Bad experience maybe good outcome

[69gp]

Hello all,
This is my first post here as a customer of a portable sawmill operator. (not a happy customer) This might be long but I figured I would give you the whole story.

About 6 months ago I went to HD to get a piece of 1"x12" x10' oak the cost with tax was $82.38 I paid left and was a little upset with the cost.  I had to take down 3 oak trees a 26", 30" and a 32" diameter for some solar panels that I was installing on my house. After dropping the trees I thought about having the trees cut into lumber. After searching through Craig's list and talking to a few people with mills I selected my guy.  After several calls and email exchanges we set a date. The only information given to me was that I should cut my logs to 16'-6" and that he could saw a log 36" in diameter.

After showing up 45 minutes late we got started. Things were going ok for about an hour when a dog he set was set to high and he ran the blade into it. His words "that's not good I only have 1 extra blade".  If it were me I would have had 10 extra blades. When we got to the 32" log things started to go a little bit worse. First of all I was never told how to place the logs or layout the site for this work. The bigger log was about 25' feet away if I did not have a 9000 pound mini escavator to drag the log over he would have had to breakdown his setup and move. While trying to load the log the ramps bent, the winch arm folded over like a pretzel and the cable got wedged into the drum. I had to weld and reinforce the winch arm. After getting my prize log to me loaded on the mill I had to chop 2' off the end as we could not slide the log down closer to the saw head. When we went to rotate the log after he cut the top off he was unable to. I know that this was his equipment but he had no idea what he was doing. Me and my uncle had to tell him how to set the winch to raise the log to rotate it. Finally a good portion of the boards were all wavy by 1/2to 3/4".

I know that this is not the norm for a milling operation after reading some articles on this site.

And after all this I am thinking of buying a mill for myself. That story if all happens as I plan might be told next week.

Just a little about me. I am a electrical contractor doing commercial and industrial work for 19 years now. Started out as an apprentice working for my uncle and the tables turned and he retired working for me.

Steve

[Ianab]

Welcome to the forum Steve.

Certainly  sounds like you have had a less than ideal first exposure to portable saw milling, but at least you have seen most of the things that commonly go wrong. Just all on the same job  :D

There are plenty of opinions on WHICH mill to buy, but it's not very often that people are told NOT to buy one.  :D

I'm guessing with your background you will be used to tinkering with electro-mechanical gadgets, so keeping a mill running smoothly shouldn't be a big issue.

Ian

[beenthere]

69gp
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

Thanks for letting us know how it didn't go so well. Those things happen, and some are not pretty. But then, there are times it all goes well.

Maybe makes that expensive board at HD not look so expensive. ;D

Look forward to your progress and future steps. Sounds like you have a pretty good idea where you are heading.

[just_sawing]

I have followed many times with customers that were irate from their encounter with a sawyer. One that I use to follow would not allow the customer aroung the Mill (Safety reasons). You came told him what you wanted then left.
This is one of the best ways to be able to get loyal customers by cleaning up messes, being honest when crap happens and have sawed for 19 years in the same area.

[customsawyer]

Welcome to the forum. Where are you located?

[thecfarm]

69jp,should of had one of us do it for you.  ;D  Welcome to the forum. Most guys on here talk to the customer and tells them what he wants. Some don't remember too well though.Lots of different styles of mill out there. All the way from ones like mine,all manual, I have to turn the log and push the saw head into the log and some that all you do is just about press a button and it's all done for you. It's fun to saw your own logs.Do you have more trees to cut on your land?

[Texas Ranger]

Welcome to the forum, 69gp, like Forrest said "Stuff happens", everybody has bad days and good days.  Just an observation on the wood you bought, jezz, boards like that run about half that price down here.

But still, welcome, fill out your information and let us know about your self, there may be one of  us near you that can work out your wood needs.

[Bibbyman]

Welcome to the Forum.

Advice too late would have been to ask for references or somehow see the range of work done by the sawyer.

Oak logs that big are a challenge for smaller bandmills but can be done.   The big hydraulic mills handle them well.

Did the sawyer know how large the logs were?  How long had the logs been cut?   Dry logs are significantly more difficult to saw and will dull a blade sooner thus wavy boards are more likely to occur.

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum,    69gp.   

Your experience proves once again that just because a person owns a sawmill, doesn't make him a sawyer.  You had no way of knowing his level of experience, and he was obviously ill prepared.

When I first started sawing, I heard horror stories such as yours and I had to gain the confidence of many customers by overcoming the poor sawing reputation that had been established in my area by incompetent "sawyers".

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Sounds like you got someone who was pretty green to sawmilling. I'll bet he learned alot too! He learned to bring more blades and what the largest log his mill would handle!  ;D

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Steve.

