The search is over...Lumbermate 2000 23HP V-Twin (soon to take possession)

[TraditionalTool]

Nice spot to keep a mill tucked away in, and plenty of room for logs. I have a 11,000 lb forklift and it like hard surfaces like asphalt or it will stick it’s self so bad that it takes 3 ½ hours with a 1 ton truck, 35 ton jack, two shovels and a whole lot of blocking to get it out. It don’t go out on the gravel this time of year.

Yes, I agree it would make a nice spot for the mill, I have been looking at it and thinking about it for some time...

As this all started out, I felt intimidated to find a place to finish the log home build, and after looking for a while, the rent people wanted for small pieces of garbage lots was outrageous...keep in mind I live in the heart of Silicon Valley.

I finally found this place which was a real mess, but I spent $1500 to have a guy come in and clean it up and grade it for me. It's not perfect, but not too bad...it's just a tad small to build log homes, but big enough to build the one I'm building right now.

Honestly, what happened as I started getting more involved in working with logs is that I realized you must have a mill to do anything. Let's say I wanted to make fireplace mantels on the side, which I had thought about creating hand hewn mantels. Still need a mill for that, even once you get the logs.

Since I have the forklift, a sawmill was really a missing piece.

Also, I started pondering...I wonder if I could find logs...so I started to ask around and low and behold, loggers are really hurting in California, just like they are back east, people can't sell logs to save their life. The white pine I bought back east was close to $700/1000bf, which I thought was a pretty good price...my friend can now get it for $300/1000bf, and I can get Doug Fir out west for about the same price. Still, one needs a sawmill to do anything useful with those logs, at least without a lot of manual labor using an axe...

I don't know where this goes from here, but in order to work with logs you need to be able to have a place with a mill, be able to move them around, have a source for logs, as well as knowing people that can freight them...

I'm still putting the pieces together, and this is a hobby. But the intention was that aside from having a hobby, maybe there is some $$$s in it for someone that is ambitious. More so, if I needed to, I could try to make some money and eventually the logging industry might turn around and/or the housing market so that there is money to be made, if that makes sense. My industry is in the toilet like many others, so having more than one means to generate income sure can't hurt.

 

[Ted J]

Alan,
You could also just built a small "bumped out" roof on the side of that shed to keep the mill end out of the rain and in the shade, giving you full length access if ya need it. That way ya don't have to clean out that "napping shed"......

 

[Coalsmoke]

Hi Alan, yep the Honda runs like a dream now, it was a couple little things, design flaws if you will, that was boogering up the system. I'm happy now though.

 

[TraditionalTool]

Alan,
You could also just built a small "bumped out" roof on the side of that shed to keep the mill end out of the rain and in the shade, giving you full length access if ya need it. That way ya don't have to clean out that "napping shed"......

Ted,

I hadn't thought about it like that...lol Was thinking more in terms of trying to keep the sawmill secure and inside when not in use. My mentor has a similar setup where the sawmill carriage gets locked up in his shed while not in use and/or when they go home at night, to keep people away from it...people have a way of poking around things when they are left unattended.

There is a small piece of concrete on the side of the shed where I think something might have been placed on previously, I'm not sure what...but it's a bit small...I think it might hold the carriage portion of bed ok, I'll have to look at that and see. The shed itself has 15'-16' of concrete which would support about half of the bed. I don't have too much in the shed, 'cept my chainsaws and a compressor, and a few hand tools. I do like having the shed though.

There's a rundown cargo box next to the shed also, and another small area between the shed and cargo box that is covered. My plan is to let wood dry in there, I think the area is about 14' deep, and 10' wide, with a smaller room in the back. There is yet another ratty cargo box with a bunch of tile in it...the previous guy was a tile and cement guy...but there is some very usable tile in there...some of that could find it's way to my house...lol

Hi Alan, yep the Honda runs like a dream now, it was a couple little things, design flaws if you will, that was boogering up the system. I'm happy now though.

Honda makes good stuff, I like their equipment, cars, etc...when I lived in Japan I had a Honda Acty, which is a minivan with a 650cc engine in it (very much like a motorcycle engine), but it had plenty of power to drive on the expressway and would go about 100 kilometers tops...I hauled many many vintage guitars in that little minivan, and it was one of the few cars I've made money on in my life, due to the exchange rate change. I drove it for 4 years and sold it for a $200 profit, mainly because of the exchange rate. They call those K cars in Japan, and because they are fuel efficient you don't need to show proof of a parking spot...but I did have my own parking spot anyway...You occasionally see the K car/trucks being used as farm equipment in North America, but they don't meet the requirements with door beams and such, so rarely are they seen (Subaru, Honda, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi).

It rained again last night, and supposed to rain more in the next couple days. I'm gonna leave the yard as-is until Sat., when the mill and logs are supposed to come. Hopefully I don't have too much difficulty unloading, there's some very soft areas of the yard...and after getting the forklift stuck, I'd rather wait and let it dry...I got most of the logs moved together to clear enough space in the back of the yard where I can store the logs/cants that are coming...I HOPE!

 

[TraditionalTool]

Sawmill and logs being loaded up, will be here tomorrow it looks like!

Whooo-weee....my sawmill and Doug Fir logs are being loaded onto the truck as I type and it looks like it will be here tomorrow morning...

