Hello all. I am a new member to this site and new to sawmills. I am an excavating contractor and have need of rough sawn oak lumber on occasion. I use it for trailer deck and dump truck side boards. I have been observing for a little while and decided to introduce myself.
I've already purchased a mill, I found a Linn on Ebay. We formed and poured a concrete pad in my yard to place the mill on. I hope to set it up tomorrow. I've also been collecting oak stalks for raw material. We are getting pretty close to our inaugural outing to actually mill some boards.
I'm trying to have everything on hand for the big day. I mentioned the chain saws. I'm going to get a 20 pack of blades to have on hand.
I just wanted to say hello and tell you there is a lot of helpful information on this site. I've learned a lot already.
I'm open to pointers and advice.
Thanks
Tom
Welcome Tom, I hope you enjoy your new mill. It should bring you years of joy.
Welcome!
Welcome Tom from another forestery forum newbie.
I know you are going to enjoy the milling journey .
We use white oak for everything on our farm from truck bodies to buffalo pens .
Zeke
Welcome Tom, What part of the country do you live in.? You will likely pay for the mill in short order as oak decking and blocking is needed in your business. Be diligent in your cleaning of logs before milling as bulldozers and excavators will grind grit and pebbles into the bark. Take your time when starting, speed will come on its own schedule. You time is valuable and it may not pay you to sharpen and set your own bands right now, but save the dull ones, Good luck and don't be afraid to ask. Frank C.
Welcome aboard, Tom. Good luck with the new mill. Share some pics when you can.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm in central New Jersey. I have some pictures in my phone of the construction of the pad. That's not too exciting, but the mill is getting set tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. Then I'll figure out how to post some pics.
Welcome to the Forum, you will enjoy sawing.
Welcome Tom!
It is a great place to learn!
Welcome and good luck with your mill.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Tom!
Welcome sir.
Welcome aboard.
For starters, what will you use to move the logs? Forks on a TLB works well. Or I use an excavator with a thumb, but before it had a thumb I made up a sturdy steel box beam about 42" long and a clevis on each end. To the clevis' I put a set of log tongs. That worked well, but the thumb is faster. For minor moving a Logrite cant hook (click on Logrite in the left sidebar) is the best choice IMHO.
What is your log source? If yard trees you may want a good metal detector, if woods trees, rarely needed.
Most of all, have fun.
Welcome and good luck. If you have not bought your bands yet I'd suggest 4 degree doublehards for my WM mill if I planned on cutting hard wood like oak. I assume you can get them to fit your mill. Keep us informed.
My plan is to bring the log to the mill with a backhoe with forks. I can place it on the mill at that point or if it's a large piece I will crane it on the sawmill with an excavator and a cable. I stood on my head pouring the pad perfectly level and carefully setting the mill in place. I don't want to manhandle the log in place and mangle things up.
I have my eye on a 10 ton crane that I can install on the back of a Freightliner cab & chassis I already own. I can build a flatbed body behind the crane and run around picking up potential raw material for the mill.
I have some wood already that came off of a clearing job. Maybe a half dozen stalks between 24"-36".
One look at that blade brings back memories or sawblade wobbles, blade dishing, loose teeth and fighting rust on blade and 1/4 inch kerf. Heavy machinery, big diesel engine, flat belts, v-belts, even time when carriage wheels jumped of track and the joys of log wedging blade to a sudden halt. When I got the sawmilling bug again I am so glad I went to a band Mill.
I appreciate the gracious welcome.
Welcome and good luck Tom. I too have a construction Co. that reaps the rewards of having a mill around. Trailer decking, truck tip/tops, shoring beams and custom bridging. Not to mention the fun personal stuff. This forum and its members are a wonderful bunch and a massive wealth of knowledge.
Quote from: Tom Posch on December 02, 2018, 08:43:55 PMI'm in central New Jersey.
My impression of New Jersey was that it wasn't long enough to have a north, south, and central. anudder education!! :D
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
We're 150 from top to bottom. We're not California (thankfully), but we're not Rhode Island either.
I'm thinking the value of a crane/winch truck is unexplored here!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48503/C0EB4349-85A7-41E4-A3F9-61EDBB74DABC.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1539031956)
II
Welcome aboard Tom and good luck sawing. I am up in Bridgewater which is "North Jersey" for our folks on the forum even though it's located also in central jersey, as anything south of the Raritan River is considered "South Jersey", and yes they root for the Eagles and Flyers :).
Most people identify by their Parkway exit. I'm a 98 guy. Farmingdale to be specific.
