Winter sawing tips - or things I had to learn over the hard way.

[Bibbyman]

Picure taken this morning as I walked out to the sawshed.

If you wear ear plugs,  put them in before you leave the house.  They get real stiff real quick out in the cold.

Sawdust will freeze into something resembling brick mortar by the next morning. You'll have far less problems getting started the next day if you dust off the mill real good when you're done sawing. Dig out from under all the moving parts, etc. 

After dusting off the mill,  oil the rails and such with ATF.

If your mill is not under a roof,  cover as much of it as you can.  The engine for sure, engine and sawhead would be better. 

On hydraulic mills,  use an oil recommended for winter use by the manufacture.  Dextrin works well.   If you're were you can plug something in,  then placing some kind of heat near the hydraulic tank will help it run faster and smoother on startup.

If it's going to break, it'll do it right when it's the most miserable and when you're almost ready to stop for the day. >:(

[Kirk_Allen]

Bibby from the looks of those LEANING icicles you must be having the same heavy winds we are.  Temps werent bad today but the wind made it misserable. 

[Bibbyman]

I had the worst job.  I sawed.  I had to stand in one place facing the wind.  Son Gabe pulled slabs and boards and fed the edger while Mary pulled off the back of the edger and did the loader work.

Anybody else got some winter sawing tips?

[Tom]

Hot Coffee!

[Jeff]

Here is mine...

[Kirk_Allen]

Now Jeff, how on earth you going to cut wood with that thing all covered up and protected ??? ;D :D

[Daren]

Don't let him fool you, that tarp could come off real fast.

[Tony]

If you wear ear plugs,  put them in before you leave the house.  They get real stiff real quick out in the cold.

It was 20 degrees this morning, glad I played with the kids awhile, anyway
also glad I brought the mill's water/lube jug in. ;)
This was my first experience with a frozen log (pine) :

                                      Tony  8)

[Ga_Boy]

It is not a tip but something I learned last winter.  I was sawing with Music Boy at my place, it was a high of 20 that day.

I discovered that there is a relationship between the thickness in the material you cut and the temp when the sun is going down.

The material gets thicker as the temp drops when the sun is going down.   

[Minnesota_boy]

If it's going to break, it'll do it right when it's the most miserable and when you're almost ready to stop for the day. >:(

This is only if you have your mill set up stationary.  If you are mobile, it will break about 5 minutes after you get to the customer's site and set up, but while the customer is still there watching.  It will take a trip back home to find the part number and call in the order and 2 more wasted days waiting for the part to arrive, all the while the customer is calling, wondering when you will come back to finish his 5 logs.  :D :D

I carry quite a few spare parts now but I still get surprised occasionally.  Some times I really improvise to be able to finish the job so I can fix it properly at home where I have all the tools necessary.

[D Martin]

Not really a winter tip, or a tip. In fact its more like a question. Do you guys take your band blades off if you are not planing to saw for a bit. I noticed mine  got a little rusty and suspect that cant be good for holding sharpness. I take the tension off the blade and cover the saw head but usually leave the blade on but it still rusts. Oiling it down with wd or sumpin would work for sure but I wondered what the pros do.

[Coon]

Not really a winter tip, or a tip. In fact its more like a question. Do you guys take your band blades off if you are not planing to saw for a bit. I noticed mine  got a little rusty and suspect that cant be good for holding sharpness. I take the tension off the blade and cover the saw head but usually leave the blade on but it still rusts. Oiling it down with wd or sumpin would work for sure but I wondered what the pros do.

Actually we do remove the band for the night because it usually needs sharpining anyways.   I have in the past left them on overnight only coming back in the morning to find that the exposed portion of the band betweent the guides was covered in ice.  That is the only time I actually forgot to cover the mill overnight.  It was a small sawing job and I thought we'd get finished before dark but we never.  I had left the tarp at home and I didn't see any sense on going back for the tarp or taking the mill home and back in the morning. ;)

[Fred]

I'm with tom !!
                       Fred

[Cedarman]

Bibby, get one of those little electric heater blowers and situate it so it blows on your hands as you use the controls.  Or put it in a box so it blows on your feet.  That is what my sawyer does.

