witch portable sawmill

[weisyboy]

gday

i am going to buy a swing saw in the neer future and i have a prety good idea of what i like and dont like but was after some other opinions.

lucas 6/13 - 13hp, 6" cut, 5m tracks, log diamater 1.35m total weight 255kg, 2 blades, tool kit.- price $9500.00
http://www.lucasmill.com/OurProducts/CircularSwingBladeMills/Model613/tabid/265/Default.aspx

peterson ATS6 13hp, 6" cut, 4m tracks, frame width 1.2m.- price $11863
http://www.petersonsawmills.com/products_ats.htm#specs_table

ecosaw compact not sure on the specs on this one.- price $10000
http://www.ecosaw.com/eshp/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=35

[echnidna]

I think they're all much the same.

have you seen them operating at Field Days & Shows?

That may help you choose which setup you prefer

[West OZ Mark]

Cant coment on the others as I have never used them before but my first mill was a 6.5" 18hp Lucas Saw. I was very happy with it and it served me well. I had the slabbing attachment with it as well.
A couple of years ago I upgraded to the 8.5" Lucas and as I have said before on this forum that I have found the service from Lucas great. :2tsup:
The only reason I upgraded was that I found 8" boards worked out better for my use and most clients ask for 8"x2".

Thanks...Mark

[weisyboy]

i have seen them all operating at the maleny wood exop and i have a good idea of what i like the lucas and the peterson ats are practicly identical.

[echnidna]

I prefer the peterson overall,
Though if I needed to get into really hard to get at places it would be the Lucas

[weisyboy]

what is the reason for you prefering the peterson and what makes it less portable

there is a poll up there you know

[echnidna]

I prefer the styling of the Peterson, nothing else.

They are both good machines and I expect you will be happy with either of them.

[weisyboy]

what is the style diferece they look prety mutch the same to me.

[echnidna]

I prefeered the Peterson rails, but its years since I looked at them both so they may have changed a bit by now

[funkychicken]

Lucas all the way!

[weisyboy]

they both use an aluminimum rail whit a ledge on the top that a groved wheel runs on. as far as i know.

[salty72]

I looked into a Peterson but the office hours were hard to work around, also only one agent in the whole of Australia. So went with the flow and bought a LUCAS 830 and very happy, have over 40Hours on the Clock, ......must admit a little more training would have been better, not just on how to flip the blade and pull it thru, but how to judge what is a good log and the best the best method to cut them etc....

[BUNTA]

Weisy i have a Lucas 8/25 & its simple to use & the guys at lucas are good to deal with as well.
i bought mine 2nd hand & it runs like a clock.

[charlsie]

weisy is there a reason you want the 6" mill. personally i wish my lucas could cut and resaw 10" boards. the reason for this is treated pine 10" wide boards a worth alot more per cube of timber. and i dont know if you can put the larger 8" or 9" blade straight on to the 6" machine.
i'm with mark on the way lucas do support their customers it's second to none. salty the (timber training creswick ltd) do a certificate 3 in forest and foresst products course. it takes a week but it is well worth it

[weisyboy]

i cannot aford to go bigger than the 6" aat the moment but i would love to go with the 8" if someone wants to give me $6000

an old mate of me fathers (jack watson) dose the chainsaw licencing etc so i am weel set in that area.

[jmaxwell]

Wisey is the skillmill one of the ones you are looking at i thought that it was around $6000 is . Also jack is a wealth of knowledge with any thing to do with timder and sawmilling even stories about timber cutters in the hills behind you ,his father owned the saw mill at toowoong near the railway station,i don't even remember a mill there .

[weisyboy]

the skill mils is to small for what i want 4" cut and is 5 grand.

jack is a bloudy good takler.

is father owend the moggil sawmill that was were the kenmore woolowrths is. then they baught out a nother mill and moved. jack spent most of his younger years round the hills up here then went cutting timber all over qld and northern nsw untill he inherited the mill. then he became a builder for a few years and returnd to milling. he also worked with my father for quite a wile driving his old komatsu dozer.

[Ianab]

i cannot aford to go bigger than the 6" aat the moment but i would love to go with the 8" if someone wants to give me $6000



Double check on the Peterson pricing, they have a better range of engine/blade options.

You can get an 8" cut 13hp ATS for maybe $750 more than the 6" unit. It wont be super fast in the 8" cuts, but it will be about the same in the 6" and below stuff.

Ian

PS I vote Peterson, but you wont be dissapointed with the Lucas either. I dont know enough about the Ecosaw to comment either way.

[echnidna]

Go for the 8" saw if possible Carl.

[BobL]

Weisy, if you are asking "witch" mill surely it has to be a "wizard"? (and yes they do exist!) :D

[Darkwood]

I've owned an EcoSaw for 14 months. The machine is fine, when its running, but time and again I have found the after sales service from EcoSaw to be frankly, very very poor.

Each day for a while I've been regretting that I didn't buy either a Lucas or a Peterson.:no::((:((:((:((:((:((:~

[Sigidi]

I've owned an EcoSaw for 14 months. The machine is fine, when its running, but time and again I have found the after sales service from EcoSaw to be frankly, very very poor.

Each day for a while I've been regretting that I didn't buy either a Lucas or a Peterson.:no::((:((:((:((:((:((:~



Darkwood, I've only ever looked at Ecosaw's website once and never gone back - sorry to hear you've been having trouble.

Although having said this I have had regret regarding my Lucas, after nearly 500 hours on a 618, I regret not buying the 827 at the time!!!

Weisyboy, put it off mate, wate til you can rustle up th extra dollars, or look into a payment plan with Lucas. If you have the coin to buy a 613 outright, then the re-payments for the extra taken over a few years will be les then 1 cubic metre processed a fortnight. Not really hard to work it, what do you reckon?

I would say to everyone out there, there is no better machine than a Lucas, there sales, after sales and technical knowledge is far above expectation. BUT buy the biggest machine you can even if you have to hang on a bit or borrow some coin. I know feel 'stuck' with my mill, wanting to buy it's big brother.

The huge regret I feel over not buying the bigger machine is only conteracted by my extreme happiness with having my Lucas...

Have I convinced you Carl? Give me a ring/PM me mate, I'll happily talk real figures and real returns with you. I've said it everywhere I'm not a rep or employee of Lucas, just a bloody happy owner/operator and I don't want anyone else to have the kind of regret I have.

Salty72, now you have an 830 and you've run it through it's paces, can you imagine doing th ejob with less than half the ponies under the bonnet??

[Exador]

What he said^^^^^^^. Sawmilling is one game where you can never have too much power.

[charlsie]

the other blokes have said it and i'll back them up. save the coin, wait , then get the bigger saw. you won't regret it