Woodmizer lead time ridiculous. Looking for alternatives

[Nebraska]

25.00 hr  say_what What a way to propagate entitlement. 

Nothing else I have to say belongs here...

Good luck with the new mill.

[DixieReb31]

25.00 hr  say_what What a way to propagate entitlement.

Nothing else I have to say belongs here...

Good luck with the new mill.

Nothing else you have to say belongs here?  Meet you at the General forum page.

[Nebraska]

I was  probably  deeper down than general, my thoughts were restricted in nature.... ;)

[Gere Flewelling]

I attended the NE Forest Equipment Expo in Bangor Maine last Friday.  Not many bandsaw mills represented there this year.  I did talk to Jon Thomas from Thomas Bandsaw Mills trying to put a plug in for the Forestry Forum.  I specifically asked him what his build times were for new mills as "build times" are often talked about here on the Forum.  He said the small mill is 7 months, the middle mill is 6 months, and the large mill he has in stock.  No time frame on edgers.  He said his biggest holdup is labor.  Parts not so much.  The ship yard in Bath is stealing employees from everywhere in Maine with promises of big pay and benefits that the small guys can't compete with.  

[ajsawyer]

I tested positive on Tuesday, and am pretty sure that I am not the only one here who has.  Hoping to get back in the swing of things by the end of next week.  The human element is what these delays in manufacturing started with.  Good luck to all!

That and the tax on inventory that prevents companies from stockpiling product when they can get it "just in time." 
https://taxfoundation.org/state-business-inventory-tax-2021/

[moodnacreek]

Circle mills used go cheap for those who like to work hard.

[mattgancz]

EZ Boardwalk.  I am in Vermont, and run an EZ Boardwalk Model 40.  Happy to let you see it run.

[Breezybrzez]

Called Woodmizer this past week and Gary in sales told me they're at 18 months for a lt40 super.... Woof.....  

[Peter Drouin]

That's a long time,, What kind of $$$ are they asking now for one?

[Breezybrzez]

Just a pinch over 50k right now. I really wish I would have splurged for hydraulics a few years ago when I ordered my Lt28 lol

[boonesyard]

I ordered an LT70. I'll be eligible for social security June 0f 2025, I'm thinking the new 70 and SS will show up about the same time  :D. 

[barbender]

I can't help but think that a lot of orders will get canceled as the economy slows down. I was visiting with my BIL last night, he works for a large fishouse manufacturer (more like rv campers, $50,000+ units) they went from producing units that were sold before they were built to now having $3 million worth of inventory on the lot. They already shut one of three production plants down. 

[Breezybrzez]

Barbender I agree, I think it has to slow down at some point. At my day job working for the Cat dealer here we went from no on hand inventory and prepping machines to deliver immediately to the customers as soon as it arrived from the factory, to currently stockpiling some items. Hopefully the cash buyer will be able to get some deals at some point in time soon.

[DanMc]

I ordered an LT35HD25G on 2/14/2022.  Just called WM main office for an update.  They're not making any definitive predictions on delivery time, but with a little pestering he said that based on my order date, they have been running about 70 weeks, so I'm out to July or August as a swag.

People started hearing that I was getting a new mill and began inquiring about my Woodland HM-126.  I caved in and agreed to sell it to a friend for a little more than I paid for it.  I'm going to be super busy all summer doing an addition on the NH place, so won't have much time to mill logs anyway.  

Any time I've seen a Woodmizer at a fair, it has been an awe inspiring experience.  To own one will be a dream come true.  

[bigD]

i was at timberking in kansas city a month or so ago and they had new ones (a bunch)
 just sitting there

[doc henderson]

were they for sale or waiting for pickup?  I think they are a ways out as well.

[SawyerTed]

Just counted- 70 weeks would be next week for my LT 50.   Not holding my breath. 

Last vague report I got made it sound like July or August.   

[DanMc]

@SawyerTed:  What was the order date for your LT50?

[SawyerTed]

January 18, 2022

[WDFL]

A few months back WM had a post on the FB WM Owners site that their holdup was the engines.   They said Kohler had opened a second line in their Mississippi factory and was shipping out as quick as possible.

Having worked in manufacturing I cannot blame WM for not expanding their production capacity.   If anything they need to be prepared for getting this backorder slug out and then dealing with a slowdown.

[Bruno of NH]

There are new hydraulic mills for sale you can buy right now.
It all depends on which brand you want .

[SawyerTed]

No blame on Woodmizer from me.  I understand why they wouldn't increase production by adding shifts or expanding factories.  It's just a demand bubble sure to pop. 

If Woodmizer expanded to meet demand faster, prices would likely have to go up beyond what they have.  

I put myself in this situation....

[fluidpowerpro]

In my past life working for a distributor, many of the items we sold had long lead times, sometimes as long as 80 weeks. Our customers certainly didn't like that however it was beyond our control. All we could do was to be honest up front so if they did order, they knew what to expect.
Once the order was placed, we then spent a lot of time tracking the order to make sure the acknowledged delivery date was met.
When lead times are extended, the saying ,"the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is even more true, so it was up to us to squeak on behalf of our customers.
For that reason, I would check on your order from time to time.  As the expected delivery date approaches, it's not unreasonable to ask for more specific information. Is it in production? If not, when will it start? Etc,etc. If you're not squeaking, and someone else is, they will likely get the grease before you do.

[Southside]

As a producer I will say that can backfire, sometimes a customer is more work than they are worth, so tread carefully. 

[SawyerTed]

There's squeaking and then there's squealing.  

The squeaky wheel approach assumes that the vendor/manufacturer can do something "extra" to remedy the situation or that some sort of preferential treatment can be extended.  

Carolinas Saw and Service, Woodmizer ASC, is well aware I'm waiting on a mill.  There's  high confidence that Woodmizer is working the list in FCFS order.