Thread: Transporting Lucas Mill

Originally Posted by asheddie

Hi all, sorry if I'm asking questions that have already been asked previously. I now have the 10/30 Lucas Mill at home. I've unpacked it and currently have it tucked away in the shed. Its been over 40 degrees for the last 3 days in a row and looking to be the hottest December in history for South Australia. Because of this weather and the fire danger, I haven't put it together or started it yet.

I have a few questions.

How do people transport the Mill efficiently? I have the small truck, but with only a small 3.6m tray the mill will take up most of it! I plan on getting a tow bar installed so I can tow a trailer for the mill, and keep the truck for the timber.
Is there a proper way to pack up all the poles and bits and peices for transport, or just lay them all down and try to avoid them banging into each other?
I'd love to see some pictures of other peoples set up's.

My next question is regarding summer milling.
Can it be done? From what I'm reading it seems that the timber dries too quickly and may twist or crack? Is this correct? If so, is this for all timber, or more for hardwoods only?

Trunk diameter... I keep reading 600mm minimum. Are there any exceptions to this rule? for example I have a few blackwood logs that are only 450mm x 4m, but solid and look to be in decent condition. They were cut many years ago. With smaller logs like this am I best off cutting pen, bowl and salt & pepper blanks etc?
What is the general rule of thumb with slab width? is there a minimum?

As you can probably tell I'm very new to this. I'm reading many old posts and watching lots of youtube videos, but its hard to find answers to exact questions. I'm sure I'll learn a huge amount as I start milling and I'll make lots of mistakes too!

As usual, any advice is relly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ash.

Great to see mill has arrived Ash
Would recommend that you don't mill during these 40 degree hot spells
Wait till it cools down a tad
As for slab widths...i go down as low as 150mm,but use the blade not the slabber
With smaller logs dock them at branch intervals and mill into pen/grinder blanks etc
Docking your smaller logs into shorter increments will reduce internal tension too
So many options with the Lucas...you will develop your own skill set in time
Your fortunate to have some Blackwood to mill up as well
But again,wait till the weather is cooler...maybe autumn is a better time ...MM

This was me, just a few days ago - 3 boards a minute...can't get video to load. We sliced through 2 logs, 4.8 cubic metres in total, after lunch. The only drama with hot weather milling is for the operator.
If you think about it, the timber industry doesn't stop supply during summer.....
Where are you getting information regarding only milling 600mm dia logs? Please be aware, there is a lot of 'information' available online, that really isn't worth the time taken to read it, and being new its hard because people make sounds like they know, but they just don't. Sitting on a keyboard isn't an indication of if they have any clue what they are talking about.

If you wanted, while its too hot, make a quick trip over the border, come see us at the mill for a day, I'll happily go through some hands on stuff, so you can see what's what.

As for transporting the mill - I have a model 10 and it all packs up in the back of my 2.6m ute tray. In fact the tray is about 100mm too long. This includes all parts of the mill, mill tool box, 2m track extensions, slabbing attachment, slabbing tool box, 2 24” chainsaws, log bolsters, tapers to roll the logs up onto the bolsters, cant hook, iron bars, barking bars, fuel Jerry's for mill and chainsaw, oil for slabber, 10l water bottle, lunch Esky and chair for lunch, plus my normal 4 tray cantilever tool box and hi lift jack. I'd say your tray would have no problem fitting it. Maybe take a trailer for the timber??

Thanks for the advice guys. Its a nice 37 degrees here already and its only 7:59 in the morning...
It's hard for a newbee to study online because as Sigidi mentioned, there is so much conflicting information on the net. Its great to hear from some experienced millers. I wish I could come for a road trip to see you mill and pick your brain, but I work at a resort and run the farm. Its our silly season in hospitality. No chance of getting time off unfortunately. In a few months I may well take you up on that offer though. My father has moved to QLD, I'm yet to visit him either. He's coming to mine for christmas, he has been helping out on some farms up there milling timber also. once a farmer, always a farmer!

I've read the 600mm reference a few times, but I may have taken it out of context? maybe that's just best for straight boards? Less stresses in the log?

I have lots of wattle trees that only grow to 250-300mm thick before they die. I've made some pens from them and really like the timber. I'll definitely try to harvest a bit of this timber. Worst case is it cracks and warps. No harm in trying! Better than turning into firewood.

Its interesting to hear about milling in summer. I'm eager to try the mill out. I think I'll drop a pine and have a play around very soon. There is a cool change predicted for tonight. I doubt I'll get much time before xmas though.

The mill will pack down smaller than I realised by the sounds of it.

Well I may not have ever started the mill, but I have a Lucas Mill hat that I'm proudly wearing now! I must be the real deal...

I agree with MM, summer milling has its problems. Fast initial drying is never good for timber.
On the other hand, much of Aust hardwood is milled and sold green. Basically straight off the saw. Fast drying and splitting become the customers problem. If you intend to air dry your timber, give summer a big miss. We stop milling end of October and dont do much until April. Plenty of other stuff to keep you busy Im sure.
If you feel the need to go out in the noonday sun, there are a few tips that may help:
End seal all logs.
Try to keep sawn timber in shade.
Sticker close (300mm)
Sticker right to ends of boards, leaving no overhang.
Cover packs with shade cloth.
Fine water spraying in hot weather helps.