[leweee]

Bibby...call it a hobby... and do more in the summer.... less in the winter.

when stuff frezes to the ground 4 months a year you learn to adapt :

[Bibbyman]

Bibby...call it a hobby... and do more in the summer.... less in the winter.

when stuff frezes to the ground 4 months a year you learn to adapt :

Can't quite do that when bills come year round.!   :-[

[Furby]

Can't quite do that when bills come year round.! :-[

Don't go to the mailbox this time of year. :

[treedog]

Bibbyman, throw up some board or plastic where sheds open, put a wood stove in the corner, burn your slabs, and keep your coffee & mill warm.  :D Works for me! ;D

[esteadle]

Here's a few tips I learned about sawing in cold weather....

Don't wear anything cotton if you're pulling the boards. You'll be soaked in cold sweat an hour after you start your day. You won't warm up until 3 hours after you go to bed that night.

Put an old piece of carpet under your feet at the control station, it'll keep your feet off the cold ground and the cold won't come up through your boots.

Don't leave lube in the lube tank overnight, let it drain out, and leave the drip valve wide open. Even diesel will gel up if it gets cold enough overnight.

If you don't have a way to warm up your hydraulic reservoir, let the pump run for a few minutes before you get started. Cycle every ram back and forth a few times to run the oil through the pump and get it flowing. I have a hydraulic advance, and I like to set the control valve wide open and run the head back and forth a few times to get the oil mixed up and flowing.

Also, when the oil starts to heat up and get flowing, I keep my hands on my head speed control valve. It's warm and it keeps my hands warm. 

I put a couple of Peter's tractor utility lights on the front and back side of the head, so that I can see the cuts when it starts to get dark. They really don't deliver enough light to work at night, but they extend the day an hour or so, so you can finish up what you started.

When your hands are cold, any kind of bump to them magnifies the pain by about 3 times.

I like the rubber coated gloves for working in the winter. They're grippy and they keep my hands warm. Leather gloves aren't warm enough. Even the "winter" leather gloves with liners don't seem to do the trick. Plus leather loses its grip more in the cold.

I use a metal scraper to scrape frozen sawdust off of the boards when they come off the mill. A brush won't get it off, cause it freezes as it saws.

I definitely second what was said about frozen sawdust. Once it's frozen it's like concrete. They could build foundations out of the stuff if they could find a way to keep it cold all year long.

[woodmills1]

For those of you who cut outside in cold like I do.  Take your time walking around the mill, moving logs or other stuff, and others like getting into or out of the tractor.  Everything is cold and slippery and it only takes a second to wish you hadden't done something.

[Mike_Barcaskey]

Set your sights a little lower for the day, things move slower and it's not as productive. I find the correct mindset to start the day (realizing right off the bat that I aint going to get as much done) helps with the frustration later in the day.

esteadle, hey Stiller fan, where you located?

[Bibbyman]

For those of you who cut outside in cold like I do.  Take your time walking around the mill, moving logs or other stuff, and others like getting into or out of the tractor.  Everything is cold and slippery and it only takes a second to wish you hadden't done something.

And, for me, my old bones tend to hurt a lot more when I'm out in the cold.  Then it takes a long time for them to feel better again after I'm inside from the cold.

Extra clothing is a problem too.  The extra weight, less flexibility and always adds to the chance of catching on something. Big clunky boots make it harder to drive some machines as they tend to stomp more than one peddle at one time.

[crtreedude]

Move to Costa Rica... problem solved, right FDH?  8)

[Fla._Deadheader]

  I sure hope so, Fred. Hate to think I made the move for nothing.  : ;D

[crtreedude]

The best sawing time IS the winter months - stops raining, wonderful breezes - easy to get in out of places. And the fishing is really good! (Oops - that isn't about sawing, it stops sawing)

[Mike_Barcaskey]

crtreedude, get them priorities straight!
man's got to have a day off now and then to drown some worms  8)

[Jeff]

I'm askin for a freak ice Storm to hit Costa Rica for Christmas, followed by 6 inches of snow and 40 mile an hour winds. Thats all I want from Santa.

[crtreedude]

 :D :D :D :D :D :D :D


Just in time for Harold!

Hey Jeff - you saw the snowman I sent you didn't you?

