I am looking to make a new mill purchase. I am wondering if there are any select owners who could tell me about capabilities, likes, dislikes, customer service, an overall review is actually what I'm asking for.
I've never heard of "Select 4221" sawmills, but want to welcome you to the Forestry Forum.
Select saw mills are more for supper high production sawing. They are a double cut mill that cuts in both directions. The 4221 mill comes standard with a 115hp motor and a 6" wide blade. The starting price is $1800 per month. There are plenty of videos on U-tube.
I looked at them as part of the ongoing selection process for a new unit for here. I did not inspect one in person however may do so next year, but for mine there are better mills in the same production class... or at least better features for our very specific appliction.
I feel that the board removal system is a major letdown on that mill. There are doublecut mills on the market that can eject each board to the side after each cut, or alternately the drag back can bring two back at a cycle (one from the cut up, one from the cut back). some are setup to do both.
Not being able to see the face of the log during sawing limits the ability of the mill to saw for grade. When you get to that class of mill I feel that the system used is a severely limiting feature, all things considered. Other then that it was just another bandmill only faster, with expensive bands. A straight 8 inch band with only a single sawing edge would outperform it by a large margin due to higher feed speeds. They will also be cheaper and easier to maintain, and cheaper to purchase as well.
The speed of the mill will depend on the support equipment a lot. Keeping logs up to it will require an infeed setup and a machine to get logs from the pile onto the infeed. A real debarker would be smart with the cost of the band. greenchain outfeed etc. probabaly a filing room may eb necessary.
The ability to saw one log fast is pretty useless in and of itself. Its tons per day throughput that matters, and the limiting factor there will be whatever the slowest part of the system integrated around the saw is.
The last post could not have said it any better, a good friend and associate had one while living in Tenn, they will produce, but as said only as fast as material can be moved. Maintenance cost has to be considered as well.
Welcome Sally.
Some info from you would help respond to your inquiry.
Click on your forum name Sally, and you will be where you can update your profile with at least a general location... which is helpful when reading and interpreting posts... You probably like that feature when reading others' posts. ;)
Drobertson, yes the maintenance cost is something I'm trying to get info on. The mill will be supported to level I think it was designed for. I realize the claims of production for the mill. Looking for feed back on quality of the mill, maintenance cost, design hits and misses, actual production numbers. The real life stuff that I will be faced with as an owner of one. Thank you
I have been thinking on this since I knew you were looking into this mill and I think it would not only cause you to need that debarker you would also need a extra loader and operators for both as well as 3 or 4 offbearers and edgermen. The extra costs of labor and equipment would be quite considerable.
I could go broke in a week with so many mouths to feed!
Congrats on the 100,000 ft club.
PC