LT28

[windy hill farm]

new member looking at the WMLT28 any thoughts or suggestions.

[Burlkraft]

I have an LT 28 and I love it.

I have not had any problems in 4 years. It cuts good lumber and it works as fast as I want it to.

It would be nice to have a hydraulic clamp or dogs or log turner, but it's also a way for me to get a good work out.

It does everything they say it does, and if you are inventive....It does more  ;D  ;D

[windy hill farm]

thanks thats what I was hoping to here. how do you load your logs. I have a tractor with the clamp on forks, I was also looking at the winch and log turner. kevin

[Magicman]

First, Welcome to The Forestry Forum.  Which mill depends upon what your plans are.  Sawing for yourself and limited sawing for others....fine.  High production....no.  Your two questions concerning loading and turning verifies what I just said. 

If your plans include high production, then more "bells and whistles" are in order which would include hydraulic loader, log turner,  and a larger engine for starters.

[Jeff]

He really didn't ask us what mill we thought he should use, he was asking what was thought of a specific mill. 

I've had a chance to be around Burlkraft's mill and given a chance,  I would swap my LT30 for a new 28 in a heart beat.  I love the manual crank up and down versus the electric on my lt30 which I am ALWAYS waiting on

[Magicman]

My response was based partly by the statement in his profile.

"looking to buy a sawmill and have plenty of questions"

[windy hill farm]

thanks for the reply. iam retired for now and have plenty of time. i will be sawing for myself mostly got tired of waiting for someone to saw my logs for a project. i was looking at the lt15 but thought that sawing on ground would be rough. my mill will be inside of the barn out of the weather. i have been looking at sawmills for a lot of years, reading sawmill and woodlot magazine for a long time.the price on LT28 with the 25hp motor is what iam thinking. thanks kevin

[Jasperfield]

I believe the LT28 with manual up-down, winch, & turner is the most sawmill-for-the-money you can buy.

It is certainly Wood-Mizer's most cost effective mill.

[blaze83]

kevin,

my dad and i bought a pre owned LT28 from woodmizer 2 years ago, and we have cut a lot of wood with it. I have some pictures posted in my galary of the mill in use. It has been a very dependable mill and we have cut mostly for ourselves, with a couple of paying jobs along the way. the largest log we have sawn is an 8 foot hickory log that was 31 inches on the small end,  i don't want to try anything larger than that without hydrolics,   :D but if i happen to run into a nice big log i know i'll change my mind. I think you will love the mill. I have not worked a tractor or some other machine  into the budget yet to load the logs, so we have the mill set up on a slight slope; and roll everythng on by hand.  The few very large logs we get, we use the hand winch, wich is very efficient and saves the back a lot of ware and tear, it just isn't the fastest way to load the logs. if you have any questions send me a note, or ask here and myself or others will do our best to help ya out. welcome to the forum.  and the addiction  8)


Steve

[windy hill farm]

Thanks for the reply's. Steve i see that big hickory is end sealed do you do that with most of your logs or is the hickory known to check more. I will be sawing mostly fur, spruce and hemlock I do have a lot of maple,beech, blackcherry, yellow birch and poplar, most of the hard wood  i can get one log and the rest i burn. I see some of these guys remove their blade when there done sawing, is this something you do too. One more question for now, do you use the toe boards on the crooked logs, and if you do how well do they work, thanks Kevin

[fishpharmer]

windy hill farms, welcome to forestry forum.  As you probably know WoodMizer now has a sale on the lt28. 

[windy hill farm]

Thanks, oh I  know the catalogs are all stacked by the recliner, just ask the wife she wants too know what else I could read in those catalogs for the hundreth time. Kevin

[blaze83]

hi Kevin,


we don't seal all our logs, just the ones that we feel will yeild some good quality lumber, some walnut, cherry and red oak logs we have come across. the cherry actually seems to dry very well without it, and the white oak we have cut tends to check if it is not sealed. We use anchorseal, do a search and there are a lot of threads here that tell you more info and where you can get it. The toe boards work well, just take a pit of time to hand crank the log up or down, on our mill they are positioned so that the log needs to be 8'6" long inorder to get the toe on both ends. we use them on butt logs a lot that have a swell to the butt end. it helps even out the pith and level the center of the log, i just measure up from the bed to the center, then adjust the small end till the measurement is the same + or - a half an inch or so. I don't remove my blades, but I think it would not be a bad thing to do, might keep the blades safe from condensation under my mill cover.

any way, good luck and take some pictures if you get one, sorry for the delayed response, missed the reply a few days ago and just went back and checked.

God bless,

Steve