[Fla._Deadheader]

No problema, Señor. Fred has lots of scrap wood and I DID bring matches.  ;) ;D ;D ;D

[crtreedude]

Mike,

No doubt about - my Christmas gift this year (besides Harold to pester) is a new peacock bass pound!  8)

From what I have seen - peacock bass are brutal on topwater lures. Mean, strong and vicious. Boy will we have fun!

[Bibbyman]

cr/FDH  get a room...

[Mike_Barcaskey]

crtreedude,
from some of those fishing shows I've seen, those peacocks HATE topwaters with a vengence. just unbelieveable.
The closest I have come is an accidental oscar caught in the canals around West Palm Beach
them things seemed more vicous than the largemouth bass. I have heard that there are some peacocks been released in the wild below Miami. I'd like to drive down and try to find em.

[crtreedude]

I am sorry Bibbyman - I was getting frostbite just reading your posts!

I will behave, or at least try!

[Brucer]

More tips ....

• If you have to climb on the mill for routine maintenance, put a few strips of adhesive-backed silicone tape on the frame where you need to stand.
• Use an old spray bottle (e.g., Windex) filled with windshield wiper fluid to wash frozen sawdust off seized parts such as blade guide rollers. Fluid penetrates, thaws, and then washes the stuff away.
• Fire a shot of WD-40 into your ignition switch before the cold weather hits. It'll drive out any moisture from the lock and prevent more from accumulating.
• Start the engine and leave it running for 10 minutes before moving the carriage. You want to the battery before you move it with any kind of jerking motion. Otherwise you'll be knocking deposits off the battery plates, they'll accumulate in the bottom of the battery, and eventually short it out.
• Put wooden shims under all your outriggers before the ground freezes -- then you won't be prying up great clods of earth when you try to move the mill.
• Even if you've got windshield wiper anti-freeze in your blade lube, disconnect the feeder hose from the lube tank at the end of the day. It'll drain out before the temperature drops overnight and you won't have to worry about slush in the line.
• Keep all your wood covered with tarps if they're outdoors -- logs, flitches, cants. Nothing like a little compacted snow to throw your wood off square -- nothing like a lot of snow scraping to slow you down.
• Work slow and steady -- for safety and to avoid working up a sweat. Quit if you're feeling cold, and have a hot drink (your choice ;D) as soon as you get inside. This will get your core temperature up quickly and reduce the chance of succumbing to a virus.

'Course it doesn't hurt to have someone to stoke up the fire and make that hot drink for you just as you're about to come in  ;D ;D.

[Mike_Barcaskey]

as I am getting ready to head out and take down 2 large Norway spruce this chainsaw tip came to mind. I put my bar oil in pancake syrup squeeze bottles in the winter. that way they can set on the dashboard of the truck and warm up before I have to fill the saws.

[Bibbyman]

Oh yea,

Add...

Don't leave mud on the forks of your loader at the end of the day.  It tends to freeze solid over night.  Also,  don't park the loader and rest the forks on the ground.  If the ground is wet or it rains or snows and then freezes, it'll pull up a big hunk of sod the next morning.  Or even -- won't pull up at all! 

Don't ask me how I know...   :

[Tony_T]

If you're too cold you're not working hard enough!!!

[Minnesota_boy]

If you're too cold you're not working hard enough!!!

I've found that the sawmill won't keep up with me when I'm working hard enough to keep warm at -20F.  I keep tripping circuit breakers on the feed or up-down and then I have to slow down and then I get cold.  :(

[Ron Wenrich]

I did some work for a Amish mill one winter.  He had just started out in the business .  He had a loader with steel wheels.  He found out that you shouldn't park you loader in the mud.     Tends to freeze fast.   :D

[dail_h]

   What a life,gettin to bounce around all day in freezing weather ona loader with steel wheels on frozen ground. Oh boy ,sign me up for that,NOT!!!

[FiremanEd]

Woody had a tough week this past week. Let's just say that compressed air and 20degree high's just don't mix. And when most everything on the 300 uses compressed air to some extent that makes for a bad morning. We had 2 driers in the air line from the compressor and there was still enough moisture getting by to freeze up the little selinoid valves.

We now have a homebrew alcohol evaporator. We couldn't find a comercial one that would flow 25cfm so we made one. My brother doesn't even want to come out to the mill house, he's 'afraid it's gonna blow'. It's basically a huge trap with a gallon of airbrake antifreeze that all the air passes through. It appears to be working. I'll post some  pics next week as Santa (Me) is giving myself a new digital camara...  where is that ups truck anyway???

