Edgers

[Redhorseshoe]

I hate to add another "this or that" thread to the forum but here I go anyway. . .
I'm going to get an edger.  I'm looking at the Riehl, and the eg200.  There is a significant price difference between the two, about $4,500.  I've been so happy with Woodmizer and their customer service I'm inclined to spend more money with them, plus Woodmizer Oregon is about two hours from me which really helps with parts and service.  I can't find much info on the Riehl but what I've found is people are happy with them too.  Also, just to convolute this even more, I've looked a little at the eg100 and like the price tag but it doesn't really seem like the same caliber of machine as the others.  What do you all think about these?  Pros, cons, likes, and dislikes?

[Southside]

Well lets see, on the WM side of things I own a Super 70, an LT35 HD, the 200 kiln, a 250 sharpener and it's sister setter - what's that $150K worth of WM equipment?  My edger is a Riehl - and that was by choice.  Darin makes great equipment and is excellent to deal with, lot more value there than what the price reflects.  

[PAmizerman]

I was going to get the riehl but I came across a used eg 200 diesel with 112 hours on it that was way too good of a deal to pass on. 
I'm happy with my woodmizer. I got the split blades for it which makes blade changes way easier.

[51cub]

If memory serves, @Bruno of NH  is a Riehl and said pretty much the same as Southside said about his

[Bruno of NH]

I have a Riehl 
It's a well built unit.
I had an issue but it has been taken care of and works great .

[moodnacreek]

The Riehl edger is too small for me and so is the old Chase I completely rebuilt. I looked at the Riehl at the Bloomsberg show a few years ago and I thought it was well made and reasonably priced for those who do alot of softwood boards. Right now I have a large [beyond my capability] order for 3x6 locust. It is a standing order, do as much as I can. The 3" flitches will be going through my edger with the feed in gear 1.

[tacks Y]

The Riehl edger is too small for me and so is the old Chase I completely rebuilt. I looked at the Riehl at the Bloomsberg show a few years ago and I thought it was well made and reasonably priced for those who do alot of softwood boards. Right now I have a large [beyond my capability] order for 3x6 locust. It is a standing order, do as much as I can. The 3" flitches will be going through my edger with the feed in gear 1.

So what are the 3 x 6s used for?

[YellowHammer]

I've got a Baker and love it.  You may consider them, also. 

[moodnacreek]

The Riehl edger is too small for me and so is the old Chase I completely rebuilt. I looked at the Riehl at the Bloomsberg show a few years ago and I thought it was well made and reasonably priced for those who do alot of softwood boards. Right now I have a large [beyond my capability] order for 3x6 locust. It is a standing order, do as much as I can. The 3" flitches will be going through my edger with the feed in gear 1.

So what are the 3 x 6s used for?
I didn't ask. The guy is a regular buyer of locust, normally 2x6 2x8 x 8'. He builds trails through the woods or over swamps, board walks so the hikers don't get there feet wet, with your money [grant money] Don't spread this around.

[moodnacreek]

The band mill companion edgers I have seen really turn me off because they have 'sides' on the infeed table. What in the world where the makers thinking .  I pile up flitch boards on a steel top table that is a scissors lift. From there I slide them on the edger. With these edger you would have to work with these sides. Also those with belt feeds scare me from my experience with belt conveyers and belt tracking problems. 

[YellowHammer]

I bring whole pallets up and put the boards on a roller table and push it in the edger.  

There may be some belt fed edgers with tracking issues, I've heard of some, but Baker isn't one of them.  It is almost as accurate as my Straight Line Rip saw and the tracking is rock solid, I've only had got make one or two adjustments since we've had it.

[longtime lurker]

The Riehl edger is too small for me and so is the old Chase I completely rebuilt. I looked at the Riehl at the Bloomsberg show a few years ago and I thought it was well made and reasonably priced for those who do alot of softwood boards. Right now I have a large [beyond my capability] order for 3x6 locust. It is a standing order, do as much as I can. The 3" flitches will be going through my edger with the feed in gear 1.

X2.

