Lucas vs. MD's vs. Bandsaw

[mike p]

quote
Fetching arch is another two grand with all the acutriments....geezzz. Maybe I should learn welding   uhhhhhhh, anything else I should do? loll

andy look at my log arch in gallery i scroundged most mat. easy build cost is under $300. including ele winch
if you bought new met. cost would probbly tripple

[Stevem]

I am enjoying this dicourse because it's making me evaluate some of my basic motivations for sawing and reasons for what I bought and why.  And please remember I have limited experience.   

I suggest you ask your self , "What am I trying to accomplish?  Where do I want this to go and how can I get there?"
Any saw mill is only a tool and a means to an end.  So what's your end goal?   

My opinion of Timber King from what I've read and heard is they are built like a tank.  They will take abuse better than most any band mill.  They also have one of the oldest heritages of mobile sawing of any manufacturer out there.  I like that.

One of the things I've realized is the saw can be the cheapest tool you have in a tool box for sawing lumber.  Support equipment can quickly exceed the price of any saw.  So if you want a new pickup truck to ride in, skip the saw.
One of my motivations in sawing is taking a raw material that was destined for firewood, the burn pile or pulp mill and turning it in to a useful product for somebody. 
My front porch is made from clear old growth Douglas Fir that nobody wanted and would have wound up as fire wood.  It cost me 10 times more than the price of the wood to have it hauled the two miles to my house. I recoverd less than 50% of the log in usable wood.  But I'm satisfied with porch and have a great feeling about "saving" the wood and a little bit of the world in the process.  People that see it and know wood and say, "Wow".  I can't buy that.  Some people can't see the beauty of it standing on it, it's just a porch to them. (They don't count.)

   

[andybuildz]

quote
Fetching arch is another two grand with all the acutriments....geezzz. Maybe I should learn welding   uhhhhhhh, anything else I should do? loll

andy look at my log arch in gallery i scroundged most mat. easy build cost is under $300. including ele winch
if you bought new met. cost would probbly tripple

Mike...I must really be puter challanged. I can't find the arch in the photo gallery. Closest I see is the winch.

[andybuildz]

I am enjoying this dicourse because it's making me evaluate some of my basic motivations for sawing and reasons for what I bought and why.  And please remember I have limited experience.   

I enjoy this too b/c I love researching as a consumer. Not to mention it seems I have plenty of time lately being my house is on the market just sitting looking pretty with no buyers. But at least when I am ready to buy a mill I'll be a bit more savvy .... I hope...rather than an eenie meenie miney moe consumer.
I do know this...if I narrow it down to a mill thats being fixed to a mill site vs portable that will make life a lot easier...probably cheaper too. although with the WM'ers it seems like they mostly all come with the trailer package as standard anyway which seems sort of odd to me. that you can't save by just buying the mill with the deck only....unless I'm missing something.
The Timber King seems really well priced considering all the hydraulics that come standard.
Makes me think about how much less you would spend if the mill were fixed to one site in which case you could spend what you save on a used back or trachoe along with a used trailer to haul it and logs..which would also do a lot of other things for you as well.
Or even a series of arches to trailer around as needed. Its definitely something worth looking into very seriously.

For me it all started b/c I want to get into Timber Framing my next house and who knows where that'd lead me. So for now..it'd mainly be used for that and other projects for my own personal building efforts. Oh yeh...and the time and money for a kiln. How can you possibly cut yourself lumber and not be able to dry it...unless you have months and months to wait for it to air dry...which I won't. course with timber for a timber frame I really wouldn't have to wait for them to dry but for all the other parts of the TF such as flooring, wainscotting, ceiling planks,siding,roofing, etc etc....they'd need to be kiln dried. I suspect I'd use a solar kiln being its easier on the pocket book all around.

I'd love to see pic of your porch btw and whatever else you sawed your own wood for.
I have to agree with you about the satisfaction in doing all your own work with whatever it takes. After all...why else would anyone get into sawmilling...I haven't seen too many sawmill multi-millionaires. A few, but not many.

[Kirk Allen]

Andy, WM sells there mills without the mobile package.  The deliver it with it, then take it off during set up.  Or that is what they use to do.

[andybuildz]

Andy, WM sells there mills without the mobile package.  The deliver it with it, then take it off during set up.  Or that is what they use to do.

Hmmm...I had a feeling. I was just makinga  comparison chart for myself from the catalogue they sent me w/the price list but they didn't have that as an option anywhere which was what had me wondering. There's actually quite a few things they don't have listed with prices like the electric feed for the LT28 or was it the 40? I think the 40 came with it standard..must be the 28.

