Me? not chime in? I want some of what you're smokin'..
BDft/hr is very subjective....roll a 16" log on the mill and bust it up into
a 10" timber and a couple side boards...buncha bdft/hr like that..
i've never really calculated what i can do, give me 16-20" logs and
I can get through maybe three in an hour...cutting 2x6 and 2x4...1x is alot slower...thing is I don't really care how much i cut in an hour..i go out and bust up a log, if I want to do more i do...I have racked up a bunch of lumber just schmoozin' through..
i know of at least one guy who saws for production with a 15...does pretty good too...he said something like 1000 in a day with two guys...annd he sleeps well.<G>
I just went out and cut 4 roughly 18"x16' cypress boards, two 4x4 bunks and four 3x4 bunks in a half hour or so...and goofin' off alot..
If the mill has 'lectric start it is probably a 15hp kohler...I am quite satisfied with mine...if I had an extra grand to spend, i'd have gotten the 25...but, this mill isn't an LT40HDD51RA by any stretch...
(some folk dream about ferraris...I dream about hydraulics and big turbo diesels...
)
ummm..there is no hour meter, so check out the condition of the bearings..with the blade detensioned wiggle the wheels..they should have very little free play, the saw head will wiggle..that's just the way the semi-cantilever is..doesn't affect the cut and is adjustable...look at the
B-57 belts on the wheels..if the blade touches the metal anywhere the belts need replacing..15 bucks...look at the main drive belt..sometimes they split up the middle..also cheap...run the mill head all the way up and down, it shouldn't bind (chain lube) push the mill head back and forth, check for binding..if it is an older mill it will have a blade tension screw..the new ones have a lever and cam...it my be a refit item..and the lever sucks less.
the hand crank is good stuff...obviously not as easy as a 12v drive..but they don't call it a manual mill for nothing..less electrical crap to break or corrode..somewhere I have a picture of my 7 year old girl cranking it through
a 12 inch pine log...it gets a little more difficult at 20 inches or so..
but not too bad. i do like the rope thing..no cables to cope with..if it breaks, grap the spare 3/8 line out of the tool box and keep truckin'