I'm looking for about what you are I suspect... open one side, linebar the other, built to saw large volumes of hard stuff at speed.

And a bull edger as well, big one.... 2 Arbors to keep the kerf down, 8" deep cut, wide enough for 2 gangs at once (space my collars so I've got 2" one side and 1½" the other for example) , and I need a linebar infeed on that too.
Ideally of course I want it all together...  Gangs and 3 shifting saws though those are probably out of my budget.
Have to come from your side the puddle I expect... not much available here and no-one with one will part with it. There's a big Salem for sale opposite corner of the country is the only one on the market and he wants 140k for it...  add the freight to get it home and call it $110k USD, too much for something you'd pick up over there for not much + paint and near enough the same in freight.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who bites off moren he can chew! 

[stavebuyer]

The EG 200 is a solid bullet proof and simple machine but has a few downsides

1.Width of the the flitch it would pass is smaller than what you can saw on the "regular" LT40 platform.  
2. Blades are a pain to swap unless you switch to after market split blades
3. 8/4 plus thick stock with realistic added thickness is a stretch for the machine in thick stock.

I have not used a Riehl. I had a Cooks which addressed the Wood-mizer shortcomings at a cost savings. It is belt feed and I did have to replace a feed belt we tore with short a edging strip getting hung. No issues tracking it and hydraulic speed adjust really shines when you go to 8-12/4 slabs.

[YellowHammer]

I've not run an locust through mine, but Baker put an upgraded 20 hp 3 phase on mine, did a custom design on the infeed and outfeed, and the agreement was that it had to cut full 3 inch boards, straight, and at a high production level speed (for me) or I wouldn't buy it.  We use full 12/4 stock and make mantles and leg stock out of them, so I need to be able to rip using 2 blades at a time, like a gang saw.  

So when we went to Baker to pick up the edger, they had it waiting for us on the factory floor, with a crowd standing around.  On the pallet next to it was a huge 3 inch thick, 18 inch wide, long, mega piece of oak.  They fired up the edger, set the hydraulic belt feed for full speed, which to me was stupid fast, and several guys had to struggle to lift the hunk of wood on the infeed.  The foreman said " Let it go" and they let it go.  Everybody had a smile on their faces like the old redneck joke of "Hey y'all, watch this."  I swear the lights dimmed a little as the blades bit into it, and the pieces shot out the back on the conveyor, through the spit roller, and down onto a pallet with a boom.  It was one of the coolest and most memorable demonstrations I've seen.  We put a straight edge on the cut and it was almost perfect, maybe 1/16" off over 8 feet.  

We also ran some badly cupped, hard as a rock, kiln dried 4/4 white oak through it, as kiln dried boards with cup and crown are notoriously difficult to feed straight on any edger, and they came out straight, also.

I just asked "Who do I pay?"

[moodnacreek]

I've not run an locust through mine, but Baker put an upgraded 20 hp 3 phase on mine, did a custom design on the infeed and outfeed, and the agreement was that it had to cut full 3 inch boards, straight, and at a high production level speed (for me) or I wouldn't buy it.  We use full 12/4 stock and make mantles and leg stock out of them, so I need to be able to rip using 2 blades at a time, like a gang saw.  

So when we went to Baker to pick up the edger, they had it waiting for us on the factory floor, with a crowd standing around.  On the pallet next to it was a huge 3 inch thick, 18 inch wide, long, mega piece of oak.  They fired up the edger, set the hydraulic belt feed for full speed, which to me was stupid fast, and several guys had to struggle to lift the hunk of wood on the infeed.  The foreman said " Let it go" and they let it go.  Everybody had a smile on their faces like the old redneck joke of "Hey y'all, watch this."  I swear the lights dimmed a little as the blades bit into it, and the pieces shot out the back on the conveyor, through the spit roller, and down onto a pallet with a boom.  It was one of the coolest and most memorable demonstrations I've seen.  We put a straight edge on the cut and it was almost perfect, maybe 1/16" off over 8 feet.  

We also ran some badly cupped, hard as a rock, kiln dried 4/4 white oak through it, as kiln dried boards with cup and crown are notoriously difficult to feed straight on any edger, and they came out straight, also.

