OldJarheads Milling Thread...

[OlJarhead]

Ramps?  ???

haha I was pretty tired....loading arms (and bases/feet)....they were still up.

Thanks everyone for the comments.  I'll have to check out the alignment but it appeared to be fine as I bent the guard not the arm it seems.  Only trouble I had was changing the band with the arm in vs out.  With it out I had no issue.  I'll get pics today.

Milled up over 5000'bf this weekend (thanks to a ton of big beams) and ran through a wack of bands.  Had to stop yesterday around 9am and tighten the drive belts.  I'd hit a knot (which i usually buck off ahead of loading the log if I notice them) and it stopped the head cold!  Drive belts smoked before I hit the stop!!! 

Was down around 13#'s so I checked it out and cussed a little and got it just over 14#'s and carried on

[OlJarhead]

The bulk of my weekends production


Hard at it


Making sawdust

Still have to do the math on the weekend.  Day one was 2370bf I believe and about 1/3rd of that pile.....

[submarinesailor]

Yes that is the stuff and I may have to get someone to send me a few cans. Can't get the heavy duty stuff up here any more it seems. The lighter duty stuff does work pretty good but do have to use more of it.

BB - I checked the AMSOIL website and found that it is "NOT AVAILABLE IN CANADA".....along with several other AMSOIL products.  Looked at the MSDS sheets and they had one for the US, but for Canada. http://www.amsoil.com/msds/AMH.pdf

NOTE:  Been using it for MANY years on many different things and really like it.  IMHO - it rates right up there with Kevin and Tammy's "Blue Stuff" (Blue Creeper). ;D

[OlJarhead]

A little dark but here's the new mill truck   2010 F350 4x4 super cab   I love it!


Left late (7pm) and booted it home at 5over all the way including 75 on the interstate (about 25 miles of the 115mile drive) and averaged 12.2mpg :D  8)

My old F150 would have been screaming at me on the interstate and probably would have gotten between 7 and 9mpg so I'm pretty happy with the diesel   Best I did in the F150 was 10mpg at 60mph and it was a smaller truck (lighter by a bunch) and had the 5.4l gasser in it.

[OlJarhead]

and yes that's with the mill in tow!

[OlJarhead]

Milled up some fir this weekend that had been down THREE YEARS.....guys meter showed it at 18-20%.....and milled 'ok' but I went through bands faster than I am used to.  I think I used 13 bands but 4 hit nails so call it 10...and about 6k board feet...seems good right?  Now!  Most of that footage was beams (8x8's and 8x10's mostly) so I figure I should have gone through less bands...

I'm thinking the dry logs were the cause of all the band usage...thoughts?

[Darrel]

and yes that's with the mill in tow!

After running a diesel, I'll never go back to gas. Passing fuel pumps without a worry cuppeled with never lacking power makes gasoline so yesterday!

[Peter Drouin]

Good, it's all working out for you Oljarhead. With the days getting longer means more sawing. [ Nice truck]

[OlJarhead]

Arrived today to this big walnut and bucked it in half (ok 6' and 8' sections the customers dad had tried to cut but his saw wouldn't do it) and trimmed it up a with with my awesome 576XP and a 24" bar...the 32" bar wasn't needed but I put it there for context....yes it's a 32" bar and the saw has a 24" on it...gives you an idea how big this sucker was.


Used MM's trick to load the log (with a chain on the clamp) and then used MM's tick with the backstops   OH yes I love this forum!  THANKS LYNN!!!!


That mill head is at the 'STOP HERE" sign ya, it's a tall sucker.


Took me 6 hours to mill that first log up and only got about 372bf out of it (lots of slabs and flitches that they didn't want though).

The next log which was 24" at the small end (with a flat surface already on it from breaking) and over 32" at the base took me two hours.  Mostly of fiddling around to get it right and then I milled some cookies out of the crook and some 'coffee table tops' out of some slabs that were just right for it.

Total billing was 6 hours (including some chainsaw work) so the customer was happy and i don't think you can buy walnut for $1 per BF which is probably what it cost him (have to do the math still).

One problem though!  I smoked my drive belts TWICE!  Band just stopped and before I killed the drive it started smoking.  Guess I need to check tension again and order some new drive belts just in case.

Here are some pics of the guide arm I bent...honestly I think it's ok and it just got tweaked a little...I did have to 'pop' it back down and the gaurd seems a little lower than it was before and maybe bent (seems to get in a way a little when changing bands unless I push the arm inward half way or so) but otherwise doesn't seem to be a problem.


  

  

  

  

 
Thoughts?

