Thread: Al's NEW mill

Hi,

I also find 3 cube of logs pretty close to average production for one man operated mill in a day dealing with the sawn timber included. I do find however that two man operation pretty much doubles production. You can pay an off sider pretty well and still have a bit of an extra profit that way. On top of that you are not as broken at the end of a long day.

Also have the 10-30 (older model) Fuel does work out at about 10L per day for me.

Originally Posted by Bernt

Hi,

I also find 3 cube of logs pretty close to average production for one man operated mill in a day dealing with the sawn timber included. I do find however that two man operation pretty much doubles production. You can pay an off sider pretty well and still have a bit of an extra profit that way. On top of that you are not as broken at the end of a long day.

Also have the 10-30 (older model) Fuel does work out at about 10L per day for me.

Thanks for that.

As you lift production another issue comes into play. Sawdust. Lots of it, particularly with a circular saw. On one particular job I used to wait until we were about knee deep in it and then we had to clear it away. We used to clear a trench alongside the mill with alarge aluminium shovel. finally we would have to deal with the mound. Luckily we had a FEL otherwise we would have been at it with a shovel for half an hour.

In the picture below the mill is set up on a slope. On the downhill side the sawdust is nearly at the level of the bed and on the uphill side the tailing roller, which was about 700mm high, is getting close to being buried.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

As you lift production another issue comes into play. Sawdust. Lots of it, particularly with a circular saw. On one particular job I used to wait until we were about knee deep in it and then we had to clear it away. We used to clear a trench alongside the mill with alarge aluminium shovel. finally we would have to deal with the mound. Luckily we had a FEL otherwise we would have been at it with a shovel for half an hour.

In the picture below the mill is set up on a slope. On the downhill side the sawdust is nearly at the level of the bed and on the uphill side the tailing roller, which was about 700mm high, is getting close to being buried.

Regards
Paul

Love your roof!!!!

Originally Posted by gumred

Love your roof!!!!

Thanks Gumred. It became an essential. That year was a particularly wet one and we lost many days to bogged conditions. When it wasn't wet it was red hot and I found myself unable to cope with twelve hours under a 35 deg sun!

I devised the shade cloth roof as a way of minimising the heat as we could not afford the luxury of stopping just 'cos it was a bit hot. It is not easy to see from the pic but one side of the shade roof telescopes into the other for transportation. It is untidy looking because the water bottle on top of the shuttle gets in the way and the downside is that a little extra weight is added to the shuttle which was already heavy enough. For example, it is considerably heavier than the Lucas Mill shutttle.

You will also note the Lucas mill in the background which worked alongside me for the whole time I was there. I thought I had better add that for the benefit of some people, whose names I won't mention, but as he started this thread.......

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Thanks Gumred. It became an essential. That year was a particularly wet one and we lost many days to bogged conditions. When it wasn't wet it was red hot and I found myself unable to cope with twelve hours under a 35 deg sun!

I devised the shade cloth roof as a way of minimising the heat as we could not afford the luxury of stopping just 'cos it was a bit hot. It is not easy to see from the pic but one side of the shade roof telescopes into the other for transportation. It is untidy looking because the water bottle on top of the shuttle gets in the way and the downside is that a little extra weight is added to the shuttle which was already heavy enough. For example, it is considerably heavier than the Lucas Mill shutttle.

You will also note the Lucas mill in the background which worked alongside me for the whole time I was there. I thought I had better add that for the benefit of some people, whose names I won't mention, but as he started this thread.......

Regards
Paul

This roof works a treat!!

Oh yes. Love the width . I cant see what material it is because of the lightplaying on the surface, but it looks like canvas or another tarpaulin material ?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

As you lift production another issue comes into play. Sawdust. Lots of it, particularly with a circular saw. On one particular job I used to wait until we were about knee deep in it and then we had to clear it away. We used to clear a trench alongside the mill with alarge aluminium shovel. finally we would have to deal with the mound. Luckily we had a FEL otherwise we would have been at it with a shovel for half an hour.

Regards
Paul

As I do most of my milling off site, sawdust is not too much of an issue. I have had multiple customers who seem much more excited about all the sawdust they get for the garden then the beautiful stack of timber they end up with. (Don't tell them about wood-chippers)

With the Lucasmill I find as long as you don't have to open the mill up for extra long logs, you can let the sawdust build up for days before it gets a problem. Just towards the end you start needing to watch your head around the top of the frames. Each log just rises the ground level a bit.

So how is the new mill running? I need an update.

Originally Posted by logboy73

So how is the new mill running? I need an update.

The new EFI run (SWEET) LOADS of EXTRA'S
If your thinking of buying one!! You should!!! YOU wont regret IT!!!

Originally Posted by gumred

The new EFI run (SWEET) LOADS of EXTRA'S
If your thinking of buying one!! You should!!! YOU wont regret IT!!!

Yeah, I am loving Sparky, great on fuel and a big difference on cutting so far, those new winch winders are very good too, still have issues with shoulders but not as much

I like the new brake cos if its on, it's on! but I dont like that the hole is not where you need it..... guess some drilling in Als future

Yap.
Your right. Winches are great . A few more hole's is needed.. apart from that!! ..ITS A REALLY NICE MACHINE

Sorry to hijack an old thread - Sigidi, I notice you talking about the lucas mill trolley brakes and drilling new holes - did you end up doing this? It was the first thing I noticed to using my new mill, the holes tended to be in inconvenient locations for the logs I had set up.

I'm sure I'll get better at this as time goes on (i.e. remember to set the log up in a better position relative to the rails), but drilling a few new holes occurred to me as well.

I'm a structural engineer, so I'm pretty confident that a few new holes along the rail won't adversely affect the capacity, especially near the ends. Just wondering if you did this and whether it was worthwhile?

No worries mate, no problem with a hi-jack.

I have gotten pretty used to the existing holes a bit better, but still need a few more - I'm thinking of putting a hole in between the existing holes, so I think 3 more holes from memory. Only just got back to work this monday