Welcome to the Forum, Tom Posch. it looks like you are ahead of the game with a concrete foundation and support equipment. The Forum is a great resource.
I tried with no luck to post a picture of the mill on it's new pad.
Quote from: SawyerTed on December 04, 2018, 08:07:15 PM
I'm thinking the value of a crane/winch truck is unexplored here!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48503/C0EB4349-85A7-41E4-A3F9-61EDBB74DABC.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1539031956)
II
That's a cool wrecker.
The wrecker/winch truck/crane truck is one of those "use what you can scrounge up" kind of things. It belongs to a friend with whom I swap work. I saw his logs that don't fit through his firewood processor and I trade sawing for the use of this wrecker. It has 200' of cable on the winch drum. As long as I chock the wheels and keep it on high ground, I can winch out any log on our farm. It will not skid a log worth a darn. If I lift the log, I can carry it easily.
Very cool!
Welcome! I'm new also and have found this place a wealth of information
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on December 03, 2018, 09:34:36 AM
Welcome and good luck. If you have not bought your bands yet I'd suggest 4 degree doublehards for my WM mill if I planned on cutting hard wood like oak. I assume you can get them to fit your mill. Keep us informed.
I second 4° blades for the oaks, especially the big white oaks. Also, 4° blades will mill any other wood you put on your mill, albeit a bit slower. You might want to set up a pressure washing station to clean those logs when they come in covered with mud.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/52862/SAWMILL.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1544138052)
Looks good!!!
I myself try to keep equipment away from my mill. I put my logs onto 2 logs that I have sawed the top flat on. Easier to roll logs on to,no little bumps,all flat.These 2 logs goes the other way of the bed rails. Than I use a peavey to roll the logs on. I bridge the gap with a piece of ¼x4" by 3 foot long flat iron stock. This way I am not hitting my mill.
You will need a peavey,the one with the point, to roll your logs on. Get it from Logrite,sponsor on the left.
Have fun sawing.
Very pretty setup, love the slab, but the fact that you have some flat ground really caught my eye, very jealous. Nothing is flat here and there are 'two stones for every dirt grain'. I found the flattest area I could down in the woods and one end of my 24' run is 12" higher off the grade than the other and 6-12" of side slope too. Will maybe do concrete in the spring, but I need to get a machine in to cut out a flatter spot, pull stumps and bigger rocks, and that costs. You are a lucky guy.
OGH, excavating is what I do. I am going to set the stalks on the machine with an excavator much like a crane would. I don't want to put the mill through any trauma. I do need to get a cant hook. Tried today to locate one to no avail. Have to get it on Ebay or somewhere online. Should I get one or two? I'm thinking two.
Tom
Quote from: Tom Posch on December 07, 2018, 04:30:13 PM
OGH, excavating is what I do. I am going to set the stalks on the machine with an excavator much like a crane would. I don't want to put the mill through any trauma. I do need to get a cant hook. Tried today to locate one to no avail. Have to get it on Ebay or somewhere online. Should I get one or two? I'm thinking two.
Tom
Get one 60" cant hook and one 48" peavey from Logrite. Nothing replaces a peavey when you're moving logs around the yard and it can also do the turning like a cant hook.
Logrite!
listed on the left! I have 2 cant hooks from them, great tools.
Get some Blue Creeper for your rusted bolts etc.
Their tools are second to none. Seriously, you can not come close to their quality with anything else. I went through many Peavy wooden handles over the years, then decided to try a Logrite, I don't buy anything else now if they make it.
Probably ought to get a hookaroon while you're ordering your cant hooks.
Hate to look dumb, but what's the difference between a peavey and a cant hook? I've only seen pictures of them and can't tell the diff.
Not a dumb question at all. A Peavey has a point at the end and works well with moving logs, it will cut into a cant and does not do as well as a cant hook on cants which has a hook at the end allowing it to grab the edge of a cant. Likewise a cant hook will move a log, just not as well as a Peavey .
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_3034.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1502468116)
Slightly different tools and everyone has their own preference. A Peavey has a point/spike on the end and a Cant Hook doesn't. No Peaveys for me but all Logrites. logrite_cool
Cant Hooks and Peaveys - LogRite Tools LLC (https://logrite.com/store/Category/Cant-Hooks-and-Peaveys)
Peavey,starts with a P,and a peavey has a point is how I remember it.I have read on here,if turning expensive wood the point might leave a mark in the wood,a cantdog does not.
I like the peavey myself. I use the point for prying the logs apart. I can also put the point in the ground and it will stand up.