I am giddy like a kid in a candy store...

Hopefully unloading goes smoothly when it gets here, after getting the forklift stuck last week I am going to be cautious...still kinda wet out west, but the rain has been light the past couple days, not sure what the weather will be like tomorrow, I need to check that.

:rockn:

 

[Backwoods]

Set them forks wide and get the stickers ready so you have a place to set everything, and be gentle with her.

 

[TraditionalTool]

Set them forks wide and get the stickers ready so you have a place to set everything, and be gentle with her.

Naturally it's raining...AGAIN...doesn't want to let up on us. I will try to be gentle with her, you can bet on that. I'm not sure how the seller packed it on the trailer and/or if the carriage is separate or not. Yeah, my forklift has a single/double on it, so the forks widen out to 84" with the 4th control.

I hope the yard ain't too muddy tomorrow, 60 percent chance of rain...

I'll figure it out...

 

[Ted J]

All I can say is you better take pictures......!!

 

[TraditionalTool]

All I can say is you better take pictures......!!

That I will Ted, that I will...

 

[Coalsmoke]

So, you get your wood all cut yet?

 

[Backwoods]

So are you asking if he fired up the mill and milled a log or two before unloading the mill from the truck?:camera:

 

[Coalsmoke]

So are you asking if he fired up the mill and milled a log or two before unloading the mill from the truck?:camera:

He seems pretty eager, I wouldn't put it past him :biggrinbounce2:

 

[TraditionalTool]

Now we're Logging!

Coal, nah, I didn't cut anything and was lucky to get the stuff off the truck safely, my yard is pretty muddy, but I got the carriage inside the shed so it would be out of the rain, and left the 30' bed on top of some fitted logs, to keep it out of the mud. More rain coming, will most likely wait until it stops and the yard can dry up some.

Ok, here's some pics for 'yall...

Arrival:

First I unloaded the Doug Fir logs:

Here's the logs after I got them unloaded, not the neatest stack, but I need to get the bark off and bunk them, even before I got them.

Seller gave me these Ponderosa Pine cants for free, he had them laying around in his yard and had no plans for them, I gladly accepted them.

And here's the carriage after we carefully unloaded it and get it into the shed to keep it out of the rain that is due to come this evening...like we haven't had enough rain, it's been raining for several week for the most part, constantly. Lucky I didn't get the forklift stuck, I did tear the yard apart pretty good but raked it and after it rains hopefully everything will be fine.

Continued in next message...

 

[TraditionalTool]

Still logging...

Here's the 30 foot bed. It will most likely cut a 27' log, so not bad for now. In the future I would like to add about 10 feet.

The seller gave me these blades with the sawmill, they are Lenox blades. There's a couple new blades in the Norwood box. These Lenox blades are a tad rusty, but will clean up fine with some kerosene (easy on your hands also ). They were stored in an open shed/cover, so the moisture in the air rusted them a bit...they are still sharp (ouch!, DAMHIKT).

All in all a good day, it wasn't raining, although it was a bit muddy, but we got 'er done...

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

 

[Coalsmoke]

Nice work, glad you avoiding getting stuck.

 

[gemniii]

[slang]
You da Man!!
[/slang]
Way to go! Look forward to seeing some production pics.

 

[TraditionalTool]

Nice work, glad you avoiding getting stuck.

I was pretty proud of myself for not doing so...I screwed the center of the yard up pretty good, but just didn't stop in any one spot and just kept moving through it. Towards the end it seemed that the last couple big logs was going to get me stuck, but I just took it slow and steady, and dumped them at the pile...I drop a big log from about 8 feet in the air about half way through...no damage, and recovered fine!

I will get plenty of pics when I get it all setup and going, not to worry geminiii, I was really bummed recently as I thought my camera was dead, but it turns out that a common problem exhibited on my camera seems to only happen with the compact flash. I love to take pics, but just didn't want to expense another camera just yet...a Nikon D90 will be in my future, but for the time being I am fortunate to be able to have a sawmill and some logs to go with it.

 

[Coalsmoke]

I wonder if you could get a small set of cable chains for that forklift?

 

[Ted J]

I was pretty proud of myself for not doing so...I screwed the center of the yard up pretty good, but just didn't stop in any one spot and just kept moving through it. Towards the end it seemed that the last couple big logs was going to get me stuck, but I just took it slow and steady, and dumped them at the pile...I drop a big log from about 8 feet in the air about half way through...no damage, and recovered fine!

I will get plenty of pics when I get it all setup and going, not to worry geminiii, I was really bummed recently as I thought my camera was dead, but it turns out that a common problem exhibited on my camera seems to only happen with the compact flash. I love to take pics, but just didn't want to expense another camera just yet...a Nikon D90 will be in my future, but for the time being I am fortunate to be able to have a sawmill and some logs to go with it.

Cool..... congrats.

 

[Backwoods]

I just unloaded four truck loads of oak with the forklift. I broke my leg on the third load and was still able to unload the logs off the next two loads with the forklift and a sticker. You can make a good stack of logs if you keep the face of the stack vertical and roll the logs down the back side, I can stack them about 8’ high, what’s more is the forklift can pick them out off a good deck with some runners under it. You can make the decks as long as you have room for. This allows you more room to sort your logs.