Least expensive way to increase sawmill production

[Bibbyman]

This topic was started some seven years ago.  And added to two years ago. 

I thought maybe some new memebers may find something usefull in it and maybe even be able to add to it.   :P

[bandmiller2]

Many times we can't see the forest for the trees,and get stuck in one way of doing things.Invite anouther sawyer over let him just sit and watch for a wile,many times anouther set of eyes can pick up bottle necks and wasted motion.Frank C.

[Banjo picker]

Good post Bibby....I read it all ....had not seen it before.....I believe you been watching me with that tape measure....But it seems that a lot of the logs i get exp for ties are JUST barely big enough ....not much room for error... 8)  Tim

[brdmkr]

Bibby,
Thanks for bringing this back up.  I don't think I have read it before.  Even though I only saw occaisionally, I think about my lack of efficiency all the time.  I really think I could increase my production a good bit with a decent saw shed and a more rigid setup for the Lucas.  I would like to have a deck that fed bunks that are about a foot higher than what I currently use.  I think that may cause me have the carriage a little too high when first cutting, but it would save my back a great deal when off-loading.  I need to jack up a log on about 20" bunks (currently my bunks hold the log about 10" off the ground) anmd just see what that is like.  The bottom line is that sawing 1x stuff is pretty time consuming and hard on the back (I'd rather move fewer heavy pieces than many lighter ones).  I like one of the earlier suggestions about having another sawyer look at how you do things.  I have done that and it really does help.  Trouble is that I have not had time to implement some of their ideas.

[backwoods sawyer]

One of the things that I have found that helps, especially on larger jobs, is to keep a neat, tight stack of tailings. I stack the tailings parallel to the mill on the sawdust side, and a tight stack means that they will have to be moved a shorter distance. If you keep the face of the stack at a gradual taper then you can walk right up the stack making it as high as you like. I had one job where space was tight and I ended up with a tailing stack that was 8' high, it took no more effort then walking up a gradual set of stairs to stack it that way.

The less distractions that you have during the day the more you can stay focused on the task at hand, so turn off the cell phone.

With the auto clutch the there is no reason to keep the blade spinning all the time. As the saw is lowering to the next cut flick the switch and the blade is up to speed when the saw is at the right height.

Minimizing head travel and head raise and set time, goes a long way toward increasing production, as does having the next log at the ready. I still spin the log 360* with the chain turner just to get the best view of all sides of the log, but do not waist a lot of time deciding which face to open up. I still keep my tape measure as sometimes I have a crooked eye, but only use it when needed. The more steps that you can save the better, keep the small end of the log toward the operator.

Do your maintenance before you take the mill out to the job site, keep it well lubed as per the manuals recommendations. Make a mental note of maintenance issues that are starting to develop and take care of them in a timely manor as a well maintained machine will perform much better then one that is not. 

Safety and quality always over rides production, but efficiency keeps production high, and always look for ways to improve

Thanks for bringing this one back up to the top, good read.

[Bibbyman]

Many times we can't see the forest for the trees,and get stuck in one way of doing things.Invite anouther sawyer over let him just sit and watch for a wile,many times anouther set of eyes can pick up bottle necks and wasted motion.Frank C.

Another version of that idea would be to watch other sawyers saw.  As many as you can.  There is always a little something you can pick up from watching someone saw and see how they have things set up.

[spencerhenry]

this may sound like a smart ass idea, but cutting bigger pieces helps alot. i recently took on a job cutting 17,000 bdft of pine for fence rails and posts, i priced the posts at 60 cents/ft figuring that a 7' log, and post is easy to handle, and with small logs to get a 6x6 the logs are easy to come by. (then all the logs i get are on the bigger side) while i am making money, if i had added another nickel a foot, i would be doing alot better. while milling i think about how to up my production, increase efficiency, and the like. if i had been cutting 8' logs i would be producing the 6x6 in virtually the same amount of time, but adding another 3 bdft per post, now that post is worth $1.80 more! same price per foot, but $1.80 more per piece makes the bottom line grow nicely. obviously cutting 2x means double the bdft vs 1x per cut, cutting heavy timbers and the bdft goes up huge, and you get way more money for big timbers.
a good day last week was 110 -2x6x16, and 12 6x6x7, that was with a helper, and working about 7hrs. after that much time, i am bored, tired and hot. the sun is brutal here, maybe someday i will build a mill shed.

