A Day at The Mill with Customsawyer

julio · October 27, 2014, 09:25:14 PM

Jake started milling Friday I came Friday night to his house and we started the next morning and finished 9205 b/f in TWO days . DANG I was tried but had a great time. About 2 hour of break down on Saturday and we still finish by 6:30 or 7:00 . sorry I don't have more pics , he wouldn't let me slow down long enough

barbender · October 27, 2014, 09:30:05 PM

That's a lot of board feet! Not only that, but the light in the pictures looks like it came straight on down from heaven ;D

POSTON WIDEHEAD · October 27, 2014, 09:35:27 PM

Jake, are you still sawing backwards with the head coming to you? :

Thats a lot of Pine! I'm assuming those are the ones you were talking to me about. Nice WHACK!
Good job WHOLEEO!

JB Griffin · October 27, 2014, 09:38:11 PM

9200 bdft in two days

That would take me over two weeks.
Nice job guys.

Magicman · October 27, 2014, 09:39:24 PM

Don't know which one of them is the machine.....Jake or the LT70. :D

YellowHammer · October 27, 2014, 10:43:09 PM

Great job! I hope he at least gave you a Doans Backache pill break, that's a lot of wood to move. I'm curious about support equipment, I don't see any other machinery (besides Jake!) in the pictures. What else was onsite to help? Edger, Log deck, etc?
YH

mikeb1079 · October 28, 2014, 12:21:17 AM

that is a crazy amount of bf for 2 days. well done!

customsawyer · October 28, 2014, 05:13:25 AM

When it comes to portable jobs it don't get any better than this one. The customer had 6 trees sit aside when he logged off some of his acreage. Then one of his neighbors brought a few more logs for his cattle farm. On Friday it started with just the land owner and I. I was cutting the trees to lengths and he was sitting up the area for stacking the lumber. Got started sawing about 10:30. The customer had a 75 hp New Holland tractor with forks and some younger help showed up at 11:00. At the end of the day on Friday I realized there was no way I was going to finish the job on Saturday if I didn't take the edger. So when I got home Friday evening Julio and I hooked my wife's truck up to the trailer and loaded the edger and extra roller tables. Saturday morning Julio and I got the edger in position just in time, as that is when the extra help showed up. Another neighbor brought a second 90 hp John Deere tractor with forks. I started sawing at the tongue of the mill but soon realized that with the 3 men the customer hired to help stack lumber Julio and myself all at one end of the mill I was going to have more bruises than a pro football player. We than took the controls to the other end of the mill and got me out of their way. With Julio feeding the edger and directing the other help, plus keeping the logs rolled on the loader arms all I had to do was saw. I decided let Julio show off all of his mechanic skills, so I let the mill break down a couple of time (like we didn't have enough pressure on us). I have to say Mr. Julio saved my bacon multiple times that day. Many thanks to Julio, couldn't have done it without him.
There is some more that needs to be said but I type so slow and I need to go to work. ;D

LeeB · October 28, 2014, 05:42:05 AM

That's OK. I read slow. Worked out just fine.

red oaks lumber · October 28, 2014, 06:01:03 AM

:D

Peter Drouin · October 28, 2014, 06:09:46 AM

Not bad,

drobertson · October 28, 2014, 06:23:29 AM

That sounded like the perfect scenario for sure! that backwards running is tricky to get use to for me, I kept going backwards with the controls..

Nomad · October 28, 2014, 06:39:59 AM

Sounds like great teamwork! Fine job, guys.

slider · October 28, 2014, 07:46:24 AM

I was picking up a load of trees not far from them saturday but I was not about to wander into that camp.

Chuck White · October 28, 2014, 08:20:35 AM

Jake and Julio, good show, 9,205 bf in 2 days. Wow........

Well done.

red oaks lumber · October 29, 2014, 07:58:30 AM

the most impressive part of the whole job...

wait for it ... very good stickering!!! 8)

tule peak timber · October 29, 2014, 08:59:04 AM

Good deal ! 8) 8) 8) 8)

Ga Mtn Man · October 29, 2014, 09:34:01 AM

That is a crazy amount of lumber. I'm pretty sure customsawyer has replaced his speed pot with an ON/OFF switch.

Did Julio have to do the cooking too?

Nomad · October 29, 2014, 08:12:02 PM

I'm betting there wasn't any time for cooking on that job! :D

customsawyer · October 29, 2014, 08:26:25 PM

The customer's wife did most of the cooking. I can't say enough about this customer and Julio. They both went way above and beyond what one would expect on a job like this. I kept thinking about some of the stories that Tom used to share about his customers putting on a lunch and all. I was smiling from ear to hat.

fishpharmer · October 29, 2014, 08:42:18 PM

I think you surpassed my milling career total in those two days. ;) ;D 8)

Now, I have this image of you white haired , looking just like Tom (but two feet taller ) in 20 years.

backwoods sawyer · October 29, 2014, 10:40:57 PM

Sounds like good group that all knew how to keep the sawdust flying.

I understand the give me some elbow room to work ;D

Good job to everyone on that job 8) 8) 8)

Delawhere Jack · October 29, 2014, 10:54:29 PM

Outstanding work! I guess those high HP mills really do have their advantages.. :D

It sure is nice to have a big stack of boards at the end of the day, isn't it. The customer is happy, you're happy, every body is happy.

And when the customer provides a nice lunch.....You just can't beat it!

