3 pt. buzz saw

[BboneBob]

Anyone out there have any knowledge of a buzz saw for logging?  I am just getting started into this having just purchasing a tractor.  I would love to get a Wood Mizer or Logosol but that wouldn't be cost effective for me right now.  I just want to harvest several oak, cherry, maple, and ash trees from my own property to use for furniture projects.

Anyway, I found an older 1940's or 50's vintage buzz saw for sale with a 36" blade and a 6 foot bed of rollers for ripping that I could hook up to my tractor's 3 pt. hitch.  

Are these things as dangerous as they look?
Is this something I should consider or should I steer clear and hire someone with a portable saw when I need it?

[Tom]

I think I would favor hiring someone with a portable mill.  Your boards will be much truer, it will be less laborious and you will probably have a good time too.  If you want to be able to do it yourself then I would consider a chainsaw mill or even a small bandsaw push mill before I invested in an open bladed, rigged up buzz saw. No carriage? questionable RPM? it's too risky.

[dewwood]

Please stay away from a rigged up saw which will probably not cut that well anyway.  This is very dangerous!

The cost to hire someone to saw up some lumber for you is minimal, especially if you consider the amount of time and money you would have invested in something that would probably not work.

Your question about the safety aspect shows you are aware of the possible danger, heed your gut feeling.

Best of luck whichever way you decide to go.

[Ron Wenrich]

I'm a little confused on how this thing would work.  Most buzz saws that are set up on a 3 pt hitch are typically used for crosscutting.  That means you can make firewood from them, not to rip boards.

Belsaw made a sawmill that hooked up to either your PTO or flat belt pulley.  But, that had a 2 headblock carriage.  That's a lot different than a bed of rollers.  You have some way to dog your log down.

I'd opt to take the money your buzz saw would cost and give it to a portable mill operator, for all the reasons given above.  The learning curve for mills is pretty severe.  Sometimes you get a second chance, sometimes you DonT.

[Corley5]

That sounds dangerous.  Don't try to cobble something together.  I do have a table saw made from a buzz rig and an edger blade.  Works good for ripping 2Xs but I'd NEVER try to cut anything round with it.  Belted up to a an Farmall H it'll rip.  We trued all 2X material that went into my house with it.    

[Bro. Noble]

We have an old buzz saw that mounts on the front of an 'H' and is powered by the pulley via a flat belt.  We have cut a lot of firewood with it.  They are scary enough using them as they were intended.  I wouldn't consider trying to rip round stuff with one.

Noble

[Sawyerfortyish]

Iv'e always thought buzz saws were for firewood. The chainsaw made them obsolete no way would I try ripping lumber with one Iv'e ran a circle sawmill 22 yrs and this sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Don't do it get someone with a band mill in!

[Frank_Pender]

BboneBob,  When I was a youngen my father and I set up a buzzsaw to resaw 1" lumber into 1 x 3s.  We were building lath houses for out nursery stock of Rhodies and Azelaes.  I have an old buzz saw that wasdesigned to be run with a flat belt.  I used it extensively several years ago for Fir limb wood.  I ran a flat belt from the saw to a pto flat belt pully.  my belt was 15' long. :  It took just about 3 people to operate the whole thing, as someone would have to feed you the limb and another keep removing the sawn pieces. :-/  I later created a jig to lay the linbs in and saw with a chainsaw.   It was much faster and more efficient as the unit held a 1/4 of a cord of wood at one time and was attatchable to my loader forks for dumping. ;D

[richnewill]

As usual, I second the remarks of those that urge extreme caution.  The old tractor driven rigs were extraordinarily dangerous, which is why they are no longer manufactured.  No business could afford the liability of producing such equipment today, since no one would insure them and that is because so many were maimed and killed.  These relics are fascinating, and can be enjoyed as part of tractor shows etc.  That is all they are good for in reality.  Don't play with these old machines thinking you can save a buck or to get a feeling of independence.  The price you may pay will likely be in flesh or life.
      I like to read some of the old magazines like Popular Mechanics to see some of the ads for equipment offered in the 50's and 60's.  They had machines to saw down trees that you pushed into the cut like a lawnmower only with a horizontal circle saw.  There was no way to determine where the tree would fall, and the saw was essentially unguarded.  Awesome stuff, but how many lives were affected before they wised up?  I saw one in a yard sale a year or 2 back.  I almost bought it just to marvel at it.  As  the Timbermen's safety guy for lower Michigan, this stuff really blows my mind.  Anyway, hire the sawmilling done and enjoy the opportunity to see it done right.  Afterward, you'll be glad you are alive and have all your appendages to do your woodworking.  Good luck.

