I really enjoyed this video and it was not too long at all. I find videos like these very therapeutic for some reason and look forward to enjoying many more of your videos. Thank you!
Just ran across you Video. It was not too long. Very well done. Thanks. I’m getting ready to buy my second wood miser. Built one log cabin , now getting ready to build another. .
The amount of wood you make within 28 minutes (while explaining and show us how to do it is amazing) the amount of wood you could make 2x4 4x4 2x6 2x10 would save you thousands upon thousands with the price of wood now a days! That was amazing 👏 thanks for all the info !
I don't know why I watch these as I don't have any trees within cooee that could be cut down. But I really enjoyed this one and agree with Mark below they are very satisfying for some reason. Good camera work by your helper and am going to subscribe. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the info. I am really wanting a basic, functional mill. I learned a bit. I think I will have one under an insulated roof. Partly to keep the mill nice, and allow me to work in nasty weather. I think I would extend the saw dust chute enough, so I would not have in the walk area, and I would want the walkway smooth. Perhaps a fan set up , to blow saw dust away from me. Red cedar can be a bit hard on the lungs.
I would make 28" or so vertical extensions on your forks or bucket with 20" or so forward projecting extension's , to prevent accidental log rolling down your tractor loader, visiting you in the drivers seat, that would ruin your day ! Nice video on the sawmill !
Great video, a live video in real time, nice. One thing I've learned- when trying to keep your cant square to the bunks/blade, position your first clamp a little loose, as in, don't drive it home yet. Then you can lift or lower the cant to make it square with your other clamp. Just put it a little above the stop or below the stop to make it square. then tighten up the first clamp. No peavy required! I hope that makes sense... lol God Bless you too!
great video, I am looking at one for the first time by my self. Cost of a 2x4 here in Ak went from a 2.50 to like 9 bucks and it is a 200 mile drive to go get it. That being said I do have tons of experience of a 100 hp mill in Denver and one up in Frazer Colo that the company I worked for had. also had some twin blade turners too. But now just want a little guy. :) My place has thousands of trees so long as the lumber prices stay high I could have it pay for its self.
I like how much you explain. I have just retired, and looking for a property where I can set up a craftsman wood shop, complete with saw mill. Inspired, thanks.
One suggestion...think about a grapel on the front end loader... I thought for a second I was gonna see you wearing the log when you lifted the bucket while driving. The guy I saw have this happen to him didnt live. Been thinking about one of these mills. Good job displaying how it functions
Hello my new friend I’m a Homestead channel from Louisiana looking to by the same Mill . I ran my dads 40 hyd wood Mizer For Years Great Saw mill thanks for sharing.
Hearing protection is a must with these. Also you need a proper squirt bottle for this operation. I think its Zep that makes a fairly descent one available it Lowes or Home Depot.
LT40 owner here since 1991......over a million board feet sawed. Here are some observations that will help you. First off, I'm glad I don't own THAT model. Mine was the lower end at the time, being non hydraulic (which you really DON'T need by the way unless you saw a lot out on the road), but it does have the 12v electric drive, (+ head up/down and blade guide in/out) meaning I don't have to push it down the log. Not that it is that hard to push it down the log, but the time you spend pushing where I just put it in GO, is time you can spend removing slabs or lumber while the saw saws, way increasing production on a one man show. You'll learn after a while you don't need to clamp it. Only time I use my clamp is IF the log wants to roll away from the dogs. Once I get two 90 degree faces, I never clamp again.....log ain't going anywhere.....the blade keeps it tight to the little nubs. You're working too hard at this. And WM screwed up with that dog design.....with the wheels at the top, the log doesn't fit flush to the dog like on the other mills....mine I don't need a square, the dog is dead 90 to the bed. Any crack of daylight between the log face and the dog means the log is out of square to the bed rail. I'd be tempted to remove the wheels and grind an angle on the top of the dogs to make it like the older style.....save that work squaring. Another thing you're not in the habit of doing.....raise the blade slightly before you back the head up.....LOT of times a cant will arch either the ends up or the middle up as you saw and relieve the stress in the log (yellow poplar is THE worst about this)......you don't raise the blade, it will catch the end of the cant and strip it off the wheels. You should also saw some 6x6 cants out, and build yourself a log deck on the side you load from.....not only can you load a bunch of logs on it, saving time on/off the tractor, but you can put your boards to edge on it as well, rather than throw them off to the side to have to bend over and pick up again later. When you get into sawing larger stuff, like 2x10 or 2x12s, you back will thank you. Last, you need an SSQA adapter (ATI in New Holland Pa makes them for ANY tractor) on your tractor so you can quickly switch from bucket to forks....then buy a set of REAL forks, not those fool clamp on things. Those are not only award to use compared to real forks, they will eventually bend your bucket when you put enough pressure on them, and the load you can pick up is WAY reduced due to how far out in front of the bucket they sit. They might be OK for the person that rarely uses forks, but if you have a sawmill, your gonna USE forks.....get a good set. All this is stuff you'll figure out anyway, maybe this just gives you a heads up.
This is why you will always see commercial sawyers only rotate 90 degrees after opening the log with their first cut. Open the log, then roll it in so the flat you just created lies against the stops and it makes it very fast to end up with a perfectly square cant so you can get on to cutting boards more quickly.
I am not an expert, but I have worked a small mill. I think one of the things I would do, is have a couple yard sticks, clear lacquered. And give the tape measure a break. I hear that thing slamming home, and wonder it is not broken. I am also thinking it might be nice to have a 24 ft section of mobile home frame, with tandem axles, for smoother ride on the road. I would be taking a good look at that power head and think up a cover for it. I like to protect nice things.