[backwoods sawyer]

Each site is different but I like to keep the truck close by so every thing I need is handy, and thru out the day I look for ways of saving unproductive steps, not only because I am a bit gimpy, but because less steps translates into more time sawing.

[Warren]

Watching other sawyers is a good suggestion.  A tip I picked up from Custom Sawyer was to get a set of what I call "tail gate toolboxes".  The kind that fit between the wheel well and the tail gate.  Put all of the small tools and parts in those.  Two benefits.  First, it saves rooting around in the big box to find the small tool that worked it's way to the bottom of the heap.  Second, no climbing up in the truck.  The "no climbing" is VERY important for an Ole Fart like myself....

Now when I need to work on something, I back the truck up to it and most of the tools are right there within easy reach, and I have the tail gate to lay stuff out on...   I resisted buying them for a couple years because I didn't want to spend the money.  But, now that I have 'em, wouldn't be without 'em.

-w-

[ladylake]

this may sound like a smart ass idea, but cutting bigger pieces helps alot. i recently took on a job cutting 17,000 bdft of pine for fence rails and posts, i priced the posts at 60 cents/ft figuring that a 7' log, and post is easy to handle, and with small logs to get a 6x6 the logs are easy to come by. (then all the logs i get are on the bigger side) while i am making money, if i had added another nickel a foot, i would be doing alot better. while milling i think about how to up my production, increase efficiency, and the like. if i had been cutting 8' logs i would be producing the 6x6 in virtually the same amount of time, but adding another 3 bdft per post, now that post is worth $1.80 more! same price per foot, but $1.80 more per piece makes the bottom line grow nicely. obviously cutting 2x means double the bdft vs 1x per cut, cutting heavy timbers and the bdft goes up huge, and you get way more money for big timbers.
a good day last week was 110 -2x6x16, and 12 6x6x7, that was with a helper, and working about 7hrs. after that much time, i am bored, tired and hot. the sun is brutal here, maybe someday i will build a mill shed.

I mounted a umbrella on my mill, really helps on sunny days.   Steve

[Shamus]

Keep falling wedges handy to prop up the beam or board you are sawing to prevent the blades from getting pinched/ heating up, especially in wonky wood with lots of tension. Probably more of an issue with twin saw circle mills (?).

[jim blodgett]

One thing we recently started doing is milling several cants, one after the other. 

Previous to that we would mill cants out of one log until we got to the last cant (in that log).  Then we would stand that cant up and start slicing boards off of it. 

Things would go okay, but at some point we'd be milling cants and the blade would need changing - it usually happened while we were cutting cants, because those are the hardest cuts on the blade - widest and usually have bark on 2 faces.

But somehow we stumbled onto the fact that when a blade doesn't want to cut cants anymore, it will still slice 2x6s or 2x4s nicely off those cants.  And once the blade starts balking at 2x6s and 2x4s it is still good for edging flitches.

Not sure if it really speeds up production, but we get more life out of blades, and so change them less often.  I think that's more productive use of time, if nothing else.

[backwoods sawyer]

Watching other sawyers is a good suggestion.  A tip I picked up from Custom Sawyer was to get a set of what I call "tail gate toolboxes".  The kind that fit between the wheel well and the tail gate.  Put all of the small tools and parts in those.  Two benefits.  First, it saves rooting around in the big box to find the small tool that worked it's way to the bottom of the heap.  Second, no climbing up in the truck.  The "no climbing" is VERY important for an Ole Fart like myself....

Now when I need to work on something, I back the truck up to it and most of the tools are right there within easy reach, and I have the tail gate to lay stuff out on...   I resisted buying them for a couple years because I didn't want to spend the money.  But, now that I have 'em, wouldn't be without 'em.

-w-

Keeping the back of the truck organized so that you can reach every thing from the ground is a big help. I do not have the built in tool boxes, but carry 2 well stocked tool boxes, one has all the standard shop tools, the other has all the Chainsaw, electrical and odd tools in it. To keep the tow chains organized and handy they go in an old milk crate, oil, grease gun and other lubricants go in another one. I load the truck before each job so that the truck is packed tightly (to prevent movement) and correctly to start with. At the end of the job, everything has its place in a small 4x8 shed that is near where the mill is set up when at home.
Keeping a neat and organized work site not only helps production but safety as well. I watched one sawyer trip over the same tool more then a dozen times and still kept putting it back in the same spot.

