Rats.........CSM/Band dilemma

[MotorSeven]

It never fails, you reach a certain calculated CSM goal, then you sitting there at lunch minding your own business.....dumdeeedoo, hmmmmhmm. Then, WHAM! Your not so close neighbor walks up and throws a big ole monkey wrench into your mind by saying: " Hey i see you got that mill going, and gosh darn what do ya know, my next door neighbor just moved down here & he has a Woodmizer LT15 w/trailer package that he wants to sell." And he said it all with an innocent look on his face not knowing that he just might as well have been pointing a .45 at me. So after i shake off that "deer in the headlights look", i just had to ask.....how much? So i call the guy & he is asking $4,500. but i haven't seen it yet. Now i wasn't even thinking seriously about a band, but have recently been kicking around doing small/portable cabins as a sideline, & a band would be a necessity, and at the right price, and and and..... {sigh} too many options overloading this simple mind..........:help:
RD

 

[daemon2525]

I don't understand what the problem is? Just buy it!!! LOL!

 

[TNMIKE]

Why havent you bought it yet?

You can still use the Woodbug for the long stuff


I was thinking about your bridge dilemma..why cant your ford the creek and put a heavy duty snatch block on a big tree and use your tractor to winch power poles or whatever across it?

Ive got the same problem on a bridge i need to rebuild to my lower field. Ill probablse use this same idea to solve it. Ive got a huge snatch block if you need one.

 

[MotorSeven]

I may take you up on the snatch block. Or build one out of wood(sheese another reason for a band). Try this link: http://pacifi.ca/step1.html

RD

 

[TNMIKE]

When you get ready for it let me know

The block Ive got is HEAVY duty. If youve got some bull rope or steel cable youd be set. Id prefer cable..I saw a man get just about killed by a rope that broke under tension.

 

[zopi]

Buy. The. Mill. :greenchainsaw:


If it is in any shape at all that is a steal deal...even for an old one.

in fact I'm gonna go saw some 20" cypress right now.

byee!

 

[MotorSeven]

Zopi, I was hoping you chime-in. I watched the 'mizer video(s) & the hand crank quite frankly looks like it would get old(but not as old as pushing an 066 thru 20' of ash). I will report back on it's age and condition, heck the guy couldn't even remember what type or size engine it had, but he did say it was 'lectric start. I have forks on my tractor, so loading logs is not a prob. Anything specific i should look for? How many BF can a lone operator really turn out in an hr assuming it has a 12-15 horse engine?
RD

 

[zopi]

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'

 

[MotorSeven]

Thanks for the info Z, it helps me alot since i don't know much about Bands. I forgot to ask him if he had an extension, so i have my fingers crossed............
RD

 

[zopi]

no prob...

if it has a trailer..it has at least one extension..has to for the trailer kit...

 

[infomet]

Ppeople ask a lot for used mills, even though the demand is small in any given area. Price up the rig new and go down from there appropriately. The list of mill makers seems to be endless. I just found Logmaster, out of Texas. Second hand can save quite a bit on freight and tax!

 

[zopi]

The 4500 price tag is a good deal if the mill is in any kind of shape...new lt15
5600+trailer kit @ $1000+700 for the extension...keep in mind they don't sell new trailer kits anymore...can get parts tho...and that doesn't include any bands/cant hooks or whatever the guy may have..

my set up was right around 7800...mill, extension, log pro kit, logrite hook, and 15 blades...well..the did send me TWO ball caps...

 

[MotorSeven]

Info, your right, i spent a few hrs researching yesterday & there are a ton of bands out there at competive pricing. I found a Lumbermate 2000 on craigslist for $2,400....yep already "SOLD". I ain't in a hurry & in the meantime i have some walnut to mill with the 'bug!
Hmmmm, Zopi, if it has to have an extenstion for the trailer then my interest is peaked. Called the guy 3 times yesterday.....busy..:Eye: tic toc tic.....
RD

 

[zopi]

just dug into my manual...three bed sections are required, the middle one
must be the longer section that was introduced at revision 4.00 (using holes
in it to mount the stub axles) and then discontinued when the trailer package was discontinued..

heck, even if they still had the trailer, I would likely spend the grand on a
sharpener/setter...:greenchainsaw:

the trailer is a good thing tho'...the mill is not as easily portable as they imply...sure, two guys can put it into a pickup truck...two BIG guys...in a short pickup. little bugger is heavy.

i think I will build a cantilever axle to go under mine, so i can roll it up onto
my trailer easier...

Right after i build a log winch...right..like i will ever get all that crap done.

 

[MotorSeven]

Dilema over....fianlly got a holt of the guy & although it is in very good shape, no trailer pkg, no extension, 15 hp Kohler. Heck a new Lumbermate would be a better deal. No worrys, CSM until something better comes along!
RD

 

[TNMIKE]

Ah Heck

I was hoping this was gonna be the deal of a lifetime and then Id know someone close with a bad mill!!

 

[zopi]

yeah..at the price you'd be better to buy a new one and be the first to fart in the seat...


rats.