I just got home with a 2011 LT35HD - I need your counsel on how to succeed.

Southside · February 05, 2019, 08:40:42 PM

I am thinking he means Richard @Cutting Edge - aka Casco - for sharpening. Yes, do call and they will apply the discount. A peavey is better for rolling logs but you have to be careful as it will dig into a cant. I have carefully used a peavey on cants, did so today, but never used a cant hook on logs since I don't have one. So, my opinion on which one is better for you use is really of no value.

Cutting Edge · February 05, 2019, 10:37:50 PM

Southside -

I'll vouch or LogRite also... you can't go wrong. By far the best cant hooks. One time investment

Mt406 - Hope your recovery from surgery goes well. Take it easy and let the body heal.

MikeySP · February 05, 2019, 11:29:18 PM

Cutting Edge..Richard? What is the best way to get info about sharpening blades? -Mike

YellowHammer · February 06, 2019, 01:38:46 AM

You are welcome to come to my place anytime.

The project in Ga is a wealth of info, too.

I'm a big fan of diving in. Cut a few logs yourself, get a few small jobs that you can't screw up too bad, and get to making money.

Get your bands sharpened by someone else until you have time to learn it. I know Richard aka Cutting Edge, he knows what he is talking about.

The Woodmizer Resharp service is also pretty good, I've used the Resharp in Ga and was always happy with their results. I started sharpening my own bands when my sharpening bill hit $300 a month. Until you get to that volume, don't worry. Reach into the box and grab another band. One less thing to worry about.

The hardest part of sawing with people watching on a job is that they are alwsy yakking in your ear. Bring a set of hearing muffs and put them on to drown out the bystander noise.

Yes, taking steps to save steps is a mantra of mine. Wasted motion, wasted steps, and wasted effort is to be avoided and overcome.

Jeff · February 06, 2019, 02:42:03 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on February 05, 2019, 04:16:23 PMTrust me - you will be much happier if you buy the Logrite cant hook vs others on the market. Tell them you are an FF member and get your discount.

To be clear, Logrite tools DO NOT offer a standard Forestry Forum discount. They never have. However, occasionally they have some scratch and dents or something that is not quite perfect. If they know you are a Forestry Forum member, if they have something they might offer that to you as a discount.

They go all out in other ways to support the Forestry Forum as a sponsor and that includes giving us thousands of dollars worth of tools over the years to give to members for contests and door prizes.

CabinCreations · February 06, 2019, 03:47:50 PM

I have been quietly bumming knowledge off this thread as well... So thank you to the OP for starting this thread and thank you everyone for all the detailed information.

Jeff - I ordered a cant hook from Logrite yesterday and mentioned I was a member of the Forestry Forum. They were able to give me a discount and then called me back to ask if I was ok with an orange cant hook with an extra hole drilled in it for even less (a scratch and dent as you alluded to). I was really appreciative of that since I am trying to keep costs down right now too. They were great to work with the numerous times I called them. The new hardware is set to arrive tomorrow!

WV Sawmiller · February 06, 2019, 05:42:13 PM

I remember when I ordered mine I could not get the on-line order to work (Probably operator error on my part) and I called and just mentioned in passing I had seen them on the FF and the real nice lady, Tammy, who took my call told me that if I was a member then I was eligible for the discount. Unexpected but very welcome. They/She were/was super nice and great to work with and I have not heard anyone else with other experiences that weren't just as great. With or without the discount it will be well worth your time and money and I know you will be happy with it. I really do think they should be listed as safety equipment as they really get so much better bite in the log. If you've had a cheap hook slip you know how important that can be.