Eddie

[Qweaver]

I bought a lightly used LT15 this spring to saw wood for a small summer home in W.Va.   I sawed for several weeks and had enough wood to build a shed for the saw and for drying wood and an addition to another building but not enough to build the house.  It was a great summer for working outside...very little rain but a little hot.   Now it's winter and I should be back in Texas, but I'm here freezing my butt off and getting not enough done!  I was born and raised in W.Va. but have lived most of my adult life in warm climates and this winter has shown me that that was a good choice!!!  I hate the cold!

Everything takes twice as long to do.  I'm mainly cutting yellow poplar and any other wood that I damage as the trees fall.   If I saw the logs as soon as I cut them they are not frozen, but if I leave them overnight they are.  Then the saw dust freezes and they freeze together, ect.   I also worry that they are not going to do much drying during freezing weather.  I guess I'll know next summer.

[Coon]

Qweaver just be patient with the drying over winter.  You will be surprized at how much they actually dry out as winter air tends to be dry.  Don't be surprised if the wood you saw now is almost dry to specs by spring break-up.

[leweee]

Freeze Dried Kanadian Lumber[/color][/size] 8) 8) 8)

Only in Kanadr you say.....Pitty :D :D :D

And if it ain't froze to the ground ....it ain't winter

and if it ain't winter it's 9 month's of poor sledden ;D

[sawguy21]

leewee has got it :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Bibbyman]

This is NOT the way to leave your loading arms in the winter.  There is a good chance the gunk around the cylinders will freeze and when you start to use the loading arms, the little hydraulic fuse fittings at the lower connection on the cylinder will break off.   We've talked about this before but I had my camera out at he mill today and thought it a good topic to add here.



I dug out all the gunk from around the lower fitting before I reised the loading arms to clean out the rest.

P.S.  Watch out for frozen ruts.  It's not only a lot rougher to mover over with a loader and such,  they can throw the load around that could cause an accident or brakage.

[treedog]

My mill is gasoline but most of the equipment I operate on my cow-calf operation are deisel.  Have been around them all my life- do know a little- lotta the learning notta by choice, by the saving of the dollar bill $$ :. I had a wonderful thing happen about a week ago; ADVISE ON STARTING A COLD DEISEL MOTOR.   First instinct was listen but probably for null (some of us have a prob with advice, because we know it all, we think- well, for me anyway ;D. Doing most all solo, easy rut to get in-Dang to get out of). Anyway, was told after sawing on the starter for about ten seconds and the motor doesn't start, wait about 25 second- on the second try after motor turning over give about 3/4 throttle and back to lower fuel setting and she will lite.  I have to crank 2 different tractor daily & tried this procedure after hearing it, and it really works.  Lord only knows the ware and tear I've been putting on my starters and wiring by keeping the thottle about 1/3 open tring to start a cold motor.  Don't advise high rpm start up though, after she lites keep rpms just above an idle to get her slick with oil and a few btu's in it- high rpm's on cold start can do a lot of damage. Also, cold hydrolic oil is thick as maple syrup- exercise all hydrolics before putting them to work.  Will help prevent busting seals, hoses, fittings, exc... Just running it through the motions a few times "dry" will heat up the oil and pump and let you know if theres a pre-existing proplem- if we LOOK . Merry CHRISTmas to ALL! ;)
Treedog

[Bibbyman]

Ah! Yes!  New winter,  new problems.

Mary and I went out to saw today as the sun came out and the temperature got up to the mid-30's. 

First thing out of the chute was that the edger feed belt would not come on.  Turned out it had tripped the breaker on the starter switch.  But the cause was that the belt had frozen down even though it was well under roof.  Just the moisture and frost, etc. was enough to stick it.



I had loaded the deck before all this started in hopes it wouldn't be this bad or I could get some sawing done before it got bad.  Didn't happen.  So these logs have been on the deck for a week.

We sawed the log on the mill and then loaded the next log.  Then I noted Mary was over there rolling the logs forward with her LogRite mill special.  The logs under the roof would roll but those outside covered with ice were stuck.  She used a splitting maul to break them apart and then the 60" LogRite to get them broke from the deck.

