Another new mill operator

[hturner12]

Finally  got the mill out to the land  and setup 8)

I added 8 of the rv stablizer jacks and a homemade log  turner/loader and 4x4 ramps.

Took  us over an hour to get it setup because of where we had to put it right  now. Once my grading contractor cuts the driveway in the hill can move  it flater ground.
Let the fun begin  first day made sawdust and pretty firewood.  Changed out the 10 degree Timberwolf with a ripper 37 . Made several rookie mistakes. If you try to engage the blade at idle the engine will laugh at you just before  it dies. If you need a fast way to get a blade off dont raise it when you finish a cut the log will knock  it off. It was still a good day.
After reading more post here and a few FB groups went back out yesterday did better. My roller guides  need to be tweeked, I was going  to fast. Yesteray was better still had some diving . Various reason  log  clamps coming loose, the adjutable guide roller to far out or hitting  the log,  on off bearer wanting to pickup before  the cut. I am using some junk logs for pratice.  Did not have any set cut list just  experimenting and learning  the mill. I cut some  2/4, 4/4 and 16/4. I made a few stickers. Still need more pratice and a better offloader but that not a story for here, but the cost of his  labour was lunch and 15.00.



 

Whoo it worked



 


 


 


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[Magicman]

With those tooth marks, you musta hit something big time with that blade.    I could never expect it to saw flat.  :

[Southside]

As MM said you have some teeth out of set for sure, could have been junk in the bark - stone, sand, etc.  It also looks like you were sawing Magicmans favorite species to saw, which didn't do you any favors for sure given the stress in the log. Do you have access to any 4 degree bands to try?  They do well in hard to saw logs.  

[hturner12]

Did not hit any metal  maybe dirt. Had the 10 degere Timberwolf at first came  with the mill swaped to a ripper 37 7° I got  from Jerry. I have 2 WM double  hard 7° I  bought  from a local  blade shop. I also  have 2 4° Kasco I got from  Richard.  I was saving them for the good logs  so I can do a good comparison.

I ask the local blade shop about 4° they said the only  people  using  4° down  here were the pallet guys.

Maybe time to see if Danny will come  teach me.

Which log has the tooth set wrong first log or second  or both?

[Southside]

See the ripples, looks like both logs have them. That is a tell tale sign of a tooth that got whacked. As far as the 4 deg go they were the answer to hardwoods before the Turbo 7 or Kasco 7/40 came out, those bands work very well but you need 25 or more HP for them to cut right, for lower HP I would still stick with a 4 degree band. 

[hturner12]

That blade did get knocked  of by my not raising  the saw. When I get good weather will change blade. The rain  is suppose to start 8  tge morning.  My mill only  13 hp

[Magicman]

Personally, I never leave a band on the sawmill when I finish sawing for the day, even if it's only been on for an hour.  It may go back on the next morning, but it doesn't spend the night on the sawmill.

[DPatton]

Personally, I never leave a band on the sawmill when I finish sawing for the day, even if it's only been on for an hour.  It may go back on the next morning, but it doesn't spend the night on the sawmill.

I might add that there are several good reasons for doing this too! 

[hturner12]

I am learning . I did forget  to take the tension  off last  night  it was cold  and getting  dark. I get my procedure  down. I need to build a blade box. 
Thank you for the help. The offer  bear I had yesterday is way out there. He redesigned  the mill and the  entire milling  process . Caught  him  several time standing in the frame. He would lift  slabs before the cut was done.  After putting  up with him  all day was brain dead

[47sawdust]

Yeah,sometimes you're better off sawing alone.

[hturner12]

True. For safety would perfer to have someone  else there. Wife does not want to spend all day out there right now. When we start dropping the trees and milling  them she will gave 2 jobs. Anchorseal and solubor  treatment

[Mad Professor]

Are you rolling your logs up the 4 X 4s by hand (peavy/cant hook)?

If so you might want to mill some bigger stock and put steps in the ramps.  I went with 10" X 4" stock (1/4 sawn ash) and just cut the steps in.  I can load some pretty good size logs by myself and not worry too much about getting steam rolled by a log rolling back.  Also a little longer so the pitch on the ramp is less.

Have fun and be safe!

[hturner12]

No i have an electric  winch on the othger side. One we get up we use the peavy/ cant hook  to turn it. The ramps are temp till tractor is back up. Alo the mill is going on flater ground.  Just can not get it up there  right now 

[Percy]

All the stuff a guy has to remember can be bit daunting but as long as you realize how much fun you are having, it's all good. 👍👍

[Crossroads]

Personally, I never leave a band on the sawmill when I finish sawing for the day, even if it's only been on for an hour.  It may go back on the next morning, but it doesn't spend the night on the sawmill.

Lynn, if you don't mind me asking. Why do you remove your bands? I typically just drop the pressure down to about 200#

[Chuck White]

I have found that if I leave the band on the mill, even with the tension backed off, just through the lunch break, the band will start to rust wherever the band contacts the blade wheels!

I don't like rusty bands!  

[WV Sawmiller]

   In what is probably an overabundance of caution I remove my bands for safety concerns - plus it reduces the likelihood of the rust when it contacts the roller guides. Besides, if I left them on there I'd probably forget which hook angle I had been using. When I take them off I hang them on different pegs for each hook angle. If sawing for a customer I always grab a new band but for my stock I saw till they are dull.

[Magicman]

Several reasons but any one of them would be reason enough:

Safety.  I am 99.9% portable which means that the sawmill sleeps at the customer's location.  I have found bitty footprints in the sawdust when I returned the next day.  Yes, children will play.

Even with the tension removed, the trapped sawdust between the blade and belt compacts and embeds into the belt surface.  If you removed a blade that had stayed overnight you would see what I am referring to.  Sawdust will also cling to the blade.

I always plan to return the next day but "stuff" happens.  Maybe with me or maybe with the customer.  I have left the job planning to return the next day and actually returned several days or a week later.

Professional work habit.  I am not a "neat freak" but I do keep everything orderly.  At the end of the day everything is cleaned up and the sawdust blown off.  Bandwheel belts are wire brushed clean.  The sawmill fuel and lube tanks are filled.  All of my tools (cant hooks,etc.) go home with me.  The only thing that I need to do before starting up is install a blade and apply ATF to the chains, etc.

[WDH]

Hugh,

There is a learning curve, but you will develop a rhythm now that you got your feet wet!

[hturner12]

Hugh,

There is a learning curve, but you will develop a rhythm now that you got your feet wet!

Thank you Danny. I was over by your place last week.

[Crossroads]

Thanks, I milled more 1x8's today and when I finished, I pulled the band. More because It was starting to slow down than anything, but now I have a few more reasons. 

[hturner12]

 





 
 Change the blade got rid of that  standing dead SG. It was  so hard the slabs were dulling the chain on the chainsaw in 3 cuts. Also had an intelligent  helper.  He was cutting slabs for firewood

[YellowHammer]

Those are definately better cuts.  

[hturner12]

I paid to have some  pine cut last  year. With my 3 days  maybe 12 hours of cutting  exprince  my lumber looks  better.

[Skipper11A]

Much better cuts.  Did you use the 7° or the 4° blade?