't owe anything on my equipment. If there is a better market, i haven't found it. Also i have the two employees still from my log and timber construction bussiness which has nearly dried up out here.

[captain_crunch]

Not sure how you are gonna get that much production without more help Sawing 5000 feet even in cants takes lots to make it happen. Even with right logs I an lucky to saw over 1500 ft per day But I am also a one man band opperation and this is 2x and 1 X material I produce

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Most of the logs i will be milling are averaging 12-16" diameter nice and staight no taper in a 14' peice. For this particular buyer waned edges are no big deal. So a 12" log  will slab down to an 8"x8" timber sliced in half gives me 2 3.5"x8" cants, each 14' foot cant yeilds 32 bdft. My blade is a 50" 44 tooth hammered to 600 rpms, with that the optimal feed rate should be 1/8" advance per tooth each rovolution of the blade times 44 teeth at 600 rpm's is 275' per minute devided by 60 seconds is 4.5' per second. 1/16" advance per tooth would be more realistic bringing me back to 2' per second on a 14' log is 7 seconds per pass, 5 passes per average log to produce 60 bdft. From what i understand the log is in the blade 20 percent of the time in an efficiant operation, so 7 seconds per pass times 5 passes at 20 percent of the time is 3 minutes per log on the mill. So if i can get 20 logs on and off the mill in an hour that is 1280 bdft an hour. I suspect that i could maybe go half that speed with three guys. That is 6400 bdft in a 10 hour day. So at $140 a thousand I have $896 bucks to pay bills for the day. Someone please correct my math, But it calculates out right to me. What am I forgeting?

[bandmiller2]

Rocky,someone else will have to chime in on the economics,I've never milled as my sole income.That mill with three guys will put out.Cutting pallet stock is tough,alot of guys do it as a fill in between better paying jobs.Cut pallet stock but look for something better paying to deversify a little.Good luck and keep us posted.Frank C.

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Thanks Bandmiller,

    I am working several other markets, i live in a farming community with only one other sawmill. Their prices are extremely inflated and we have needed another mill in the area for a long time. So for me the pallet stuff is just to pay the bills until i get my name out there. I'm very confident that i'll get alot of business from the local's, it will just take time.  I also have a friend that is a landscaper who wants to try and market timberframe greenhouses and chicken coops. The circle sawn timbers are very coveted around here because of their rustic appeal.  The other sawmill is a baker, the owner says that poeple find his stuff to be too perfect :D so he has to run stuff through a circular resaw to get it sold. I think that is why it cost so much, because he has to process it twice.

[Dave Shepard]

That is a very interesting perspective. I've had requests for band sawn timbers as they replicate sash sawn lumber closer than the circular mills. I wonder if there was ever any sash sawn lumber in Idaho, or if circular and band mills were the norm when that part of the country was settled?

[beenthere]

Yes they did. Was in a mill in Lewiston, ID in summer of '62 that had sash gangs for processing large cants. Logs being sawn on a large band mill were about 6-7' in diameter.
Also was in a large mill in or near Boise, ID that same summer with a sash gang.

[ladylake]

$140 a thousand,  how much are the logs costing?   Steve

[bandmiller2]

Usally theirs more money cutting firewood than pallet wood.Years ago there was a guy in the neighborhood repairing pallets for a business,he was crying couldn't get the size oak he needed,thought I'd hit paydirt till he told me what he'd pay.I forget the amount now but it was half what I'd get for firewood.Frank C.

[RockyMountainSawyer]

I am getting paid to remove the trees, so instead of burning them i am going to cut it into cants. Noone around here wants cottonwood for firewood.

[bandmiller2]

Rocky,if your getting paid to cut them thats a whole nuther story,you can most likely turn a buck.Frank C.

[RockyMountainSawyer]

I finished my pallet cant job. It turned out real well. Now i wonder if there is any money in making this operation mobile. I know that is usually a job for woodmizers, but we have moved the mill three times now and it only takes about 3 hours to set up. Any pros and cons on a mobile circle mill.