Then I also realized that the LT 15 is over six feet wide? that means it wouldn't fit through the back doors of my super van so there goes that possible option if money were a bit more of an issue than I hope.
 Then I look at the LT40 and that adds up to about five grand more than the 28 and ya start wondering if it's really worth it for yourself. With the extra five grand I could get a lot of accouterments that would make life easier to mill in other ways.

[Kirk Allen]

Dont let the list prices fool you. I have yet to meet a manufature that wont negotiate a few things if they know they have a real buyer

[andybuildz]

Don't let the list prices fool you. I have yet to meet a manufature that wont negotiate a few things if they know they have a real buyer

I was thinking the exact same thing..just thought it to be a bit premature to even bring it up. I was thinking about those Xmas prices WM had.
OK..so far today I have $17000- for the 1600 loaded Timber king set up
WM LT40 with the log deck package at about $18900
and the Mobile Dimension at about $18000+

None with shipping and blah blah blah...and it's hardly apples for apples.
No hydraulics for the WM and tons of Hydro for the TK.
No need for hydro on the MD really..different beast...
hmmmmmmmmm
Next I gotta do my Peterson comparison...I have far too much time on my hands lately...wish I could enjoy it...UGH 

[Kirk Allen]

How long you plan on cutting?  Seriously consider your age and health and its impact on what you get. 

I love the peterson and lucas mills but I can tell you that walking with the mill, let alone having to push the saw head is not something I care to do ten years from now. 

MD would be my choice and the only concern would be service, which from what Frank mentioned is not a problem, although shipping is

Timberking has been around a long time with 17' lengths the limit on the 1600 I would not go that route.  I routinly get request for 20 foot lumber. 

[andybuildz]

How long you plan on cutting?  Seriously consider your age and health and its impact on what you get. 

I love the peterson and lucas mills but I can tell you that walking with the mill, let alone having to push the saw head is not something I care to do ten years from now. 

MD would be my choice and the only concern would be service, which from what Frank mentioned is not a problem, although shipping is

Timberking has been around a long time with 17' lengths the limit on the 1600 I would not go that route.  I routinly get request for 20 foot lumber. 

I noticed that too about the TK...the 17' lengths and I didn't see how it could be extended.
The only thing about the MD is its limitation to sizes you can cut. If I need 10x10's for a TF that could be an issue but I don't "think" 10x10's come into play that often but I will have to check into that. Mostly the posts are 8x8's.
Then there is always the LT40 .That has the auto feed...no? and with the winch set up for loading and turning logs it comes to about $19000 vs MD at close to the same $$$
Cept shipping for the MD adds a lot more than the others but then again we're not talking apples for apples exactly so its hard to weigh out right now.
I've always leaned the MD way. Maybe they'd cut me a big discount and let me be the east coast distributor once I move to NC...if they still exist by the next ice age 
And far as walking with the mill...to me that really doesn't bother me...its not like its strenuous....I've always looked at that kind of work as good for me.Seriously!! ESPECIALLY the older I get.  Its cardio, not pumpin' iron
PS...ya think we can get some good smileys? loll

[andybuildz]

Oh yeh..and the Norwood LumberMate 2000 with the trailer and all the stuff comes to about $8900. Thats really not the saw for me though...just thought I'd throw that number out being I figured it out a lil' bit ago. I had the catalogue.
I think Woodbutcher has that mill.

[mike p]

check out www.kascomfg.com/
thats what i got & the track is 4"x4"x1/2" thick the strength of the track sold me & paul easley's sucess with it
you can add length to it as easy as buying angle iron at local steel supplyer. handles 30" log i have had bigger on mine
ele feed is nice

[Kirk Allen]

I have seen and operated a Kasco north of me.  Once we got he blade tracking properly the owner, who had hit a point of frustration with wavy boards, was like a kid in a candy store as he finally was cutting true lumber! 

I dont recall the model but he now cuts about 500bf a day on it and he is 78 yrs old.  He still loggs and now cuts his own lumber instead of having the Amish do it for him. 

He hasnt come across anything he couldn't handle and so far is quite pleased with his mill.

[Stevem]

See, what you really need is two saws! lol   

[Kirk Allen]

Now your talking Steve.     I have thought long and hard about that one.   

[Kirk Allen]

Now that I got my photos back I can show you my sun deflector that I used extensivly a couple summers ago.