Stephen1 · February 06, 2019, 06:41:19 PM

I like my log rite 60" peavey! Sticks in the ground so I don't have to bend over to pick it up and easy to find.

gmmills · February 06, 2019, 10:43:44 PM

Mike, Allow me to try to help with the anxiety with regards to blade selection. With your mills HP rating and cutting varying species don't consider a blade hook angle any larger than a 7 deg. A 4 deg blade is also beneficial. I use a 7 deg blade as my general purpose profile. I also keep 4 deg blades on hand for extreme conditions. No one blade profile will perform optimally in all sawing applications. You may find, depending upon the density of the species you are sawing, that a 4 deg blade may better fit your needs. I have found that if a 7 deg blade is not performing well in a certain species change to a 4 deg blade. The 4 deg blade is less aggressive and will generally solve all issues attributed to using a 7 deg blade in tough conditions.

To contact Cutting Edge give him a call 304-878-3343. He will be able to answer many questions in regards to sawing and blade choice. His contact info along with his list of services are in his sig line.

YellowHammer · February 07, 2019, 07:09:20 AM

Gmmills describes exactly what I do, from my old little LT15 to my bigger diesel mill. 7's for 90%, then if there is a problem, I go to 4's. I've never had any log I couldn't cut a straight line with this strategy.

Keep your band tight, keep it clean, keep it sharp. The band should come off the mill looking as shiny and clean as it did when it went on. If it doesn't your cut is being compromised.

MikeySP · February 07, 2019, 10:01:00 AM

Good news: Skidsteer is up and running! Bad news: Flashflooding in our county, dogs and cats have been seen coming from the clouds. Also, buckets more coming this afternoon with a cold front.

74 degrees today dropping to 27 by morning.

Historcally my manner. has been to make it up and bust through barriers with brute force, determination, and hard work without looking for counsel except where absolutely needed. I also took counsel as wise, woithout considering the veracity of the information and have many a scrape from my folly. However, over the last several years I have come to realize that a much better way to learn is to walk with wise men in person, through books, or even in a forum. Of course, the need is to discern between all the data comin in, consider my facts, and make wisdom decisions...and hopefull walk off fewer cliffs.

Anyways, with my next house build (3rd) and done a 100% by us right down to the septic install I did a few months back, I decided to avoid regrets like I had after my last build. Beautiful house, but a few poor assembly details made it a HUGE headache to correct after the fact. Whereas, if I had done the wise assembly when building, it would have been awesome and MUCH cheaper too. My life's lesson's learrned have been costly, as a child left to himself brings shame and the companion of fools will be destroyed. Anyways, the application is this: dive in to learnign the wise (right) way to do things, but don't dive into the doing the task until you have enough data to mitigate the cliff jumps.

So, after learning what I have thus far, I think Yellow Hammer hit the nail on the head with this advice: "I'm a big fan of diving in. Cut a few logs yourself, get a few small jobs that you can't screw up too bad, and get to making money."

My updated plan of action:
Order the bare essentials I am lacking
Make sure my saw is aligned properly
Make a cut list for my pole barn and my son's office (storage shed)
Fell some pines
Saw my list and stack it for air drying
Get word out I can saw some logs, take only jobs I can't mess up to bad and make a few dollars

One of the reasons for this thread was to help point me in the right direction and of course, for other want-to-be sawyers, like me, to benefit from the exchange also. I have finished all the manuals that came with my woodmizer and I can tell I will need a second go through in time, but I need to be sawing now.

Of course, I really want to learn best practices, and contrary to my historical manner, I plan to continue to have a focused professional development plan - education through experience, reading, forum, videos, attending events, and visiting wise men. For cash flow reasons, I need to start with the less expensive propositions. I may try to set aside some funds for the GA event. Question: is this a family friendly event? My 17y/o daughter loves road trips with daddy; but, I do not want her defiled froma pirates convention. Please advise.

Thanks for all the feedback on the LogRite products. They responded to my email inquiry and offered a 10% discount. Whether policy or arbitrary, I was glad to get it.

gmmills thank you for your advice. Yellow Hammer, thank you for seconding him as this helps me to have confidence in the data as I try to sort it all out.