Magicman · October 30, 2014, 08:40:16 AM

Quote from: julio on October 27, 2014, 09:25:14 PMAbout 2 hour of break down on Saturday

And do not overlook this. They overcame adversity and still got-r-done. 8)

fishpharmer · October 30, 2014, 08:52:37 AM

Lynn, I agree. Although, would be more suprised if there were no breakdowns.

Lots of help + Deadlines = Breakdowns ;)

customsawyer · October 30, 2014, 08:48:30 PM

Well I am now going to tell the rest of the story. The first break down was the z-fuses for the hyd. it wasn't the fuses fault. I had a screw work lose that holds the brass block for the contact strip come loose. When this screw hit the contact strip it bent and broke the entire bracket that the brass block is mounted to. Julio and I dove into the middle of it with a large crescent wrench and a big hammer. We got everything straitened out and welded back together with new fuzes renstalled. Started sawing and a little while later loaded the largest log of the day. Needless to say we blew the fuze again. Dive off in there with a couple more fuzes. Julio, now having experience starts taking things apart while I am grabbing tools and spare parts. I hear Julio say "whoops", I reply what does "whoops mean"? He said something about a bolt twisting off. I stepped back a bit and am thinking that I will still be milling this job on Monday. Julio comes up out of the saw dust with a bracket that needs a new bolt and a battery cable that needs replaced. In the process of closing up the truck to head to the auto parts store the customers son says, "I think dad has some of those in the shop." We go in the shop and low and behold the exact battery cable we need is hanging on the wall. It is even the right color. After a little digging we didn't find the perfect bolt but found one that would work. As long as Julio is doing the install. 20 Min. later Julio has me up and running again. When we got the mill home the next day we were sitting it up and blew the fuze again. The cause of all of this is due to the brass block being worn out and needing replaced. (Don't put off replacing that part anymore). ;)
I have since replaced the fuze block with the same one that Magicman posted he had done. ( Thanks @Magicman). So as you all can now see there is no way I would have gotten this job done with out Julio or the extra mile that the customer went. Jeff I need one of those smiles that put their hands together and bows.

Magicman · October 30, 2014, 09:14:59 PM

Good show Jake. A bad/loose connection is a sure fuse blower. Also it seems that the need to finish a job will also blow fuses. ;D

Those new fuses are listed as "slo-blow" so I imagine that they will be more forgiving. I found a good price for them with free shipping on ebay.

Dave Shepard · October 30, 2014, 09:18:51 PM

Just don't use the Safety No-Blow brand of fuses! That's what an electrician friend of mine calls a 1/2" piece of copper pipe stuffed in in place of the fuse. :D I think my connections are good on my Z fuses, but I like that upgrade. I'll have to do that at some point.

Red Clay Hound · October 30, 2014, 09:20:21 PM

I wish I had a helper like Julio!

POSTON WIDEHEAD · October 30, 2014, 10:04:39 PM

Quote from: Red Clay Hound on October 30, 2014, 09:20:21 PM
I wish I had a helper like Julio!

I wish I had an LT70 that blew fuses. :D

fat olde elf · October 31, 2014, 01:47:48 AM

The legend continues............

Sixacresand · October 31, 2014, 08:29:37 AM

Once when I visited Jake while he was milling, he quickly offered me a pair of gloves. I am sure Julio brought his own. :D Good job, Guys.

backwoods sawyer · October 31, 2014, 11:38:09 AM

Quote from: Sixacresand on October 31, 2014, 08:29:37 AM
Once when I visited Jake while he was milling, he quickly offered me a pair of gloves. I am sure Julio brought his own. :D Good job, Guys.

Got to be carefull when using Jakes gloves ;)
They are lible to work you into the ground ;D

customsawyer · November 02, 2014, 07:05:49 AM

Here are a few more pics the customer sent me.

These are the young men that the customer hired to help stack lumber.

This is the customers wife and his son's dog, Red.

The logs getting ready.

This is the customer and the tree length logs. Or the before shot.

This is some of the lumber. The after shot.

LeeB · November 02, 2014, 07:12:00 AM

Nice sticks make nice stacks.

slider · November 02, 2014, 07:28:23 AM

Jake won't admit but I think he learned that backwards sawing from his uncle Al.

WDH · November 02, 2014, 07:52:00 AM

Whew! I am glad that I went fishing :D.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 02, 2014, 07:53:28 AM

Quote from: WDH on November 02, 2014, 07:52:00 AM
Whew! I am glad that I went fishing :D.

:D

julio · November 02, 2014, 08:09:10 AM

Danny I sure wish you had been there I sure could have used some relief. It was a great day though.

mockman · November 03, 2014, 09:17:35 PM

Well, I'm the customer Jake is talking about, and I gotta tell you that that I'm probably the happiest customer in South Georgia right about now! I've been looking at those big pine trees for 20 years dreaming of having them sawn into big boards, and I'm fortunate that I found Jake to help fulfill my dreams. I had no clue as to the amount of work that went into my stacks of wood, Jake and Julio worked us like slaves, but we all had a blast!
Ain't nothing any prettier than a giant pile of boards cut from your own trees!

Peter Drouin · November 03, 2014, 09:24:41 PM

Quote from: mockman on November 03, 2014, 09:17:35 PM
Well, I'm the customer Jake is talking about, and I gotta tell you that that I'm probably the happiest customer in South Georgia right about now! I've been looking at those big pine trees for 20 years dreaming of having them sawn into big boards, and I'm fortunate that I found Jake to help fulfill my dreams. I had no clue as to the amount of work that went into my stacks of wood, Jake and Julio worked us like slaves, but we all had a blast!
Ain't nothing any prettier than a giant pile of boards cut from your own trees!