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Planning on building a twin saw dimension mill, asking for advice

Started by Dan K, December 17, 2012, 12:13:13 AM

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Dan K

A bit of an introduction, I have been lurking for a while now, soaking up info hell west and crooked.I have been working away at a very remote minesite for more than a decade, and will be moving back to our home in the Wet Tropics, just south of Cairns, Queensland , Australia. One our home block  has quite a few mature Caribean pines ( Pinus caribaea) to remove from a paddock before I can clean it up. The reminder of the block is hilly rainforest, with a few accessible feature grade hardwoods and a fair quantity of secondary semi hardwoods. I plan on milling for immediate family only.
I'm looking to build a mill, and cut my teeth on the pine, before I am game enough to hoe into some of the more valuable stuff. I have recently acquired a 51hp Perkins and a right angle gearbox, and I'm looking to build a mill with a 12" verticle cut and a 6 - 12" horizontal cut ( yet to be decided ).
My question from the more experienced millers out there is : should I go the traditional dimension saw method of using pulleys, belts and jackshafts to drive the saws,  or should I go straight hydraulic, with a pump bolted onto the perkins, and hydraulic motors for the blades, travel and carriage up/down?
Starting from scratch, either way holds its own promise, but the good folk on here might be able to share their experiences.
PS, I've searched pretty extensively, but couldn't find any info on a twin saw home build,

Regards

dan

beenthere

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

Do you have a design sketch?
Am sure that doing it yourself has its just rewards too, but it will be awhile coming.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

reride82

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,41080.0.html

I don't know if he ever finished it, but this was a design I was following for a while before rebuilding my circle saw.
Levi
'Do it once, do it right'

'First we shape our buildings, then our buildings shape us'
Living life on the Continental Divide in Montana

Dan K

Thanks for the link. I had something similar in mind, just on a larger scale. This home made contraption is what helped me decide to go down the twin saw road. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVzvaxZv84.
I'm yet to have drawings done, I will after I decide on the blade drive method

Regards

dan

Satamax

Dan, hydraulics, with the kind of power needed for a sawmill, are realy eficient, but need lots of flow and lots of cooling. I doubt you could do much with 51hp. Prety sure you have enough to drive the two saw with gearboxes and puleys tho. Being at the very limit with 12" and 12" imho.  If you want to check a bandmill which is all hydraulic, look at the loglogic autotrek. It gave me few ideas. Remember, i haven't built any mill yet.

HTH

Max.
French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

Dan K

Thanks for the reply Max. Whether the Perkins will drive a big enough pump is a pertinent question. 51hp will be more than adequate to drive both saws, going by the rule of thumb of 2-3 hp per tooth. Looks like I may have access to a 12v hydraulic unit, spools and hoses of a moblie lighting tower at the right price  ;D, so the jackshaft/gearbox style might be the go. Very much open to suggestions, but.

Regards

dan

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