Brand New To Milling

[jpm717]

I am looking at an MSG Industries Model MM250 to purchase. Does anyone have info on this mill. I called MSG and the phones are disconnected

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum
Add your location to your profile and will help with answers.

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, jpm717.  Disconnected phones may not be a good sign if you ever need support.   :-\

[flattail]

Just wondering does anyone plane their lumber before selling?

[flattail]

when sawing cedar does anyone shorten the length to cut wider boards.I know cedar can get smaller pretty fast as it goes up. ???

[pineywoods]

when sawing cedar does anyone shorten the length to cut wider boards.I know cedar can get smaller pretty fast as it goes up. ???

I seldom saw any cedar longer than 8 ft. Got 50+ cedar logs in my yard, some make 1X12...

[never finished]

 I plane some erc when selling. Mostly V grove 4 or 6 inch.

[never finished]

 I've got some of those too pineywoods. Problem is they will all have some rot in them. Not having much luck lately getting any clear erc of any size.

[Cedarman]

Some cedar trees have lots of taper, some not so much.  We buy most of our cedar tree length with about a 4" top.  Lots of 30 to 40 foot poles, some as long as 45'.  We can buck to the lengths our orders call for.  Lots of 10 to 16'.  Some 18', Some 20'.  We make container loads from 8' to 18' in 1' increments.  Gotta saw what customer wants and is happy to pay.

[flattail]

I still don't have my mill yet but what degree bands do you recommend? I will be cutting mostly cedar but some other hardwoods such as hickory and the oaks.

[Magicman]

10° on the Cedar and 4° on Hickory and White Oak.  I successfully saw Red Oak with 10° blades, but the 4° should be OK.  I have recently gotten some 7° turbo's but my use has been limited to Pine.

My advice is to not burden yourself with a huge variety of blades.  I sawed over 10 years with nothing but 10° blades.  (I have limited opportunities to saw Hickory and White Oak.)

[flattail]

The wife and I were looking at tractors today and learned they're not cheap.I'm not exactly sure how much h.p. I need or how much a log weighs like I said most will be 8 foot cedar but I will be cutting hardwood that I know weighs more.Any suggestions? I don't want too small and have to upgrade soon but I don't need to lift my house either.Thanks

[thecfarm]

Many on here do alot with a 30hp tractor. The wife's tractor is a 30hp. I have a 40hp,much better for the tasks I do. It's not really the hp,it's the size/weight of the tractors that matters. But I can get the wife's tractor through the woods easier than my tractor. Hers is smaller,not as wide or as long. With my tractor,I can pick up a 12 foot hemlock log more than a foot and a half across and carry it to the sawmill and not have to worry about tipping the tractor over.

[outpost22]

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of new guys here (me included). Everyone seems to learn something new everyday, including the veterans from what I can tell. So, ask these guys-they know the answers.
As to tractors, there are a lot of considerations. What kind of ground are you working. Do you need a track loader? Is a rubber tired rig o.k.?  How large a log are you moving?
Is the mill manual or automated? How will you turn large logs? How much of a tractor can you afford? How large of a tractor is too large? Skid Steer loaders work well and there are a lot of used ones around.
"thecfarm" is right. A larger tractor may be too large to get where you need to get to. I had to compromise with this issue. Any larger tractor than my L3800 won't get through many of my groves of trees and a smaller tractor would be too small to move what's needed. If space is not an issue and you have a large yard to work in, bigger usually moves more and is more stable.
Are you an experienced operator? Always keep the weight (log) as low as possible while driving. If you're working hills, keep the tractor/loads as perpendicular to the slope as possible. If you are going up a steep slope, then back up it. If you get stuck going up, you can drive forward out of it. Make sure you have a counter weight or implement on the back of the tractor so you don't do the "front end hand stand".
Here is my Kubota L3800 with a cedar log that it handles quite easily. You might gauge what you're going to be sawing to size your tractor:

[DDW_OR]

flattail, tractor

I have a Mahindra 5520 4x4, 51 HP, pallet forks with 2 additional forks to make a tractor pitch fork
on the 3-point i have a Farmi skidder winch rated for 11,000#, makes a good counter weight for moving logs.
additional 3-point attachments i can recommend: trailer hitch, grader blade, rake