THE almighty dollar$$$$

[WDH]

After you tote a few of those 2x12x16 white oak green trailer boards that Rebocardo mentioned in his post, that will give you religion ( and a bad back!).  You have to really like sawmilling and handling lumber because it is some of the hardest work you can do.

[Tom]

If you don't believe it, read CHARLIE's story.  :D :D 8)

[WDH]

Tom,

That made my day!  I am still a little whooped from sawing and stacking by myself today, but I am in much better shape than Charlie was after you got through with him!  I have had a number of those "Charlie days' myself.  Thanks for sharing that.  I have't laughed like i just did in quite a while. 

[DanG]

Hey Tom!  Don't tell WDH about the Choleoptera thread.  I ain't sure he's ready for that! : ;D

A point I'd like to make is, this ain't a strength contest, or an exercise program.  To handle large boards, such as those 2x12x16 trailer boards on any kind of scale, you gotta come up with a mechanical solution.  Otherwise, you'll kill yerself before you get the mill paid for.  There are a number of ways to do it.  My way is to park the forklift behind the mill with the forks set at an appropriate level, and let the dragback help slide the timber onto the forks.  This way I can actually cut large boards with less effort than a whole bunch of smaller ones.  I do it this way because I have a good, strong dragback and a forklift.  If I didn't have those, I'd have to either come up with another method, or just not cut large boards.  There are a number of other ways to handle it, but you gotta know what you have available and how to use it to your best advantage.  If you don't have any support equipment, simply tell the customer, "I'm sorry, but I'm not equipped to do that at the present time."  Then you can go ahead and cut something that your ARE equipped to handle, and eventually use some of your profits to aquire more equipment.  Operating your own sawmill is an interesting and satisfying way to make a living, but it isn't fun or satisfiying if you have to give all your profits to the Chiropractor so you can get out of bed in the morning.  Know your limits, and stay within them. ;)

[WDH]

Great advice DanG.  You definitely need a plan as many others have said in this thread.  The big  thick boards on the LT 15 are tough to handle since the mill is so low to the ground and everything is manual.  I have been sawing on mine for 5 years and I am still learning ways to be more efficient and use less back-power. 

[DanG]

I've been sawing for about 5 years too, WDH.  I've picked up a lot of little tricks to make things easier along the way, but there is still plenty to learn.  With a bandmill, you can always shove the biggies off the side, onto some forks.  Can't do that with my mill, so I have to use the dragback.  Different strokes for different folks, different skills for different mills. ;)

[WDH]

DanG,

What is this about a Choleoptera thread? 

[DanG]

Well WDH, I figgered if the Charlie thread tickled yer funnybone all that much, ya might injure yerself if'n ya read this one.

Here's the link, though. https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=556.0
Go ahead and look into it, if yer feelin' frisky. ;D

Sorry it took so long to reply.  I had to look it up to get the link, and couldn't resist reading it again, meself. :D

[WDH]

DanG,

That was beyond amazing grace.  You won't see me asking any sweetgum questions now!!

[WoodDean]

HEY!!!! I got it to work!
I wrestled with that for a long time . . . . . and I'm a computer geek by trade.  :D

[WoodDean]

. . . . . .. and another.

[WDH]

Are you sure that you are not a physicist?  Nice use of gravity!  Just think of the pile of sawdust that you can build with that set-up!  Is it hard to dog the logs?

[WoodDean]

Hey WDH! Actually it's fairly easy.

But before I had the I-beams on the retaining wall I did have a log roll off the mill and wedge itself against the wall.  >:(

I'm going to be building a roof over it in the spring.  ;D

[WDH]

That is a nice set-up with a good working height.  Using the hill and retaining wall to elevate the logs in relationship to the mill allows you to have a good working height on the sawing side of the mill without having to lift the logs up on the bed.  I can tell you from experience that you will need a good sawdust strategy.  You will be amazed how that stuff can grow and accumulate.  I used to push the sawdust down the woods access road to my mill and spread it out in a thin layer to decompose.  After a while, it got incorportated into the soil.  One day I was burning a little pile of scraps in the road (so the fire would not get into the leaves of the adjoining woods).  I forgot about the little fire and left for a while.  I came back and my road was on fire! :-\

[WoodDean]

Thanks, it's all in the engineering . . . . . . . 

I started with a footer and sat a concrete lentl on it, built some steel box levelers with tabs to bolt the locust rails to and then the mill has it's own levelers that hit on the locust 4x4 cross ties. It'll saw some extremely accurate lumber. Every once in a while I put a stringline and level on it to check it.

For now I've just been scoop shoveling the sawdust into the skidder bucket and doing what you've been doing . . . . . . I'll keep an eye out for road fires. 

[WDH]

Yep, it is bad when your fire-breaks catch on fire themselves! 

My LT 15 cuts dead-on accurracy, I could not be more pleased.  Since I got it home 5 years ago, I have not had to make any adjustments; have not touched it.  Amazing given the amout of wood that I have sawed on it.