Too bad you hadn't come here first, there is most likely a FF member in your area.

Someone on here once said Just owning a sawmill doesn't make you a sawyer!

When I go out to a customers location, I take a box of 6 freshly sharpened (or new) blades with me.

There are people all over that saw lumber like you have described and really, there's no good excuse for it.

[WH_Conley]

I lost a large job recently when the people in charge found out I had a band mill. They wanted the wood cut on a circle mill. Did not want the timbers to be a Trapezoid. One of the guys in charge of making the decision used to have a WM. Guess they never saw timbers that came off of a properly adjusted mill. I hope they get to see some properly sawn timbers one day and get educated. One bad operator gave us all a bad name.

[Larry]

Welcome Steve, pull up a stump and visit awhile.

In the early ninety's, when I was pondering which mill to buy I went to a field day demonstration put on by a major Midwest university.  A professor was sawing with a bandmill.  Lumber produced was both rough and wavy.  He blamed it on a dull blade.  The following year I went again.  This time he couldn't even keep the blade on the wheels.  That demo effected my decision on which mill to cross off my short list.

Fast forward 10 years.  That same university had another field day demonstration and sawed some lumber.  Only difference was the professor I saw on the previous demos had retired.  His replacement was sawing perfect lumber at a good speed...on the very same bandmill used 10 years earlier.

We have a lot of sawmill operators where I live at now.  Some are just that...operators.  They get work by being the cheapest/board foot.  I don't think they get much repeat business.

[Peter Drouin]

Hi gp69, there have bin times when someone will call and want to know how much to cut, and they would be nice and say ok and thanks. then after, a week or so they would call back and want me to cleen up the other guys mess and cut the rest of the logs :D :D :D :D :D :D  sometimes  guys will say anything to get the job too .good luck next time

[Tom the Sawyer]

Welcome to the forum Steve (69GP),

I'm sorry that your experience with our profession turned out so poorly.  It sounds like the first time you met him (and he saw the logs) was when he showed up to saw.  Your situation illustrates why a site visit is so helpful.  Only bringing one spare blade was shortsighted, most mobile sawyers I have heard of carry 6-10 spares (I take 6 resharpened blades and two brand new ones). 

Equipment does break down although he probably should have known the limits of his equipment and it is great that you were able to help him repair it.  Wavy cuts may happen, but hopefully just one.  It is my job to monitor the quality of the cut and if there is a problem I am supposed to figure out why it happened and correct it.  I normally replace my blades before the clieint would think there was a problem.

A wavy cut messes up two boards.  After the remedy is applied (usually a blade replacement for me) I'll make a thin cut to get a clean surface on the top of the cant and get back to work.  I won't keep making bad boards, nor do I charge for a bad board. 

I have had breakdowns that took me more than an hour to fix, but very rarely.  Once I had to stop the job and return after the problem was resolved.  Proper maintenance can't guarantee problem free performance but it certainly helps.

Don't give up on us.  If you don't buy a mill the odds are pretty good that the next sawyer you hire will do a better job for you.

I paid to have a lot of wood sawn for me before I bought my mill so my practices are influenced by my experience as a client.  All but one of the sawyers I hired did a great job.  Most of us try to make sure our clients feel the same way.   

Tom 

[drobertson]

69gp, as the rest have said so sorry about your experience.  Just about speechless. Stay on the forum, read, study, be prepared to have a bit of patience when doing a project, (not that you were inpatient) just saying logs are a one shot deal.  I have had bad logs that just went bad, they  were mine, but all the same, a waste. He should not have operated this way, at all. I have heard so many horror stories of some opertations that take good folks. These guys are into the dollar rather than the lumber(my opinion)  the lumber will take care of itself if the logs are handled properly,, If you have timber, and are considering getting a hobby mill, stay on the forum, check out older post on mill selections and then go for it. You will not be sorry.  Great rewards for sure. plus it is just fun to do.

[logboy]

69GP, sounds like you're getting started the same way I did almost a decade ago. I used to have my logs cut by a local guy with an older WM. The last straw was when he ruined a number of boards in a knot-free ash log. He cut them into beautiful, quarter-sawn 10" wide planks for me, but many were so wavy they wouldn't plane out a usable dimension. When I asked about it he said "Yeah, my blade was getting dull."  That was the last business he got from me.  Shortly thereafter a friend got me into my Lucas Swingblade Mill and I've never looked back.  As someone mentioned earlier, owning a mill doesn't make you a sawyer.  There's a lot to learn. Reading here is a good place to start.  Dont be afraid to ask questions.