Hey, i saw you were standing up to pick the log up. Heres a tip for you. The very top of your bucket is flat and parallel with the bottom of your bucket. So whatever the top of the bucket is doing the bottom is too. Hope it helps out.
thank you, it was great to see it start to finish! when you throw the lever on the left side of the carriage just before you cut, is that a manual clutch? thanks!
As a Woodmizer LT40 owner I would like to suggest you start sawing from the small end. You can find the cant size by multiplying the diameter under bark of the small end by point 700. Do this before you start cutting.
That works on perfectly straight logs with slight taper... anything different and I’d still saw from the large end. It’s easier on the blade to go into the log ‘Square on’ instead of coming in at an angle on the side to remove the taper slabs. Plus if you have more than slight taper you can squeeze out some shorter 1” lumber as you’re squaring up the cant, vs taking off thick slabs that just get burned or chipped. If he had started out immediately squaring the cant to final size that would have resulted in lost lumber. Maybe not a big deal on pine, but not so with hardwood. Hell even poplar- they sell 5’ shelf boards for $10 at homeless despot.
Couple suggestions you can take or leave; spend a bit of time to look at your log, rather than make two skim cuts, take more on first pass, your blades last longer and for time cutting you get more usable wood, look at the pith(center of log) vs comparing the diameters to decide if you are going to level one end-it makes a difference in wood grain and strength of wood you produce, once you roll your cant for the next cut you can use the position of your clamp to influence the perpendicularity of your cant instead of clamping it tight then fighting that pressure with your cant hook for slight tweeks, try using your handle to travel vs pushing, it can be just as fast but more importantly it is more consistent, you can get away with pushing soft woods but you'll notice a quality of cut issue on hardwoods pushing it through, lastly, slow down, think fast, move slower, you'll end up being more efficient, you'll re adjust less, and you'll enjoy more. Have fun!
I don't know if your being so through because of a video or because its still new to you. I trust the measure on the saw and see how much wood is left and go from there. I try for one clear side of wain and divots then sastrength
How hard is it to find an acreage with wood/trees already established. Just curious, don't tell the town, but what state are you in and I assume that is oak, if different what wood? What would a homestead be in dollars now-a-day?
Just a some common sense here, don't run your tractor wide open to do small things. the hydraulics run smoother at 1100 rpm verses 2200. should make it easier for you to load logs onto the platform without jerking the bucket. it will be safer and wont damage things this way. good video on the sawmill.
I usually do the 2" x 6", not dimensional lumber like sold in the box stores. However I will be doing some of that soon to save weight in an upcoming project.
Okay, I got questions! Lol Rolling the log on that fast really shook the frame. Will that not eventually lead to wracking it? When you first fire up to cut, I’ve always been told to let the blade run for a minute to warm it up and balance out the tension. Yes? No? You cleaned the bark for the first cut, but not the second cut? (Oversight?) How did you get five 2” cuts from a 10” cant? Was it actually 10 1/2” to start? Otherwise the bottom board would only be 6/4. When you were sawing down to 6” on the 4th side, you could have taken a 2” slab and gotten a 6th 2x6 plus a 2x4, no? Or was the 1” worth more to you? Very nice video, good camera work and explanation of everything! Wish I had pine logs that nice to play with! And of course the tractor... ha!
Thanks for watching. I haven't heard about letting the blade warm up. As far as 2 inch cuts, I move the blade down two inches eqch cut,, so yes, one of the boards will be a little thinner.
Thanks for the awesome, detailed, demonstration of a Woodmizer mill. Excellent work by the camera woman. There is no SMALL amount of work involved to get some 2x6 lumber, is there?
This is for anyone, when he says it's 6" X 10" does that mean 6 inches plus kerf? Or is it assumed that the kerf is gonna come out of the 2" per board? Thanks! Also, at 28:08-ish, he cranks the head up and the engine seems about to stall but it recovers - any idea why? I didn't see him touch throttle. Did I miss it? Thanks!
I have two scales on mine (not familiar with the scale on this model in the video). I have an inch scale and a 'quarter' scale.....4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 8/4....the quarter scale allows for kerf AND you end up with 1/8 over whatever.....4/4 is 1 1/8" lumber. This was because most old circle mills were notoriously inaccurate.....furniture/flooring factories required 4/4 lumber so they could actually dry and plane to to 3/4 finish lumber. The inch scale is just that.....each inch drops the head exactly one inch. So your lumber loses 1/16 ish for the blade kerf, and about that much again as it dries.....you end up with a dry board right around 7/8" thick. If you need 3/4" finished lumber, sometimes this works, but the slightest variation in sawing and it doesn't. I saw my hardwood lumber on the quarter scale so I'm dang sure of finishing it to 3/4". My softwood lumber, I use the inch scale, because most of it isn't going for planed stuff needing to be 3/4, I use it in the rough stage, or just skip plane at most (knock it all down to the same thickness.....like 13/16".
Depends on what you're doing with it. Building a shed or barn ? You can use it right off the mill.....though I do let mine air dry a few months. Using it to build a house, you'll want it to air dry on sticks 6 months to year, depending on thickness, and so on. If the lumber dries more after you build, you'll have sheet rock nails pop all over the place. It needs to be 18-20% moisture content to use for house framing.
@@edsmith4414 I’ve also found out at here in California it needs to be stamped and graded wood for anything structural so I couldn’t use it for the house build no matter. I am however going to buy a mill so I can build my sheds and covers and anything else that comes up. Thanks again