Transport, back when I used to believe in the efficiency of taking mill to logs: mine traveled along in a tandem trailer hooked behind the truck. Only recurrent issue I ever had was that the circlips that hold the carriage rollers would spring out regularly: given that it happened about as regularly as the gauges rattled out of the truck dash, or the toolbox mounts got stress cracks I'd consider it a non issue and a tribute to the build strength of the mill that thats all that ever broke. Joys of beating up and down - if not the road less traveled then definitely the road less graded.

Summer Milling? We be hard at it again today. When the fuel starts to vaporise its too dammed hot to work and you need to go take a camp under a tree: ie generally speaking you'll kill the man before you'll kill the mill. I accidentally nicked the water line where it crosses over the gearbox a few years back... middle of no-where so I just kept on cutting with a steady drip of water onto the box. Fines stuck to the wet box and it took me about ohhhh... 1 sharpening to realise the box was now running significantly cooler. I replaced the line, then deliberately nicked the new line in a better place to replicate the gearbox cooling effect. Maybe not an approved mod but y'know.... I might be setting a record for the most hours on a Lucas gearbox too. Only problem I've had since is on a frosty morning when I've forgotten to clean the crud off at the end of the previous day and couldnt mill till it warmed up due to the layer of frozen sawdust coating the box.

Summer milling and timber. Timber movement (spring cup bow and twist) happens regardless of season. You either learn to cut straight boards and handle them to keep them straight or you don't and go looking to blame weather/ bad luck/ bad trees/ bad karma/ bad looks from the cow that used to stand under the tree. It's a milling issue and nothing more. Sunlight is a killer of green timber so you need to keep stacks in the shade. Too much heat is what we build kilns for... but too much airflow when its green can cause significant increase of checking. Control you airflow like you control your timber movement and its a non issue. Shade cloth and water and careful stickering as per Rustynail is the way to go. Its the most important job in the mill behind cutting a good board in the first place.

Trunk size? I think theres three numbers that matter, (and this is my experience and opinion and others mileage may vary) We mill down to 250mm SED. I wish we didnt have to go so small but its a compulsory log so seeing as we gets to pay for it... but yeah, you can mill them smaller if you wanted but even at that size I am of the opinion that cost of milling vs recovery value its not cost effective. You just cant get enough tonnage through in a day to be going forward, and thats me with some serious support equipment in a fixed installation. Around 350mm I feel is the break even point in terms of cost vs recovery value. And somewhere around that 450 mark or better ... and definately by the 600 mm size... the Lucas will really come into its own. They are a really good "big log mill", and while they can cut small logs they cant do it quick enough to make it pay IMHO. Log handling beats you. Feed them big logs and theres not much out there that can keep up.

Trunk diameter and cut widths: the rule of thumb is 1/3 the diameter is about the maximum width of board you want to chase if backsawn. You can cut wider and they'll look fine green but they will have a propensity to cup when dry. You can argue with cup somewhat in a stack but its not always easy to do so in thicker sections.
As rules of thumbs go its only very general because different species and from log to log there can be a big differnetial in the internal stresses that make it want to cup.
If chasing quartersawn rule of thumb is for 1/4 of the diameter. Again it will vary widely from species to species and tree to tree. There is little market demand for boards under 100mm wide free of sap so it requires bigger logs to give well behaved timber: hence the market premium for Q/S material.

Some fantastic replies, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. I really have learnt a huge amount from your advice. No milling
for me this week as I'm just too busy, but I do get to pick up the MS880 tomorrow

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  Kind regards,
  
  Ash.
  
  

I think we need to factor in the difference in humidity between North Queensland and South Australia. Even here in NSW low humidity becomes an issue during summer months. When this is added to by hot northerly winds you can stand among the packs and listen to the boards cracking.
A hot wind never blew anyone any good.

Originally Posted by rustynail

I think we need to factor in the difference in humidity between North Queensland and South Australia. Even here in NSW low humidity becomes an issue during summer months. When this is added to by hot northerly winds you can stand among the packs and listen to the boards cracking.
A hot wind never blew anyone any good.

i don't disagree Ken. I might be situated here in one of the best places for air drying I've ever seen, well at least through to 15% and then we have to bake it. But I used to work in a mill in Charters Towers and if you want hot and dry that'll do it!

drying too fast there was a major issue about 8 months of the year, even in winter due to the very low ambient humidity and the 15 knot breeze. Hessian sheets hung across the windward side of the drying shed to break the wind and a trickle hose along the top of that to keep wetting the hessian down after September when it started to warm up.

There is little any of us can do to control ambient temperature, but temp by itself won't hurt drying timber. If you can control the airflow then it is possible to create a respectable drying micro environment "inside the stack" regardless of whether it's hot or cold. Retard airflow enough and the inside of the stack will stay humid despite the heat, increase it enough and the timber will dry despite it being cold and wet.

Unfortunately, we get the wind with the heat. I agree, heat alone is not an issue once timber is stickered and stacked, but a small operator, working alone, will have problems straight off the saw on hot days. Surface checking in these conditions is quick.