Winter sawing tips - or things I had to learn over the hard way.

[Bibbyman]

Picure taken this morning as I walked out to the sawshed.

If you wear ear plugs,  put them in before you leave the house.  They get real stiff real quick out in the cold.

Sawdust will freeze into something resembling brick mortar by the next morning. You'll have far less problems getting started the next day if you dust off the mill real good when you're done sawing. Dig out from under all the moving parts, etc. 

After dusting off the mill,  oil the rails and such with ATF.

If your mill is not under a roof,  cover as much of it as you can.  The engine for sure, engine and sawhead would be better. 

On hydraulic mills,  use an oil recommended for winter use by the manufacture.  Dextrin works well.   If you're were you can plug something in,  then placing some kind of heat near the hydraulic tank will help it run faster and smoother on startup.

If it's going to break, it'll do it right when it's the most miserable and when you're almost ready to stop for the day. >:(

[Kirk_Allen]

Bibby from the looks of those LEANING icicles you must be having the same heavy winds we are.  Temps werent bad today but the wind made it misserable. 

[Bibbyman]

I had the worst job.  I sawed.  I had to stand in one place facing the wind.  Son Gabe pulled slabs and boards and fed the edger while Mary pulled off the back of the edger and did the loader work.

Anybody else got some winter sawing tips?

[Tom]

Hot Coffee!

[Jeff]

Here is mine...

[Kirk_Allen]

Now Jeff, how on earth you going to cut wood with that thing all covered up and protected ??? ;D :D

[Daren]

Don't let him fool you, that tarp could come off real fast.

[Tony]

If you wear ear plugs,  put them in before you leave the house.  They get real stiff real quick out in the cold.

It was 20 degrees this morning, glad I played with the kids awhile, anyway
also glad I brought the mill's water/lube jug in. ;)
This was my first experience with a frozen log (pine) :

                                      Tony  8)

[Ga_Boy]

It is not a tip but something I learned last winter.  I was sawing with Music Boy at my place, it was a high of 20 that day.

I discovered that there is a relationship between the thickness in the material you cut and the temp when the sun is going down.

The material gets thicker as the temp drops when the sun is going down.   

[Minnesota_boy]

If it's going to break, it'll do it right when it's the most miserable and when you're almost ready to stop for the day. >:(

This is only if you have your mill set up stationary.  If you are mobile, it will break about 5 minutes after you get to the customer's site and set up, but while the customer is still there watching.  It will take a trip back home to find the part number and call in the order and 2 more wasted days waiting for the part to arrive, all the while the customer is calling, wondering when you will come back to finish his 5 logs.  :D :D

I carry quite a few spare parts now but I still get surprised occasionally.  Some times I really improvise to be able to finish the job so I can fix it properly at home where I have all the tools necessary.

[D Martin]

Not really a winter tip, or a tip. In fact its more like a question. Do you guys take your band blades off if you are not planing to saw for a bit. I noticed mine  got a little rusty and suspect that cant be good for holding sharpness. I take the tension off the blade and cover the saw head but usually leave the blade on but it still rusts. Oiling it down with wd or sumpin would work for sure but I wondered what the pros do.

[Coon]

Not really a winter tip, or a tip. In fact its more like a question. Do you guys take your band blades off if you are not planing to saw for a bit. I noticed mine  got a little rusty and suspect that cant be good for holding sharpness. I take the tension off the blade and cover the saw head but usually leave the blade on but it still rusts. Oiling it down with wd or sumpin would work for sure but I wondered what the pros do.

Actually we do remove the band for the night because it usually needs sharpining anyways.   I have in the past left them on overnight only coming back in the morning to find that the exposed portion of the band betweent the guides was covered in ice.  That is the only time I actually forgot to cover the mill overnight.  It was a small sawing job and I thought we'd get finished before dark but we never.  I had left the tarp at home and I didn't see any sense on going back for the tarp or taking the mill home and back in the morning. ;)

[Fred]

I'm with tom !!
                       Fred

[Cedarman]

Bibby, get one of those little electric heater blowers and situate it so it blows on your hands as you use the controls.  Or put it in a box so it blows on your feet.  That is what my sawyer does.

