Startup portable sawmill

[WV Sawmiller]

   Thanks TT & Stephen. It is great to hear "The other side of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say. Everyone is different with different circumstances but like I always tell my customers "You can always make them smaller." It just looks to me like the wide head gives you more flexibility and based your comments it looks like you are picking up some extra business and saving some time in the process that would appear to help off-set any extra operating costs for "normal" wood (if there is any such thing) by using your wide head mills. Just something else to consider when you take the plunge.

   As to used mills it is sounding to me like more wide head models may also be showing up on the markets as some customers/users are going back just like so many others want to upgrade to a bigger mill. Good luck.

[terrifictimbersllc]

From the perspective of staying within the Woodmizer LT series, because the max diameter of 36" and loading weight of 4400 pounds nominal limitations remain the same, WIDE just makes the big logs easier.  Having WIDE doesnt automatically mean one will be sawing bigger logs even with an LT70.  Just dispatching them quicker.

[YellowHammer]

The wide lets me purchase and mill big logs that other mega mills won't saw.  So I get big logs for a reduced price.  Saves me money.

Decent sized logs, 30 to 40 inches. get whittled down fast, no piddling or fiddling.  Load and go.  Huge timesaver, especially since I buy lots of bigger than average, high grade logs that I used to have to really battle with my LT-40.

No more chewing on a big log butt with a chainsaw.

Even though we can saw wide, except for live edge slabs, most boards aren't sawn wide.

For quarter sawing using the RRRQS, a wide head is a huge help, because I can halve cants up to 34" diameter, I can produce much wider quarter sawn boards.  

I don't notice any difference in longevity of sharpness of a band, I still go through about a band per 800 bdft, which is one of our pallets loads.  It may go longer, but it wouldn't matter because when the pallet is full of dead stacked boards, I'll forklift the entire pallet out, change the band, empty the waste pile and load new logs on the deck.

I will say that I don't have any mechanical issues specific to it being a wide head, and I would not ever buy a "Non Wide" again.  The bands cost $10 more, but the other benefits more than outweigh it.  I save that on my log prices.  

Heres a 42" small end poplar coming to meet "Mr. Wide".  Thats a decent sized log.  My Super 70 Wide uses 195" bands.



 

[Crusarius]

That is part of the reason I made my mill capable of running a 158" band and a 176" band. I do not need the wide head very often but when I do I just swap the band to the longer one. the $3-4 difference in bands is enough to make me like the dual width.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

 @POSTON WIDEHEAD - Dave, you've had that wide model long enough to give a good experienced opinion on that. What % of the time are you using the wide feature? Are you seeing an increased cost when sawing "Normal" sized logs?




My original mill would only saw about 27 inches wide with the high performance blade guides in place.
With my wide head I can saw 34 inches wide......BUT I have whittled down a 38 inch Poplar and made lumber.
The wide head doesn't let the head go higher but will allow you to saw a wider slab.

There are no normal size logs. We saw what comes in from customers.
We saw a good many 30 inch inch logs for the simple reason a customers support equipment cant pick up anything larger.

The wide 34 inch is when were sawing table tops from customer logs.
It is our policy that when we saw anything over 30 inches, we charge by the hour instead of the BF.
The customer knows that and I have had no problems. 

We saw by the hours because its slower cutting to get a better finish.

The diesel engine is where my cost went up versus the gas engine I had. 
I use genuine YANMAR parts and filters when I service.
They're not cheap and the shipping does cost. I order them out of Ohio.

You asked me if I was seeing an increased cost when sawing normal sized logs?

No. 
Blades and sharpening is the same now as it was when I had my other mill. the only additional cost is for service.

When I bought this mill I was not buying it for the Wide Head. I was buying it for the Diesel engine since the gas engine was not giving me good service.
The Wide Head was available at the time I bought the diesel. So I figured bigger is better.

My first LT40 with the Kohler cost me around $27,000.
It paid for itself in 19 months.
I traded this mill in for my diesel mill.
I let Woodmizer N.C. sell it and got $20,000.
I put that money on my new diesel mill that cost right at $33,000.
That was almost 2 years ago and this new mill has been paid for and I'm still happy.

I do not worry about blade cost or sharpening.
I do not worry what it cost me to service my mill.
Me and kirk stay busy sawing and the Wide Head is making me more money just because of the diesel engine first and the widened second.

I hope i've helped and will gladly answer any other questions if i know the answer. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Dave,

   Great to hear from you. I figured you were out on the left coast putting out brush fires and such.

   Thanks for the info. From what I'm hearing deciding between a wide or "normal" head is going to take a little more analysis and soul searching for new sawyers wanting to enter the market. Unfortunately for most of us we won't even know what questions to ask until we have been doing the work for a while.

[wdwomack]

I have started sawing for the second time this year. My first start up was twenty some years ago and I sawed for nine years that time. This time I started just a little over two months ago. Starting is always hard and there is always surprises, both good and bad. This one has been plagued with lots of problems with brand new mill and I am just now getting it to saw like it should. I still feel like I have to put more into the mill to make it produce as I think it should.

Finding places to sell your product at a profitable price is a big deal. Working out what your costs will be to produce it is another concern. Every new contract or request will be different.  Because of all the ins and outs you will have to work out I would go at least six months to a year before making up your mind if you should make it your steady income or not. Things happen and it will take you that long to get enough experience and information about demand in your area to make a good decision.
 
 When I first started sawing I had a friend tell me that if you had somebody really didn't like and wanted to make him miserable, give him a sawmill. There were many days when I saw the validity of that. Even after all these years it comes to mind more often than I would like .


Good luck learn all you can before committing to the point of no return.

Sawing can be a very satisfying and rewarding vocation. It can also have its problems. Problems can be solved as a rule.