[bull]

 Forget the buzz saw "go for the WOODMIZER you won't regret it.  The LT 15 is the perfect starter mill for a little over $5000.00 you will not be un happy **( lease it thru TELMARK LLC )** they will help you get started for short money and you can write off all the expenses anually. I made over $20,000 the first year I had the LT 15 working parttime and was also able to produce all the lumber i needed with no out of the pocket expenses. I quit my job and went fulltime and I am having a ball. I now operate a LT 40 Super 36 HD with The  Accusett. $150,000 a year isn't hard to take. Don't go hunting for a headache. If you are serious about you woodlot you owe it to yourself. Go for the WOODMIZER The**LT 15 pays for itself no question.   Good Like      Bull

[Brian_Bailey]

Hi Bull,  Your post caught my eye, esp. the $150K. Without revealing any proprietary secrets, if you don't mind, could you tell us a little about your operation. Obiviously your not just custom sawing. 150k   makes me all ears    :D

[bull]

 Re $150K per year   We are located in central Mass and oper
a waste wood and site clean up recovery operation. *( We buy in logs from logger who need to cleanup there landings and do not have enough to send a load to the big guys!!! We also by small logs and odd species from timberstand improvement jobs mostly MDC/State land . We produce Wide board Pine Flooring, Dimension lumber 2x's etc, and beam stock for contractors and homeowners in the area. We supply clear hardwood cabinet lumber to local carpenter/custom cabinet maker...and we produce*hwd/swd*pallets and cut stock. Our low end products are where we make the most money.We ship $5000.00 a month in large pallets and 2x4x8's for shipping crates to one customer and all payments are COD$$$$$$$$ !!!!   They want it they pay !!! *(continued)*

[bull]

RE Continued-Bull
Everyone talks clear,grade,and highend recovery! I would rather get Twenty $200 checks than One $500 check!!
our large shipping pallets Start @ $35.00 and go up to $250 each.We get order for 10 to 20 large pallets a month. Our smallest pallet is $9.75 and we ship 125 of those a week.
We compost all of our waste"sawdust,bark, doneage,and
yard cleanup. Our compost sells for $25.00 per yard. We also by in Bark mulch from Maine for resale. We have a great
YUPPIE market.I can be emailed at Pineoforestprod@aol.com

[Brian_Bailey]

Bull,

Thanks for the reply. From your post that caught my eye, I was assuming a one or two man operation and was wondering what I was doing wrong. Sounds like you have quite an operation going there. I don't want to get that busy,so I quess I'll have to settle for the smidgens I get from what I do.

[bull]

what a different story today 8 years later..... from 6 employees down to just me no more pallets, running mill only a couple times a month *(maybe)*, bark mulch down under 900 yards for the year from 6000 yards !!
About 12,000 ft of pine sitting in the yard to be milled 1 small shed to be cut for next week. Majority of hardwood going into firewood...

Thank god for firewood and vegetables...... bought a multitek 1610 processor in December and have eased into the firewood season quite comfortable...

I do 3 farmers markets each week and have a small farm stand in my former mill shed and a small CSA 20 customers....

Surviving on about 50k or less now thank god for diversification !!

[JDeere]

A buzz saw from the 40's or 50's would make me very nervous. As others have said, "it is not worth the risk." A few years back I heard about an accident in southern NH where a husband and wife were working with an old buzz saw and the rotating blade came apart. A piece of the blade pierced the wife's chest killing her instantly.

[Randy88]

We had a front mount buzz saw for decades, my grandpa ran it and when he was no longer around to operate it, it sat and we finally sold it, man was it dangerous to operate, I lost count on the "close callls" we had with it over the years, luckily nobody got seriously injured or killed from it and I'd tell you the same thing as the guys above, walk away and go get a small band mill or hire someone for now, thats what we do is hire a sawyer for now, I've even got an old blade milll sitting here but the hassles and danger that go along with that are too great as well and we get more boards off the bandmill vs the blade mill so that alone almost pays the sayer bill in added lumber we don't turn into sawdust.   Its not about the money really, we've all been there with no money to spend and being broke, some of us are still there, its more of the use you'll get out of the machine long term, go to some demonstrations and see whats out there to be had and also who theres to hire and watch how its done and see first hand if its what your interested in at all, don't get started on the wrong foot with something that dangerous, you'll get frustrated and never do anything like sawing lumber again.   I think I've seen something simular to what your looking at years back and I'm trying to remember what the purpose they were using it for but it wasn't sawing lumber out of logs though, I thought they were trying to do edging of boards off a mill with it and that didn't work the best either, the tractor and pto were in the way if I recall.    Be safe and if your concerned about any machines safety to operate, look elsewhere for something different, you've got the right idea on that one, if you think anythings high priced to buy and operate just throw into the equation hospital bills and long term medical bills and then see what its true costs are, it might not be the right way to look at it but I see those costs and just add them onto the price and then stand back and say, no, I'll find something safer and pay a little more for safer equipment.    Good luck