[Bibbyman]

We don't saw mobile so packing and hauling stuff to the site is not a problem.  But we have many nails in the walls and along the shelves that hold common combination wrenches and other useful tools.

We do have duplicate of much needed tools so we can station them at the locations where we need them most.  The best example is the four Log-Rite cant hooks.  We keep a short mill special behind the mill for those cants that just can't quite turn right.  Even though we have a live deck and hydraulic mill,  we still sometimes need a cant hook on the front side so we have two – one 60"er for big logs with flats or lumps, and a 30" mill special for smaller stuff that sometimes hang up or if we're resawing some cants and need to roll them down the loading arms.  The forth cant kind of floats.  It's on the big Terex right now.  Sometimes I need it on the lot or to control dumping RR ties or beams.  Other times we used it on the firewood processor. 

We also have had a large inventory of Sears tape measures.  We had four but we're down to two right now.  One is lost and another needs some work or traded in on another new one.

[Tom]

Well, it all depends.  Kind of an age thing.

If you're a real young fellow and your new wife has to leave town for a week,  you saw a lot of lumber.
If your a old feller and your wife returns from vacation in the mountains, your production goes up.

[LeeB]

  :D  :D  :D  :D

[kderby]

I have a big umbrella on my mill as well.  It makes things easier to see (less squinting)  It reduces the fatigue caused by baking in the sun.  I want to work longer with fewer mistakes. 

I have been given the advice, "A hogger is a mills best friend."  The message is that junk is junk!  Fighting with undersized crooked logs is a recipe for poor production.  If you care about being efficient you will not bother producing junk.

I keep a cut sheet on the mill. That helps keep me focused on the order of the day.  I work pretty hard to keep the blade in the log.  Anyone who works with me knows that is the second priority of the day.  First priority is safety, of course.  Not much production can occur if some one is hurt or if the machinery is damaged.

Finally, try to cut with your back to the wind.  Blowing sawdust is an distraction and a discomfort for the eyes.

These are simple things but they work for me. ;D ;D ;D

[StorminN]

Keep falling wedges handy to prop up the beam or board you are sawing to prevent the blades from getting pinched/ heating up, especially in wonky wood with lots of tension. Probably more of an issue with twin saw circle mills (?).

I use this one, all the time. I've got a plastic felling wedge that came with my mill... a previous owner took a regular wedge and drilled and tapped the head of it, and put about a 36" piece of all-thread in the head, and a handle at the other end, so it's a wedge on a long handle... which means I can stick it in the kerf from the operator's position, where it resides.

It sure is easy to use, and came in handy a couple of weeks ago when I milled some 3"x10"x18' red cedar beams... some of those logs had some stresses in them.

-N.

[Jaylord]

If you are working on a large order and aren't looking for more work at the time put up a gate or closed sign. My mill site is along a highway and this works for me. 90% of my visitors are just lookers or want to BS. If it's really important they will phone and leave a message.

[Bibbyman]

Welcome to the Forum!

You must have been reading long and deep to make your first post on this old topic.  :P

[northwoods1]

Welcome to the Forum!

You must have been reading long and deep to make your first post on this old topic.  :P

One of the first things I noticed after beginning to read this forum is that a very easy way to learn a lot is to simply go back and read all of your posts! 

[Chuck White]

When I first joined this forum, the first thing I did was to go to the first post in each section that I was interested in and just started reading.

[Jeff]

Used to be, someone would say that they went back and read the entire forum before deciding to register. We don't see that to much anymore, and if I did, I'd seriously doubt it to be possible. I can't even keep up with current postings. wait_smiley

[red oaks lumber]

i started by reading old posts and started wondering if this forum was really a food forum. i have since figured it out ,everyone is just hungry.

[paul case]

yup i am hungry but its close to supper time and we are having anita's special surprise and it smells wonderful.
thanks for bringing this thread back up. my biggest thing here lately is to shut the gate at the mill when i am there so i can get something done. pc