She then took a chisel and hammer to the ice that had filled the chain channel.  She must have worked at it a half hour before we got enough of the chain cleared so the hydraulics could pull them.

[woodmills1]

that ice sure gums up the works, just a little will stop things completley.  I sometimes get it on the top of the mill rail and the head won't move at all.  Luckely we had a melt the day before yesterday and I scraped and cleaned everything, just in time for 9 inches of white stuff yesterday.

[MikeH]

Good job Mary!  smiley_chop

[bandmiller2]

In the winter never stand on cement floor or frozen ground.Make yourself a spring floor out of 2" planks supports about 4ft apart keeps you off hard cold surfaces.The old down east lobstermen would make a heated floor to stand on where they stood next to the pot haullah.A steel diamond tread with hot coolant from the engine running through it,helps to put a rubber mat on the steel.Brake the wind and face south and do something else when its brutal cold,you won't get squat done anyhow!!Frank C.

[spencerhenry]

i saw outside, and the snow and sawdust buildup is a problem. i have had the outrigger feet frozen so deep in snow ice and sawdust that i spent most of the day with an axe chipping out the feet so i could move it. now when i set up for more that a day or two this time of year, i put chunks of 6x or 8x under the outriggers, and set the mill up as high as i can. the clamping are will actually lift and bend the mill if there is not enough space for it to work.

[Dan_Shade]

you mean the linkage that moves the clamp as it goes in and out?

[rockchucker]

When I worked out in Eastern Washington farming alfalfa I was introduced to a really old track tractor.  Don't even know the brand.  She was red though maybe Allis Chalmers?  This old girl was used up in the hills for logging in very adverse conditions.  When the guy said that she wouldn't run I begged to differ.  First thing I noticed was the two fuel tanks.  One smelled of diesel and the other smelled of gas.  Then the big huge lever that seemed to operate a few things at once.  The big lever was a fuel and ignition switch.  So in very cold conditions the diesel would start on regular gas with regular spark plugs and ignition.  The engine would fire up and sound like a gas engine.  Then once the glow plugs were heated you would throw the lever and it would cut the regular ignition and switch the fuel from gas to diesel all in one throw.  Once the switch was all the way it instantly turned to sounding like a diesel engine.  This may be normal for some of you older dudes but it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen.  So with an oil change some new fuel and filters and such she came to life.  The throw of the switch was smooth as butter.  Started on gas...runnin' on diesel.


I guess this post is kind of off topic...  We are lucky to have the technology to fight the cold.  Even now it gets the best of us.  Just imagine back in the day when the technology wasn't around.   Be glad you don't have to do this with every machine anymore! 

[pineywoods]

re : combination gas and diesel     Most of the older international diesels worked that way. Cat used a small external gas engine called a pony motor for starting. I agree with you, the change over from gas to diesel sounded kinda weird, You'd swear the thing was dying before the diesel caught on.

[PineNut]

The normal start on the International was on gas. One nice thing about the pony motor on the Cats was you didn't worry about the battery. Just hand-crank it. Now if it didn't want to crank, you had larger problems.

[mike_van]

I sawed up a really frozen white oak log today, with a blade that had so little set in it you could just about see it. Boy, did it cut nice! Smooth boards,  no sawdust  spilled out or packed on the wood. You'd never cut a softwood in the summer with that blade!

[WH_Conley]

Yeah I sawed today too, half froze logs >:(. I am sure it will get better.

[mike_van]

I ran that near-no-set blade through the sharpener, did another 12'er today, still cut good, nice clean boards. Had one left, an 8'er -  about the third cut into it, she just took a dive - Must have hit the "point of no set at all"  So, I had to change it. The one I put on had good set, and the sawdust it left behind sure said so! I took a good look at the one that dove, it was pretty old. Found a tiny crack, flexed it back & forth & it snapped. Got my $$$$ out of it anyway.  Nothing worse than setting & sharpening a blade only to have it snap.  Unless some big "emergency" comes up, I'm all done sawing 'till spring. It was 5F when i walked up there this AM, I really hate running stuff that cold, grease is like tar, snow & ice make it harder outside. My wifes ready to go buy a cabinet if I don't get it made. I think thats an empty threat, but I won't bet the farm on it.