In Poland with the new sawmill...

[Gerbutt]

Wow!!!!! Looking forward to the vids!

[delabodge]

looks great:thumbup:

[arboriculturist]

Yep. I've discussed it quite extensively with them.

 

Frankly, I'm not in it for the money. I think they make good machines (which is why I've bought one) and would like to see a bit more competition in the UK sawmill market. It shouldn't cost as much as it does for a good solid mill.

 

Clive, I'll give you a buzz in the morning.

 

Trak met - Did you see their double side edge saw in operation whilst you were over there?

[Big J]

I didn't see a double sided mill there.

 

Right, time for an update. Apologies for the lack of videos or photos - they will be forthcoming next week. One of the chaps who works for me took literally hundreds this week, and will give me a USB with them next week.

 

So, update: very good indeed, could be better with some tweaking, but I have a very broad range of requirements for it. The wide carriage/throat is a really cheap extra (£700 or thereabouts) which means you can slab some monster logs with ease, but it doesn't uprate the hydraulics, which could probably do with some uprating. I'll be feeding this back to Trak-met, so that their wide slabbing mills are better suited for 4ft diameter lumpy elm butts! Either way, it's nothing insurmountable and easily addressed with a forklift.

 

The mill is fast, but only since I sorted the blades. The bands that came with it were badly under set resulting in poor cuts. They were generally only registering a 0.4mm set and an increase to 0.7mm has improved the cutting immeasurably. It could still be better, as you will still get the odd little wave through complicated grain, but this is also down to lack of experience sharpening and learning to use the mill. Finally, I think that the overall quality of the blades is poor (softer, thinner metal than I'd like) but then they were extremely cheap.

 

Production is hugely quicker compared to the Logmaster. Like for like on largish elm (appreciating and pointing out as well that the Trak-met will munch through 40 inch butts through and through without batting an eye lid, something the Logmaster could never have done - would have required the log to be halved) the Trak-met is nearly twice as quick. We had three shortish days cutting 50mm elm this week (6hr cutting days, so 17hrs total cutting time as we finished an hour earlier today) and cut 915 hoppus foot. Best day was 380 hoppus, which could easily be beaten. That's 34 tonnes in what could have easily been 2 long days.

 

The key to it's speed (and why it's head and shoulders above all UK competition in it's price range) is the wide head. It will handle a small log just as well as a Woodmizer, but the fact that you don't have to wiggle and prat about with the log on anything larger than 30" (which was the point where the limited throat became an issue on the Woodmizer and the Logmaster) means you spend a lot more time cutting, and a lot less time pissing about with the hydraulics and standing on top of the log cutting a path for the guide roller.

 

It's spectacularly economical to run as well. Those 17 hours of operation used about 45 litres of red diesel. That's £20. It's also extremely quiet, being electric, as well as smooth as well. The uprights can be a bit groany on up and down movements if they aren't well greased, but it's a minor point.

 

The hydraulic functions are excellent. As previously mentioned, they could be a bit more powerful, but it's not really an issue. The electric movements of the head (up and down, forward and back) could also be a bit quicker, but that's more of an issue with softwood than hardwoods. It's again something I'm going to feed back to them.

 

Anyway, if you are looking for a wide cutting, all singing, all dancing mill for a smidge over £20k, speak to Trak-met. Or me.

 

Videos and photos will follow.

[arboriculturist]

I didn't see a double sided mill there.

 

Right, time for an update. Apologies for the lack of videos or photos - they will be forthcoming next week. One of the chaps who works for me took literally hundreds this week, and will give me a USB with them next week.

 

So, update: very good indeed, could be better with some tweaking, but I have a very broad range of requirements for it. The wide carriage/throat is a really cheap extra (£700 or thereabouts) which means you can slab some monster logs with ease, but it doesn't uprate the hydraulics, which could probably do with some uprating. I'll be feeding this back to Trak-met, so that their wide slabbing mills are better suited for 4ft diameter lumpy elm butts! Either way, it's nothing insurmountable and easily addressed with a forklift.

 

The mill is fast, but only since I sorted the blades. The bands that came with it were badly under set resulting in poor cuts. They were generally only registering a 0.4mm set and an increase to 0.7mm has improved the cutting immeasurably. It could still be better, as you will still get the odd little wave through complicated grain, but this is also down to lack of experience sharpening and learning to use the mill. Finally, I think that the overall quality of the blades is poor (softer, thinner metal than I'd like) but then they were extremely cheap.

 

Production is hugely quicker compared to the Logmaster. Like for like on largish elm (appreciating and pointing out as well that the Trak-met will munch through 40 inch butts through and through without batting an eye lid, something the Logmaster could never have done - would have required the log to be halved) the Trak-met is nearly twice as quick. We had three shortish days cutting 50mm elm this week (6hr cutting days, so 17hrs total cutting time as we finished an hour earlier today) and cut 915 hoppus foot. Best day was 380 hoppus, which could easily be beaten. That's 34 tonnes in what could have easily been 2 long days.

 

The key to it's speed (and why it's head and shoulders above all UK competition in it's price range) is the wide head. It will handle a small log just as well as a Woodmizer, but the fact that you don't have to wiggle and prat about with the log on anything larger than 30" (which was the point where the limited throat became an issue on the Woodmizer and the Logmaster) means you spend a lot more time cutting, and a lot less time pissing about with the hydraulics and standing on top of the log cutting a path for the guide roller.

 

It's spectacularly economical to run as well. Those 17 hours of operation used about 45 litres of red diesel. That's £20. It's also extremely quiet, being electric, as well as smooth as well. The uprights can be a bit groany on up and down movements if they aren't well greased, but it's a minor point.

 

The hydraulic functions are excellent. As previously mentioned, they could be a bit more powerful, but it's not really an issue. The electric movements of the head (up and down, forward and back) could also be a bit quicker, but that's more of an issue with softwood than hardwoods. It's again something I'm going to feed back to them.

 

Anyway, if you are looking for a wide cutting, all singing, all dancing mill for a smidge over £20k, speak to Trak-met. Or me.

 

Videos and photos will follow.

 

Wow - that's a comprehensive post.

 

Just trying to keep dry at this end - rain since October!

We need to get dry cover sorted before end of 2016 as productivity suffers.

 

I for 1 are looking forward to your further posts, all much appreciated.

 

Happy New Year.

[wills-mill]

Thanks for that. Excellent write up!

[Big J]

Here are a few photos of the largest elm log we've put through as of yet. About 50 inches diameter. Just required a little bit of trimming to fit, but pretty minimal. Boards cut through and through.

 

Videos will follow - need to get that USB stick!

 

 

 

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12510299_10154465441688136_2124134095899033774_n.jpg?oh=4f59c7a40d0ec93ae1852e669a921c7e&oe=56FBE4F9

[Big J]

Video of the mill in action, on a slightly smaller log:

 

 

 

[sandspider]

Can't view the video Big J? "Content not available at the moment". Might be only visible to your friends...

[Big J]

Can't view the video Big J? "Content not available at the moment". Might be only visible to your friends...

 

Sorted - sorry about that. It was set only for friends to view. Public now.