[Magicman]

Just heat it and bend it back.  You don't want that tray any lower than original because it will compromise your dog board cut.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks MM I was thinking about that every time I got down close to the bed ;)

On the above job I estimated 610bf produced.  Why estimated?  I made some cookies and table tops which I only roughly recorded the dimensions of and didn't bother doing the real math on ;)  3" thick for the table tops roughly 20" across at the widest and 2 and 3 feet long...cookies were 2" thick by 12" wide some of which cracked but I still milled them...and he can put them back together if he wants to ;)

Still, didn't count flitches that I left there...about 6 all 2" thick and 10-16" wide all 6' long.....

[OlJarhead]

Just under 59,000bf on the mill so far (in a year and a month)....will be sending off the final check to pay off the mill now   8)

Also need to change the oil and filter....and do some maintenance...and check those drive belts and tension, and the break and....and....and....

[Bandmill Bandit]

Just under 59,000bf on the mill so far (in a year and a month)....will be sending off the final check to pay off the mill now   8)

Also need to change the oil and filter....and do some maintenance...and check those drive belts and tension, and the break and....and....and....

Congrats on getting the mill paid down in one year. Good job!

And yes the maintenance goes with territory. It is mostly pretty easy to do though.

TIP; I use a small round  margarine container under the oil filter to reduce the mess of changing the filter. Have used a wad of paper towel too but still leaves some mess either way.   

[Deese]

Just under 59,000bf on the mill so far (in a year and a month)....will be sending off the final check to pay off the mill now   8)

Also need to change the oil and filter....and do some maintenance...and check those drive belts and tension, and the break and....and....and....

Paid off the mill in a year...that's impressive. Thanks for keeping everyone updated with how things are going. It seems that you are loving every minute of it. Being successful doing what you love. That's the American dream. Heck yeah!

[Darrel]

Paying the mill off has to be exciting!  I'll bet you won't have any trouble figuring out how to spend all that extra money.

[GAB]

Paying the mill off has to be exciting!  I'll bet you won't have any trouble figuring out how to spend all that extra money.

Ah-yup
Pay for the camper and then upgrade to an LT70 WIDE.
Congratulations on your success.
NOTE: It just might be wise to consult with your financial adviser.
Gerald

[OlJarhead]

added another 3370 board feet today  8)  Nothing like big logs to make the numbers go up!

Last log was 24" at the small end...most are around 20-22" and I am making a lot of sawdust!

One problem I had was the drive belt jumped off one groove.  Customer saw it while I was trying to figure out why I was down on power.  Got it back and and went back to milling.  All seems well now and I'm sitting at 15lbs on the drive belt which is a little tight but I figure tight is better than loose!

[fishfighter]

You might want to inspect that belt to see if the outside edge grove hasn't been cut or breaking. That, or maybe something got hooked up in between the belt and pulleys, burning the belt. Once a belt starts jumping, they will keep doing that. :(

[OlJarhead]

Thanks...Figured I needed to order a new one.

Bent the guide arm guard back with a wrench.  No heat needed.  The guy I am milling for is a mechanic and his cousin a farmer.  Both looked at it and said "big crescent" and sure enough ouch it bent easily back.

The 4 degree bands seemed to cut faster and flatter on the big logs and I think the turbo 7's too...Might have to get a box for the bigger wood and save the tens for pecker poles. )

[Magicman]

You will find that when the 4's get dull, they are dull.  They loose their tendency to pull into the cut. 

[OlJarhead]

 

 
Have sawmill, will travel

Over 6800bf this weekend....had the drive belt jump one row off but we put it back on and kept going....did some more 21" 1x's and man those things eat the bands!

Camper did well except the heater (mentioned in camper thread) and it was GREAT to finish milling, tidy up, pour a drink and chat around the camp fire until bed time

[Ljohnsaw]

Now all you need is a washtub-burn barrel for a campfire.  They sit up off the ground and throw a lot of heat at ya.  If you make one out of a stainless steel tub, they are very light.

[fishfighter]

With that camper on your road trips, that is going to save you a lot of time and money. For sure it will give you more time to saw. ;D

[OlJarhead]

Agreed!  I was hoping for at least 8mpg with the camper and mill in tow...I got 11.8mpg going to the job site (115 miles)!  On the return I was heading into a strong wind (and side wind if not head) and kept it at 55 for a while which I found got lower mileage (the wind didn't help) due to the gearing and shift points in 'tow/haul' mode but once the wind let up 30 miles to the south I picked it up to 60 and managed to get 10.5mpg on the home trip (after seeing 9.3mpg into the wind).....

At 8mpg I would have saved $40+ this weekend :D  SO ya, it's a money saver for me!  Now I just need to sort it out and get my basket made for the mill (working on that too) so I have a place for everything instead of strapped on the mill 'Beverly Hill-Billies' style.

[Magicman]

A front receiver hitch and "hitchhiker" type cargo carrier might work:  LINK