Whatcha Sawin' 2024 ??

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I surely don't have a dog in this fight, but I surely hate to see two long timers here going at it over a miscommunication.
 Peter I went over those numbers too, and I think you may be a bit off myself.
There are 16' logs and based on that;
13) 2x8x192/144=277BF
30) 2x6x192/144=480BF
5)  2x4x192/144=53BF
                         810BF total

 Check your math there buddy. Funny thing was the first time I did the numbers I came up with the same number you had, but I made a mistake punching in the numbers for the 2x6's.

 Let's not quibble over little stuff. Life is too short for that.

[Magicman]

Tom, there was no fight, no quibble, no miscommunication, and no need for your explanation.

Peter sells lumber and scales accordingly.  He scales full size as full size and he scales store  dimensional as it actually measures.  He does not sell air, and I fully understand his argument. 

I am not selling lumber and I scale my lumber the same regardless of whether it is full size, dimensional, or a variation of both.  I am selling a sawing service, not lumber.

As I stated in Reply #699, this subject has been discussed several times in the past and I was a bit surprised that it came back up.  I answered it again as I did because there are many new members & guest that needs to understand where we are both coming from.  I see no right nor wrong, just two different markets; one selling lumber and the other selling a sawing service.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have said many times here on this forum that all pricing methods are fair as long as both parties understand and agree to them before any sawing starts and as long as the agreed upon pricing is followed.

   Most of us, myself included, sell lumber/sawing service for less than one inch lumber the same as if it was one inch. I make sure the customer knows, understands, and agrees to that before sawing thin stuff and I bill accordingly.

   I bill my 6/4 lumber as 1.5" when I compute my bf but if I had listed and the customer agreed to a range and I counted it as agreed that would be fair and proper.

[Old Greenhorn]

Lynn and Peter. I apologize for sticking my nose in where it should not have been. I completely missed the difference between dimensional and full sized. I thought it was a simple little math error. Stupid me. Yes, both approaches work in different situations and it's a minor point. Yes, this has been discussed many many times and debated to death. I was just trying to fix something that wasn't broken. Sorry.

[WV Sawmiller]

I decided to run a test log through my mill since I replaced the broken clutch arm/connector and the idler wheel assembly. I had a very large tulip 14' long poplar to test with. My hydraulics lifted it slow but steady then I killed the battery trying to rotate it. I had to bring my truck down and jump it off to restart.

Last additions - IMG 4003 - The Forestry Forum Gallery 

I sawed it into 4/4 and sawed 3 of the outer flitches as 8/4 then edged them into 3/8" X 2" lath strips to make crates and such with. Total yield of boards was 308 bf total yield of boards and strips (SF) was 425 bf/sf

Last additions - IMG 4004 - The Forestry Forum Gallery

Last additions - IMG 4005 - The Forestry Forum Gallery

[Magicman]

My hydraulics lifted it slow but steady then I killed the battery trying to rotate it.

Sounds like you still have an alternator/battery problem.

[WV Sawmiller]

Lynn.

    I'm thinking battery as the last time I checked the alternator was putting out about 14.2 amps. The mill starts right up. I just need to be careful not to overload the system.

[Magicman]

A fully charged battery after it has sat overnight should read at least
12.7.  Heck it should read almost that after a week.

This is after a week and is why I have a hard wired voltmeter on my sawmill. 


With the engine running I always know that the alternator is OK.

[barbender]

 Often when the battery is weak the alternator will kill the engine when you use the hydraulics, because the alternator is getting the entire electrical load. 

[Dave Shepard]

I've just ordered four of those meters. The mill, edger, and tractor will all have them soon.

[Otis1]

@Resonator I just wanted to show you guys that there are a few nice black cherry in northern Wisconsin. This one is in the national forest near Wabeno. Almost 23" DBH and about 50' of sawlog. 

[Resonator]

Wowzer!

[Southside]

Any chance your camera saved the GPS info when that picture was taken?  Asking for a friend. 

[Otis1]

Take a right off the gravel road, go down a rocky forest road until you hit a FS gate and then another mile.
Not the first one of these I've found or marked. Had a few arguments/ conversations with the FS guys about it, one guy told me I shouldn't have marked it because it's a future crop tree. No, it's a crop tree right now. No way that tree is standing in another 20 years. Might not be standing by the time they get the sale out with their pokey timelines.

Edit: Pic was just taken a couple days ago.

[richhiway]

Lynn.

    I'm thinking battery as the last time I checked the alternator was putting out about 14.2 amps. The mill starts right up. I just need to be careful not to overload the system.

I think you mean 14.2 volts. Volts is equal to the water pressure in a hose. Amps is the like the flow or gallons per minute. As MM stated a fully charged battery at rest should read 12.6-12.8 volts.
With a good battery a alternator will be putting out a few amps. The alt. carries the electrical load as in a car the fuel pump, ignition, then as you turn on your ac, headlights the alt. keeps up with the added load or amps. 
On a mill when you use the hydraulics ,it is a high load so it will pull from the battery also. then the alt. will recharge the battery of it's loss, say at 30 amps and decreasing quickly as a good battery takes a charge quickly.

If you have a weak battery it is that there is a shorted cell that constantly puts a amp draw on the alt. Almost all alt failure are from a bad battery. A 'Bad" battery may seem to work normally, but it is drawing say 12 amps on the alt. all the time,in addition to the load to run the system, plus it doesn't have any reserve in it, so when you use high loads, the alt is working double hard and gets over loaded, like constantly pedaling a bike up hill.

A standard 12v battery that goes dead a few times is probably ruined. Even deep cycle batteries can only take so many cycles. In the old days you tested a battery with a hydrometer and or a load tester. Now they make electronic testers. If you don't have a tester you can take it to the parts store, but if your battery is suspect just replace it. Bad batteries also cause voltage spikes and can cause all kinds of electrical failures and demons. 
Batteries in equipment don't last as long as in your car, they sit around,are subject to vibration,etc. A battery always wants to be at full charge so when they sit unused that eat themselves up trying to maintain 12.6 volts. 

[Stephen1]

One of the biggest problems on the WM mills can be solved by using great deep cycle batteries and always run the engine when using the hydraulics. I've seen me kill a good battery sawing a whack of small logs, lots of lifting and turning with the hydraulics and very little WFO sawing time. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yes, I have been bad about running the hydraulics with the engine off as the hydraulics on the LT35 do not run through the switch. I try to be more careful about that now.

[Magicman]

It is so seldom that I ever touch the hydraulics without the engine running that I could say "never".  That group 31 deep cycle battery is the lifeblood of the sawmill. 

I would not want to trade that electric over hydraulic setup, but it does need to be protected.  A weak battery will kill/fry a pump motor.

[Resonator]

Black ash. Sawed a few black ash from my winter cut logs, and got nice boards some right about 12" wide.

Also sawed up the stinky pulp poplar logs I'd cut over winter. Got a repeat order from my customer the greenhouse grower to build more custom pallets, so the poplar boards are spoken for.