Bandsaw mills

[Keener]

Do you cut for people on their site or do you have a semi permanent site and haul in?
Also I would be interested to know how you market your service and or lumber.

 

[spencerhenry]

i keep my mill at home almost all of the time. i had one job resawing some doug fir into 1/4" material to be wrapped around bent beams. that job i hauled the mill to aspen. all the other timber i have cut, i cut at home. i am cutting spruce for structural and decorative beams and posts. currently cutting 1x for siding on a job. all i do to sell material is go around to all of the construction sites and ask if they have any rough-sawn posts or beams. i have made several sales that way, some up to 6mbf. to make some sales, i lowered my prices. i am not making ???? for my time, but getting some recognition, hopefully it helps out in the future. i am a framing contractor, so i have some connections already. the job i am framing right now, i supplied all of the rough-sawn. about 7mbf. sizes from 2X6 to 8X18. i keeps me busy and i am making some money. i mostly buy logs from various people, but also do some tree removal and easement clearing. when possible i take those logs too. i pay about 40 to 45 cents a bdft for good standing dead spruce.
sam

 

[Newfie]

"i pay about 40 to 45 cents a bdft for good standing dead spruce."

 

[Oregon_Rob]

Originally posted by Ryan Willock
Forgot to mention, I've got to go to WoodMizer's headquarters next we to pick up my LT40Super Hydrolic

Is it next week yet? Would love to hear your plans. Do you have a market...
Seems like this cold be a slick deal for you.

 

[Sawfiler]

Setworks.

Is anyone out there dissatisfied with their setworks? I was helping a friend up date his and it looked horrible. The setworks used an infrared light and a bunch of sensors mounted behind 4 rows of holes the whole way up and down. Plus the solenoid shutoff for his hydraulic motor was about 8-9 ft. away from the motor. So after the solenoid was shut off the leftover pressure in the 8-9 ft. line caused some drift. Are most setworks like this or did he just get a bum deal?

-Sawfiler

 

[Keener]

I have heard mixed reviews on the WM setworks, even from their reps.
I know of at least one case where the mill was returned and exchanged for one without setworks because of the frustration.
I also know that many small production mills make money because they use setworks.
Guess it depends on what day it got built

 

[John brayshaw]

Anyone out there with a woodmizer mill ?
I would like to know how many hours on your mill and what kind of reliability you have experienced.
Even if you don't own one perhaps you know of someone elses experience with one regarding reliability over the long haul.