[leweee]

Bibby...call it a hobby... and do more in the summer.... less in the winter.

when stuff frezes to the ground 4 months a year you learn to adapt :

[Bibbyman]

Bibby...call it a hobby... and do more in the summer.... less in the winter.

when stuff frezes to the ground 4 months a year you learn to adapt :

Can't quite do that when bills come year round.!   :-[

[Furby]

Can't quite do that when bills come year round.! :-[

Don't go to the mailbox this time of year. :

[treedog]

Bibbyman, throw up some board or plastic where sheds open, put a wood stove in the corner, burn your slabs, and keep your coffee & mill warm.  :D Works for me! ;D

[esteadle]

Here's a few tips I learned about sawing in cold weather....

Don't wear anything cotton if you're pulling the boards. You'll be soaked in cold sweat an hour after you start your day. You won't warm up until 3 hours after you go to bed that night.

Put an old piece of carpet under your feet at the control station, it'll keep your feet off the cold ground and the cold won't come up through your boots.

Don't leave lube in the lube tank overnight, let it drain out, and leave the drip valve wide open. Even diesel will gel up if it gets cold enough overnight.

If you don't have a way to warm up your hydraulic reservoir, let the pump run for a few minutes before you get started. Cycle every ram back and forth a few times to run the oil through the pump and get it flowing. I have a hydraulic advance, and I like to set the control valve wide open and run the head back and forth a few times to get the oil mixed up and flowing.

Also, when the oil starts to heat up and get flowing, I keep my hands on my head speed control valve. It's warm and it keeps my hands warm. 

I put a couple of Peter's tractor utility lights on the front and back side of the head, so that I can see the cuts when it starts to get dark. They really don't deliver enough light to work at night, but they extend the day an hour or so, so you can finish up what you started.

When your hands are cold, any kind of bump to them magnifies the pain by about 3 times.

I like the rubber coated gloves for working in the winter. They're grippy and they keep my hands warm. Leather gloves aren't warm enough. Even the "winter" leather gloves with liners don't seem to do the trick. Plus leather loses its grip more in the cold.

I use a metal scraper to scrape frozen sawdust off of the boards when they come off the mill. A brush won't get it off, cause it freezes as it saws.

I definitely second what was said about frozen sawdust. Once it's frozen it's like concrete. They could build foundations out of the stuff if they could find a way to keep it cold all year long.

[woodmills1]

For those of you who cut outside in cold like I do.  Take your time walking around the mill, moving logs or other stuff, and others like getting into or out of the tractor.  Everything is cold and slippery and it only takes a second to wish you hadden't done something.

[Mike_Barcaskey]

Set your sights a little lower for the day, things move slower and it's not as productive. I find the correct mindset to start the day (realizing right off the bat that I aint going to get as much done) helps with the frustration later in the day.

esteadle, hey Stiller fan, where you located?

[Bibbyman]

For those of you who cut outside in cold like I do.  Take your time walking around the mill, moving logs or other stuff, and others like getting into or out of the tractor.  Everything is cold and slippery and it only takes a second to wish you hadden't done something.

And, for me, my old bones tend to hurt a lot more when I'm out in the cold.  Then it takes a long time for them to feel better again after I'm inside from the cold.

Extra clothing is a problem too.  The extra weight, less flexibility and always adds to the chance of catching on something. Big clunky boots make it harder to drive some machines as they tend to stomp more than one peddle at one time.

[crtreedude]

Move to Costa Rica... problem solved, right FDH?  8)

[Fla._Deadheader]

  I sure hope so, Fred. Hate to think I made the move for nothing.  : ;D

[crtreedude]

The best sawing time IS the winter months - stops raining, wonderful breezes - easy to get in out of places. And the fishing is really good! (Oops - that isn't about sawing, it stops sawing)