What do you run through your lubicator system? The gentleman I bought the machine from put water, pinesol, and dawn soap. Ratio: and flow rate unknown. He did mostly hardwoods. I will be starting out on a bunch of pine for me, but probably hardwood for hire. When I went to Jordan's house we did the poplar on my mill and did it dry.

My mill came with 15ea 10 deg blades that are dull and 15 brand new 4 deg blades. I have a BUNCH of big pines on my land and plan on harvesting a bit of it for my house, barn, my son's house and maybe a little to sell if their is a market for it.

Thanks again for all the kind words and hard questions!

-Mike

My son sent this photo on his way to work a few minutes ago - river is high and more to come.

doc henderson · February 07, 2019, 10:13:35 AM

Mike. I hope to go to GA as well, hope to meet you there. Most responses are from folks that have already gone. I PMed another sawyer in Ks here who is going for inside info. You could do the same if you see someone on the list that you feel comfy asking. Seems like most folks are gentlemen as I am sure you will agree. Might be boring for her at the classes, but I get the feeling that some of the ladies will find things to do.

MikeySP · February 07, 2019, 10:25:34 AM

Thanks Doc! Actually, it may be better for me to go solo anyways, as I will be able to focus intensely on learning. Who knows, she may take to helping daddy sawing. I have a little time to consider.

Tam-i-am · February 07, 2019, 12:20:43 PM

Sorry I don't want to hijack this thread but I wish you wouldn't put on public threads that we offer discounts to members as we get calls from non-members who read it and ask for discounts. We try to help out members when we can.

Typically we don't discount because it undercuts our dealers and that is not good practice.

Tammy

Jeff · February 07, 2019, 01:00:05 PM

There ya go guys. Ya'll know what the deal on this is, so no more discussion is needed here or anywhere on this point.

GAB · February 07, 2019, 01:39:25 PM

Quote from: MikeySP on February 07, 2019, 10:01:00 AM

What do you run through your lubicator system? The gentleman I bought the machine from put water, pinesol, and dawn soap. Ratio: and flow rate unknown. He did mostly hardwoods. I will be starting out on a bunch of pine for me, but probably hardwood for hire. When I went to Jordan's house we did the poplar on my mill and did it dry.

Cute picture. You might want to consider adding a length of straight tubing between the red and the blue. When I first startd out I would have needed numerous extra lengths.
I have used straight water, water with dishwashing soap, water with ERA, and water with cotton spindle cleaner.
The amount of soap or cleaner I put in the jug depends a lot on what I plan on sawing. More for pine and spruce than for ash or maple.
Concerning the flow rate - keep an eye on the blade, if it starts to gum up you either need to add more soap or increase the flow rate.
I found that buying ERA when it is on sale gave me a lot of bang for my dollar. If ERA does not work for you give it to your wife to do laundry with.
GAB

Southside · February 07, 2019, 02:33:42 PM

Time of year logs are cut will make a difference too - at least with yellow pine. In the summer I can get away with running zero lube with pine, they have enough water in them already.

Older hardwood logs that have been sitting around a while and have dried out will require more water than fresh cut, especially white oak.

As far as the mixture is concerned, I use a proprietary mixture that consists of a couple glugs of dish washing soap, a wallop or two of pine-sol, and this time of year I have been adding red RV anti-freeze to the mix and having un-expected beneficial results so I may need to update my patent. The number and size of the glugs and wallops depends on how sticky the wood is and if the band is coming out clean enough or not. Sometimes it also depends on how much is left in either the soap bottle or the pin-sol jug to begin with. :D

Guess it's a lot like watching that guy paint mountain scenes on PBS back when we were kids - "Use a dash of umbra blue here, some paisley white, yadda, yadda, yadda". Somehow my attempts to follow his simple directions always resulted in a smear on the paper which resembled a paint blob at best.... :(

MikeySP · February 08, 2019, 11:42:35 AM

Ok, just purchased Standard Aluminum 60" Logrite Cant Hook... from SHForestry in NY state.

Debarking tool advice: Drawknife, Axe, Bark Spud, or Cordless Angle Grinder with carbide or chain wheel?

