What Mill??

[jonsey]

Hi,

I am seriously considering purchasing a mill, but which one?? its going to be fairly busy as I have tons and tons of good joinery / furniture quality hardwood (ash and Syc) and even more softwood (Larch and Douglas) that i want to covert into structural timber..any suggestions as to what is the best value fully hydraulic saw out there??

Thanks in advance.

j.

[morten]

Hi,

I am seriously considering purchasing a mill, but which one?? its going to be fairly busy as I have tons and tons of good joinery / furniture quality hardwood (ash and Syc) and even more softwood (Larch and Douglas) that i want to covert into structural timber..any suggestions as to what is the best value fully hydraulic saw out there??

Thanks in advance.

j.

 

For structural timber, nothing beats the Alaskan Mini Mill, IMO Alaskan Mini Mill and an appropriately powerful chainsaw with a ripping chain (Stihl MS 660 or similar).

 

Unless, of course you have enough timber to justify a band saw mill, like a Woodmizer.

 

EDIT: Didn't realize you were looking for "fully hydraulic saw". Sorry. But a Mini Mill will be able to handle trunks in hard-to-get areas, and turn them into structural timer. May need a hi-lift for lifting trunks off the ground, though.

Edited December 29, 2012 by morten

[Rob D]

Sounds like you may need a large bandsaw as there isn't many fully hydraulic options for chainsaw mills and swingmills.... Big J on here has done a lot of research and would be worth asking.

 

 

 

[Big J]

Lots of hydraulic mills on the market, but the reality is that the only mill company established in this country with reasonable aftersales backup is Woodmizer. If you are looking for a used machine, this will be your only option.

 

Fairly new into the country are Timberking, who I really like the look of. The 2000 model is an excellent all round mill equivalent to the Woodmizer LT40. It is however a bit cheaper and will produce larger boards. There are also other benefits.

 

There are a good range of American hydraulic bandmill manufacturers out there including (but not limited to) Logmaster, Baker, Turner, CookSaw and others I can't remember at the moment. For dimensional timber, I think that the Logmaster LM2 looks to be a cracking machine, and at $25k, it's bloody good value too.

 

The only UK manufacturer is Autotrek, and from speaking to a couple of folk, they aren't well regarded. Aftersales support is also supposedly rubbish.

 

There are several marvelous German manufacturers, such as Serra and Wimmer. I particularly like Wimmer, and spoke to the chap who runs it. Not a cheap saw though - I doubt that you would have much change from £70k once it was in the country.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Jonathan

[jonsey]

Thanks Guys, more food for thought, basically it was a toss up between Timberking and Woodmizer LT40 but i will check out the other american maufacturers, and as im in no hurry (this is a summer project) it wont bother me to much that theres a 3 month waiting period for an American macine!!

[Big J]

Thanks Guys, more food for thought, basically it was a toss up between Timberking and Woodmizer LT40 but i will check out the other american maufacturers, and as im in no hurry (this is a summer project) it wont bother me to much that theres a 3 month waiting period for an American macine!!

 

If you can handle the wait, I'd just go for a Logmaster LM2. Very solid machine for the money and seems the most robust.

[Big J]

You've got me thinking again about the Logmaster! Price for the LM2 (21ft 6" x 36 inch log capacity - same diameter and 1ft long than the Woodmizer) with 38hp Kohler Petrol (diesel is a $5500 option) and hydraulic debarker is only £16600 plus delivery and import taxes (about 1.5%). I reckon I could almost sell my Woodmizer and buy that without incurring extra cost.

 

The thought of a nice new mill without a single electric motor (all hydraulic) is very tempting.

 

Jonathan

[6scotty6]

Is there a uk dealer for the LM2 ? Wouldn't it be tricky to get parts ? Only asking as I was on the phone to woodmizer today and the total price is roughly the same as an LT20 with standard hydraulics. Is the LM2 a great machine?

 

Cheers

Scott

[Big J]

Is there a uk dealer for the LM2 ? Wouldn't it be tricky to get parts ? Only asking as I was on the phone to woodmizer today and the total price is roughly the same as an LT20 with standard hydraulics. Is the LM2 a great machine?

 

Cheers

Scott

 

No UK dealer, but Woodmizer UK don't have the best reputation for parts anyway. I had mine serviced last year and the (Woodmizer rep) chap doing it had to fabricate some pretty basic bed aligning bolts, of which there are about a dozen of on the machine. Woodmizer UK didn't have any, nor the factory in Poland apparently.

 

Looking at the LT20 specs (a machine that I am admittedly not familiar with), there looks to be little that is hydraulic on it other than log loading. Maximum log size of 32 inch isn't ideal either.

 

Logmaster are looking for distributors I think, so there could be potential there.

 

Jonathan

[delabodge]

whats the website address or link Big J to have a gander?