The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: Rusticcreations on May 13, 2016, 07:51:55 PM

Title: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Rusticcreations on May 13, 2016, 07:51:55 PM
So how fuel efficient is your mill?

I only have a harbor freight mill but figure you gotta start somewhere, I cut 580 bf of 1" boards the other day and there was still a little gas left in the tank, not sure how much more I could done with it but it was still going.

Oh and on a side note 580 bf on that mill was one heck of a workout. I was exhausted lol
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Peter Drouin on May 13, 2016, 09:57:37 PM
$3 to 5 gal a day. Not sure the BF that changes every day.
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: sandsawmill14 on May 13, 2016, 10:06:53 PM
i usually burn 6-8 gallons a day plus another 2-3 in the hyd pack  board footage varies from 1800 on a bad day to over 3000 on a good day. this was a good week burned about 45 gal gas and sawed 13700 bdft :)
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Rusticcreations on May 13, 2016, 10:14:29 PM
Is 580 bf  a good number for a days work? For my mill I mean the harbor freight mill.
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: btulloh on May 13, 2016, 10:41:13 PM
That's a lot to get out of that mill. And a lot of hard work on you. You'll probably sleep well tonight. (Oh to be young again.)
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: sandsawmill14 on May 13, 2016, 10:59:23 PM
im not familiar with the hf mills but whn i was running my hudson oscar 228 mill 8 hp all manual i got anywhere from 700 -1000 bd ft per day but that was 10 or more hrs a day :) and i was about your age  ;D now i would be happy with 500 bdft on that mill :)
those numbers i gave in my first post are on a full hyd mill with one helper, a green chain and a komatsu wheel loader to handle logs and lumber
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: ladylake on May 14, 2016, 04:47:10 AM

  My little Isuzu did good 13 1/2 hours on 5 3/4 gals sawing easy pine , spruce, walnut and 4 big white ash logs.   Most times its 1/2 gph around 600 to 700 bf per gal sawing ash and white oak.  Steve
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Chuck White on May 14, 2016, 06:57:55 AM
I can cut 1500-1800 bf on <3 gallons of 91 octane gas!
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: sandsawmill14 on May 14, 2016, 07:34:56 AM
sounds like i use a little more gas than you guys mine was about 375-400 bdft per gallon this week but this is the only time ever figured it :)  may be time for a tune up on the old kohler  :)
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Hackermatack on May 14, 2016, 07:49:44 AM
I cut around 18 mbf of with pine this spring on my manual mill with a helper we averaged around 1200'/day with slabs cut up for sugaring wood and the lumber on sticks. Worked 7hr/day and I estimate around 6 hours of mill run time. Gas consumption seemed to vary quite a bit perhaps because the logs were from 8" up to around 30" top end and were from 8-20 feet long but I filled my 5 gallon can gas can every other morning on the way to work. So I guess about .21 gallons of gas for 100 board feet, I am sure it would have taken a lot more but we cut quite a few 8 x 8 timbers.
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: scully on May 14, 2016, 08:22:48 AM
My Kabota sips fuel . I would have a hard time using 5 gallons in a day . I forgot to reconnect my fuel lines one time and made 2 cuts before it ran out on me LOL .
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: Magicman on May 14, 2016, 08:52:16 AM
I can easily saw a full 8 hour day on less than 5 gallons, but it will run out if I try to squeeze in 10 hours.  :o  It happened last Saturday.

I only shut the engine off for about ½ hour for lunch.
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: sandsawmill14 on May 14, 2016, 08:56:37 AM
if i dont fill the 5 gal tank at lunch i will run out between 1:30 and 2 ::)
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: ladylake on May 14, 2016, 11:02:45 AM

Fuel usage depends on what and how fast one is sawing, 20" white oak or ash is going to take more than small pine logs ,plus  how fast your off bearer is, the days I made really good GPH I was sawing small pine with a slow off bearer.  Steve
Title: Re: How fuel efficient is your mill
Post by: ladylake on May 14, 2016, 11:04:34 AM
Quote from: sandsawmill14 on May 14, 2016, 08:56:37 AM
if i dont fill the 5 gal tank at lunch i will run out between 1:30 and 2 ::)

  I think your working that Kohlor  hard sawing those big logs.  Steve