Has anyone put forth a spreadsheet for sawmill bookeeping? I will eventually get spun up on Quickbooks, but I want to start keeping track of expenses now as I did not consider all my dfriving for the mill or fuel for it up to this point. Want to get a handle on that ASAP so I am ready with my start up expenses when I do meet up with a tax expert later in the year.

-Mike

Southside · February 08, 2019, 02:51:53 PM

Does your mill not have a debarker? If that is the case I would compare the cost of adding on one from WM vs the other options. The time savings is significant.

doc henderson · February 08, 2019, 02:54:54 PM

Mike, Tom the Sawyer has IMHO a good system for keeping track of stuff. He even puts serial numbers on his blades.

MikeySP · February 08, 2019, 05:55:37 PM

Thank you Gents!

Doc, I will look for Tom the Sawyer's bookeeping system.

Southside Logger, I have Revision A1 of the 2011 model LT35HDG25 and there is no debarker available from my talking with techy guy at WoodMizer. I did not mention the following sooner as I am just trying to get going and did not want to muddy my thread with my "FUTURE" plans too much; but, I plan to fabricate a debarker. I have a couple options in mind and have many of the parts to do it. Hydraulic pump and hydraulic motor system; or, 12v Hydraulic pump pushing hydraulic motor. I also have a geared speed increasing compact assembly if it is the right rpm to turn the blade, otherwise I will use a pulley. I DO NOT have time to fab it right now, so I need to start without it besides I much prefer to fab in my own barn which is not built yet. I do have a buddy's shop as I need it though. I do not know if the 105AMP alternator on my system can handle the additional load of my 12V hydraulic pump. I do not know if the 12v hydraulic pump I have (off wheelchair lift system) can handle the duty cycle I would need. I do not know if my 25HP Kohler can handle the load of a debarker and a sawing. If I make it, I want it to be done well, mounted professionally. I have not begun to design it beyond mental concept and desire. That is down the road for now, at least a few months. Need a little cash flow.

I am certainly open to suggestions, but thought I would mention my current understanding and position.

That said, which tool for temporary debarking?

-Mike

doc henderson · February 08, 2019, 06:28:07 PM

@Tom the Sawyer

WV Sawmiller · February 08, 2019, 06:31:47 PM

I use Excel and have spreadsheets with formulas and categories for expenses, lumber types, taxable/not, etc as applicable. I enter the data and the spreadsheet does the math. I total by category at the end of the year for subcategories for expenses and send to my tax preparer.

I have such spreadsheets for expenses, sales, customer sawing, sales of my lumber to customers, history by day for all logs sawed/lumber produced, etc. If you want them send me a PM with e-mail address and I will send them to you.

MikeySP · February 08, 2019, 06:52:13 PM

Thank you gents. WV Sawmiller PM Sent. -Mike

MikeySP · February 09, 2019, 05:14:50 PM

How do you operate in mud?

Situation update:
We moved to Centerville, TN a year ago. I did not realize how wet middle TN is. I spent 5 years living in Panama and another few years traveling to other parts of the Americas and even with rain almost daily for 8 or 9 months a year in some of those locations (if my memory serves me correctly), you could still operate off road after a rain. In Hickman County TN, it is mushy clay when wet and off road. I selected a spot to setup my mill to one side of our creek gravel temp driveway thinking I could off load any logs I haul in easily and have some firmer ground for stacking lumber, moving stacks, etc..; but, just turning my skidsteer once on our driveway started to do a little damage to it. We need the driveway to stay operational for our car. If I go off road completely, it will be able to operate but it will be MUSH. Muddy logs, adding half a foot of height to my height from sticky clay on my boots. I have steel tracks on the skid. I could take off the tracks, but then it would not do too well off road for logging because of the MUSH. I don't know if there is anyone on a similar situation that can offer some advice on how they dealt with this. Back in the Ozarks, we had ROCK and the rain would not bother me a bit.