youcallthatbig

do it for 25 years and then see what you think.....

cut as per rh side of image, not all oaks have prominent ray in my experience, some huge trees i have milled have yielded some very plain QS boards, unlike the ones in the image.These came from a tree 78" dia, cross cut to length, halved then quartered by chainsaw, cut into cants to give board width then milled to required boards. I always thought that QS meant saw cut was at a greater tangent angle than 45* to growth ring,

I run an autotrek with a 4" wide blade, cutting up to 1mt wide, unless the log is mild without knots I would only attempt such a cut with a recently sharpened blade, on a 2" wide or narrower blade i would say the accuracy of cut along with speed of cut would be open to question, so tend to wholeheartedly agree with Big J on all his points. Seriously, how many logs do you have access to that requires a 48" or wider T&T cut so that the purchase is a no brainer....otherwise stick with what you have got.

its 48" dia american white oak, with no loading on site...... suggested an alaskan to him....

what make is the mobile mill, got a client in n.norfolk that might beinterested in your serices as the autotrek i run only goes to 38"ish

or you could try this... https://www.preservation-solutions.com/product/end-grain-sealer/

been in yard for several years before I thought it would be just firewood..... sound in middle of 8'lengths , so happy days ... cut with bowl blanks in mind by chainsaw, that way the end user can determine what and how he uses the material, automatically cutting everything as thick boards limits usage and creates more work!

if it is the Tim Perkins I think it is John, he's in Halesworth if it is.....I don't know, all these locals buying there own mills....no wonder I will never be rich....

No not many, but even if you catch the head on something in the hedge and bend it out of alignment you will wish you would have had it inboard..... The Autotrek ,Wimmer, not sure about the bigger Serra(I know you can reduce the width of the heads on some of the Bavaria models), certainly turn through 90*,but these will be wider then your mill, and these are generally built like brick out houses, not decrying the build quality of your mill but I bet it is not using the same gauge steel as those.....I would certainly have it inboard, on twin axles and only 7mts long, towing anything much longer and turning into gateways could be a PITA unless its double gated.

and even at 7metres long with a single axle you will need to be getting the weight distribution spot on....

so will running wheels be the width of the cutting head assembly, or are you planning to turn it 90* and fix it in place, otherwise your head will most likely be the widest part of the mill/trailer combination, meet a lorry coming in the opposite direction and you might need some clean underwear.... just a thought from towing mills around country lanes for the past 20 odd years....

yes, to the outside bit, but not a tarp, just a roof with good overhang ,with sticks within 2" of the board ends then every 15-18" all cut equal thickness, and placed accurately above preceding stick...... nice bit of "lacewood" btw....

Afternoon folks, I have had an enquiry for milling from the Stevenage area, it is too far away from me in Norfolk to consider. 10 pcs of Oak, up to 750mm Dia @ 3mt lengths, Please pm me for contact details, (bandsaw users only please) Tim

gary, lol..thanks for that....and your right about the multi stem..

Andy, I agree with you, I have just been asked to find someone who would be prepared to convert these logs, I have advised owner it would be questionable as to economic viability....but as we all know.. the customer is always right! Btw..they are(were) apparently 6' in dia.

afternoon all, I have been contacted by a prospective client who has had two beech trees felled in his front garden, they have been "worked on" already by somebody as the pictures show, access is good for mobile mill or Alaskan. The only negative is the proximity of a public footpath near the logs, and the quality of the remaining timber that you will have to work with....... I do not want the job for a variety of reasons, but if anybody seriously wants to help this bloke out, please pm me and I will give you his contact details. Tim

morning folks, found these emerging / crawling about on the ends of recently felled oaks, only in sap wood area, they were live yesterday ,but it was lashing it down with rain so did not take photos, they were actually springing off the logs onto the ground believe it or not, now, 24hrs later all appear dead and much fewer in number ,and having been sprayed with insecticide this am even fewer alive I hope..... curious to know what they might be larvae of.. looked like a small maggot, so assume from a flying insect, I am not into entomology so am at a loss, presume not the processional oak moth as these appear to form nests on surface of bark.... but there were thousands of the things yesterday.. hope somebody with more knowledge can enlighten me. cheers in advance Tim

Afternoon all. having taken delivery of about 4500hft3 of planking/beam oak and ash in the last few weeks, I am endeavouring to find a solution /prevention of the attack from the little black beasties for obvious reasons. Has anyone got any recommendations, I have looked at the "forest research" guide leaflet , and have got some "forester" insecticide coming, active ingredient being cypermethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, this apparently is probably going to be the only chemical available in the short term for this useage, all other brands of insecticide on the leaflet seem to use an active ingredient that is now considered banned for knap sack spraying (chlorpyriphos,an organophosphate) but is suitable for mechanical spraying of brassicas..... My concern is that forester is primarily used in the treatment of weevil on pines, and does not mention the pin hole/ambrosia beetle when listing insects that bore etc etc.....here's hoping that time and money will not be wasted. any body got an alternative known preventative measure? Tim

Speak to Loglogic about the Autotrek, get it made as a static mill, 6.5m cut length as standard, boards up to 1m wide, fully hydraulic, My 64hp turbo diesel engine uses about 16lts of fuel /day, 4" wide blade, costs £85 for swaged, £135 for stellite tipped, sharpening costs me approx. £12 ea time. 1x blade to cut 100ft3 timber not cheap but does the job, great back up from supplier, been around long enough to have ironed out issues, you will struggle to find one 2nd hand, as most owners are happy with the product as opposed to some other manufacturers products which seem to crop up all the time........ And if it goes "T*t* Up" plenty of residual value because of rarity value. Tim There is at least 1 machine running in Scotland doing just what you want to do.... Autotrek (Wide-band saw) Graham Mitchell [email protected]

As above,when square edge oak is concerned I allow about 65% recovery, but that is dependant upon size/quality of log.My guestimations would say about 210 min hft3. Gladly supply as specified.

had mine 6 weeks or so,bought online ordering a 1/2 size up, found toe a tad narrow, and heel now starting to rub, wish I had stayed with meindle woodwalker to be honest. not too sure I will worry too much about trying to preserve them.

try here :UKs Leading Carhartt Workwear Specialists they are in the village where I live.

had a jotul 25years, only thing we have replaced is the rope on the door and the internal top cast baffle which we managed to buckle burning dry oak..... only 3kw , cost £450 all those years ago, hate to think what they are now, but quality bit of kit.

I have an Autotrek, but that's about 39" max width of cut, rather depends whether you just want all waney edge as opposed to 1 SE? Shrublands sawmill has a tom sawyer (I think ) just north of Ipswich RH Wilden has a biggish stenner but they are out Garboldisham way. Peter Clarke @ Timba Haul has a big Forrestor ( up to 60") but he's north of Norwich and not sure its still a runner. Tim

I think you will find John, that "full time" is a "subjective view", in twenty years of doing mobile milling, my customer base has probably shrunk, but yet I have never been as busy,I certainly was not full time when I initially bought the mill. There are more "non commercial" mobile mills working now, which I think probably helps accounts for my reduced one off days out, (aligned to CBA moments that comes with age and experience) But I have a regular client base that has taken years to form. Would I start out on this again, knowing what I do now, probably, but then I love what I do, Would I buy a small mill to do it commercially, not a snowballs chance in hell..... Buy big and buy strong, and that will cost you, because even if you don't bend it, one of your clients almost certainly will by accident when helpfully loading you. Good luck if you do it, you will meet some great like minded folk, and also some complete tw*ts!