[NWwoodsman]

I run a Mobil Circular saw, and it does what most Bandmills can't. Cut fast straight and big logs. I too have a longer set-up than most portables, but it doesn't keep me from many jobs just the real small ones. Good luck will your mill.
Jason

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Thanx Jason,
What type of setup do you have, is it all one peice or do you have to make several trips. What do you cut mostly 1 and 2x's or bigger? What made you decide to go with a circle mill?
Rocky

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

And welcome to the Forum Rocky  ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) Its Great to See another Young Bloke With a Circ Who's not Afraid of alittle Hard Work Mate  ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8)

Nice looking Mill and Motor Mate  ;) ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

Afew thousand acres thats alot of Bloody Timber   it'll make for a Great start to your business Mate  ;) :D :D ;D 8) 8)

Im happy the pallet cant job went well for you  ;D 8) did you still charge $140 per thousand and i take it it was pickup at your site ? overhere finished pallet boards 4x1" & 6x1" go for about $455 usd  per thousand ex mill  there is no real cant market here though I wish there was as its all cut to size  ;) what volume did you endup supplying and will he be ongoing as i myself would push for about the $220  per thousand myself if i was in your positon Mate  ;)

Going mobile would reqire you to set a min bft volume say 5 to 10000 bft for a job and charge say atleast $250 per 1000bft to do it  ;) or just set the mill up at your place once every few weeks and shedual a time and people drop their logs at your place and you just keep seperate piles with their initals panted on te end of their logs untill you do a run like i do Mate  ;)

With your heavy trash (waste) pile it up on 6 to 10" dia logs to keep it of the ground and when winter comes im pretty sure you could make extra money out of it by undercutting everyone else  ;) even though its not a desirable wood to burn  ;) but its like the old saying If the Price is Rite Mate  ;) :D ;D ;D 8) 8)

Why do i like Cicular mills over Bands Well ive used everything from a Csm upto a a Million dollar Bandmill Since i started sawing at 13yo even owned my own band mill And Nothing Beats Em  ;) :D ;D ;D esp in small to med sawmill operations  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8)  dont get me wrong Bands have their place and i have always liked them in theory but not practice as they take a fair amount of skill to run effectivly in a production setting  ;)

Take the Lucas's for exaple put two blokes on one up against two blokes on a new band in the same price range sawing say structural timber 4x1 1/2 up and you would wipe the floor with them in the same logs more so when you hit stuff 24" and up in dia   ;) :D :D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8)


Regards Chris

[NWwoodsman]

Hi Rocky M.

I run a Mobil Dimension circular Mill powered by a 55hp Aircooled VW motor. Mine is a 1966 which my father brought back in 1970. They are still in operation in troutdale Oregon, I can call up and get any parts I need the next day. It brakes down into sections 10 feet or smaller, and light enough for two men to carry into the bush. It will cut 24 foot long logs and up to 6 foot in dia. They also make a trailer package, I just use a small single axle trailer to carrier it all in, in the past I've even driven it to Montana in a  extended van. I use it because thats what I have, and it's paid for many times over. I do custom cutting so cut list vary by customer, I can cut a 12x4 in one cut as my max. I have 3 blades 1 main a 24 inch and two edgers at 9 inch.
Hope this helps, Love Idaho with all it's Hot Springs.
Jason

[RockyMountainSawyer]

Thanks guys,
the cottonwood job like i said went real well. It was just a thinning project and we ended up cutting just under 225000 bdft in 4x4 and 6x6 cants. the pallet guy came and picked it up as we cut it. He wants me to do more but it is really tough to get timber. I really enjoy runing the circle mill probably because it is so much easier to produce cants quickly. I'll have to get some pics of how it is set up. We just moved it to another site where a logger is suposed to supply us with 30 ton of pine a day, but it has been so wet here that no one can get into the timber to log.
Rocky