I’ve have owned three Wood-Mizer’s over the past 20 years although they cut good and are pretty Orange, futuristic looking —you will experience numerous electric problems as time goes on. I am on their million board foot club and was on their pro sawyer network here in New England till last week. Two of my LT 40s caught fire in the electrical control box over the years. On my lt40 super remote and a brand new LT40 I purchased out of NY branch—Which they replaced the new mill in two days the whole MILL great service!! The LT 40 only had 17 hours on it. my LT 40 super remote had 800 hours on it when the electric boards caught fire on both and burned out all my electronics for a second time, second Mill. Had to end up disconnecting all the set works and electronics with a Woodmizer engineer on the phone. I now run it manually.
Their customer service is second to none though I will give them that for sure You will never meet a guy like a guy named Doug H. that works there —talk about valuable employees!! that guy is a champ!!
Let’s move on with the Cons::
The paint on the entire machine will start to fade in a year or two real bad as it’s painted and not powder coated like others. You will constantly have to adjust the machine to the bed as well as your side dogs Constantly. If you are a timberframer get a four post mill!! The Wood-Mizer is great for cutting boards but for finished beams you’ll find that most your cants will be out of square- and to get them square takes up a lot of time . That is really the big problem with woodmizers design —with the cantilevered head and the “two” weak side dog supports. Those side supports will constantly move out of square from the pressure of your center moving clamp dog. You will have to adjust the head constantly from under the machine as well which means a lot of shut down time if you do a lot of portable cutting. The hydraulics are also very slow in the cold weather even with the super remote—there does not seem to be much of a difference to me between the single pump and two pump design on the super in overall speed of the moving components. The 12 V wiring and all the electronics will cost you lots of money over the years with replacement motors and consumables. On the diesel model they put the diesel gas tank above the drive electric motor so diesel dripping on it will eat the motor contacts away —the diesel and lubemizer tanks they put on the machines are cheap and do not seal well at the caps and eventually deteriorate with sunlight. The blades will constantly break at the welds. There diesel engines with belt and brake design will not cut any quicker than a 25 horse power twin Kohler gas in a cheaper model as The drive belt will squeak and stop on both if you try to burn through quick — The blade will only power through so quick so I don’t find the engines in power make any difference to resistance of cut. If you get their set works it’s slow as molasses— you can run it twice as fast manually. All in all it’s a high maintenance mill—Just wouldn’t recommend it if you were going to be making a lot of beams for building post & beam style. I am actually moving to another mill competitor next month. Also they push the Christianity card as part of their company mission but if you talk to the individuals inside that work there that was a thing of the past or past owners. Another thing their cutting throat is real small on their bigger machines?? —most competitor machines now are 35-37 inches between the guide rollers versus Wood-Mizer’s 28 that’s the max you can finish out is 28 inches With a Woodmizer. Wood-Mizer just recently came out with a four post machine x-450 because their cantilevered head can’t cover the longer throat distance They are trying to get to. There cantilevered head On the outside point blade roller always needs to be set an eighth of an inch difference from the inside of the other blade roller which is a pain in the butt as well keeping constant.
Do not drop Or let anybody inexperienced drop a board or slab on the open,-unprotected-head drive chain or you be will done for the day.
I could keep going on and on another -OK—I will!! Haha —- the thing with the remote units: the remote plastic wire protector that moves back-and-forth with mill — will break apart in cold weather, intermittently or if water freezes on them in the track this is the skeletal covering of the wires that moves back-and-forth with the mill PITA!!. I guess in honest conclusion my main problem with woodmizer over these years is squaring beams up and getting good cuts. They’ll tell you whatever you want to hear —just like everyone else out there To sell a mill. I’ve made a good living over the years with mine but the repairs motors and electrical problems have cost me greatly. A major thing also to consider in closing Do not buy an older used mill of theirs! A lot of parts for their older Mills —Wood-Mizer has obsoleted or discontinued making, stocking etc.. Woodmizer lost contracts over the years with Kabota and other diesel and gas engine companies with their engines, parts and such —I think they have Yanmar now —good luck to anybody trying to get parts for anything woodmizer don’t have or use anymore!!!
If you have or purchase a Woodmizer mill with the Kabota diesel, cat diesel, Lombardini diesel or Onan engines and need any parts or consumables associated with those Mills beyond basic stuff —you will be **** out of luck. most those items they will tell you are obsolete and they don’t stock or make anymore. That’s the another majior problem with the company.

The Cons:
-Great Customer Service!!
-Great technical support !!
-Easy and quick to set up and get going
-Awesome offset leg supports Not in line with each other.
- excellent trailering
- very attractive people are drawn to it
-Low noise impact With good compact design
- rugged toe boards
-ease of sight down log

 

[northmanlogging]

Anyone out there with a woodmizer mill ?
I would like to know how many hours on your mill and what kind of reliability you have experienced.
Even if you don't own one perhaps you know of someone elses experience with one regarding reliability over the long haul.

Don't know much about them personally

But there are several mini mills around here that run Woodmizer, and have for decades.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

The shop here was a Woodmizer dealer for quite a few years.

My buddy runs an LT40 now, they've had several mills, first was bought in the 80s.

 

[KiwiBro]

I’ve have owned three Wood-Mizer’s over the past 20 years...[snip]

Thanks for taking the time to write up such a detailed review.

 

[2dogs]

Thanks for taking the time to write up such a detailed review.

And all in one breath.

 

[bitzer]

And all in one breath.

And only 14 years late

 

[KiwiBro]

Never too late to teach/learn. Obviously up to each reader to decide if it was a breathless hatchet job or sincere feedback.

 

[Canyon Angler]

I'm building a mill based on the Linn Lumber design.