I just asked "Who do I pay?"
You can't ask for more than that.

[moodnacreek]

I am surprised some machine shop doesn't make an edger kit for the do it yourselfer if there are any left.  I know how to go about building one but that's because I have rebuilt 2 machines. But for the handy guy who can cut and weld steel, if he had a 'center section' to start with he cold make the rest. And if that center section, that would be the mandrel with fixed and shifting collars, was built heavy it could be a real machine. 4 feed rolls made with sprockets all chained together and driven off the mandrel through a riding lawn mower transmission works great. Dead rolls and press rolls from well casing . I bet a lot of guys have half this stuff out behind the barn.

[Redhorseshoe]

Thanks for all the responses.  I ended up ordering a Riehl.  It won't be here until April or May but I'm feeling good about my decision and am looking forward to putting it to work.

[Jay B]

I am curious how well folks like the Riehl that have used them over time, how they hold up etc. I saw @YellowHammer video about his Baker and that looks like a great machine. The Cooks also looks like a good one on the Cooks demo video but I hate to spend that much money for low production. I got around a 6 months wait time on a WM EG100 and about 3 months on a Miner which is also a bit more than I want to spend.

I'm not having much luck finding a older used one and my research here has me wondering about the Riehl. 

[YellowHammer]

I really like my Baker.  I do not think there is another edger that does as well on green kind dried, and kiln dried and planed lumber.  I've had it for many years, and not a single issue.  

[moodnacreek]

I've not run an locust through mine, but Baker put an upgraded 20 hp 3 phase on mine, did a custom design on the infeed and outfeed, and the agreement was that it had to cut full 3 inch boards, straight, and at a high production level speed (for me) or I wouldn't buy it.  We use full 12/4 stock and make mantles and leg stock out of them, so I need to be able to rip using 2 blades at a time, like a gang saw.  

So when we went to Baker to pick up the edger, they had it waiting for us on the factory floor, with a crowd standing around.  On the pallet next to it was a huge 3 inch thick, 18 inch wide, long, mega piece of oak.  They fired up the edger, set the hydraulic belt feed for full speed, which to me was stupid fast, and several guys had to struggle to lift the hunk of wood on the infeed.  The foreman said " Let it go" and they let it go.  Everybody had a smile on their faces like the old redneck joke of "Hey y'all, watch this."  I swear the lights dimmed a little as the blades bit into it, and the pieces shot out the back on the conveyor, through the spit roller, and down onto a pallet with a boom.  It was one of the coolest and most memorable demonstrations I've seen.  We put a straight edge on the cut and it was almost perfect, maybe 1/16" off over 8 feet.  

We also ran some badly cupped, hard as a rock, kiln dried 4/4 white oak through it, as kiln dried boards with cup and crown are notoriously difficult to feed straight on any edger, and they came out straight, also.

I just asked "Who do I pay?"

That was a real test.

[YellowHammer]

I really wish I had video of that commissioning run.  It's was amazing, and at first they were going to start with some warm up stuff.  However, the foreman of the factory floor, who sounded like a train conductor, didn't want any fooling with little 4/4 boards, so he hollered at the top of his lungs "He didn't drive all this way to watch if eat easy stuff, LAY THE BIG DOG ON THERE!" And they did, and it was amazing.  You could tell by the way the other employees gathered around, it wasn't something they did every day, put a new edger through a max feed, max thickness test in front of the customer.

Baker equipment is top notch.    

[customsawyer]

I've had 5 edgers in the last 20 years. 1 Morgan, 2 cooks, 1 WM, 1 Baker. Every single one of them had things I liked about them and hated about them. Don't shop just on price. Pick the one that best suits your needs.

[Southside]

Every operation has different needs and those needs change with time. 

I bought my Riehl when I was running a 35 by myself, now with a 70 and a three man crew it keeps right up with us all day long. 

Maybe one day I will want or need something different, but right now I don't walk into the mill shed and think "one day, one day". It makes me money, and that's what sawmill equipment is for.