FIRST SAWMILL JOB? HERE ARE THE TOOLS YOU WILL NEED! Advice from a sawmill PRO! Wood-Mizer Operator

so you're thinking about getting a sawmill and you're thinking about what are you going to have to do to do your first sawmill job well as someone with several years of experience in doing this now i have some advice that i want to offer you that is going to be life-saving for you as you approach your first couple sawmill jobs so stay tuned and see what you need in order to pull off a successful job your very first time the first thing that you're going to want to think about is this and you say what is this this is just a blank sheet of paper well that's right but one of the things that you're going to want to do is to fill this out yourself and this is a disclosure and liability form okay and so you'll want to see what kind of agreement you're comfortable having with your customers before you ever get on site the one that i write for my business is basically a document which says that if i get hurt it's on me and if they get hurt while they're on the job it's on them and it lets them know that if they're walking around the mill if they're hitting their shins or their legs on anything or if the debarker they somehow jump in front of that they get injured that that's on them that's not on me but i tell them at the same time look i'm watching out for you and i've never had a single person get injured on a job my liability form also covers my equipment even though i have insurance on my equipment i still say look if that gets hurt then that's going to be on me that's on my insurance however i expect that if they have a tractor or something and they run a log over my mill and break something that they're going to cover that so all that is in the liability form also you want to say how much your cost is going to be right up front you don't want any surprises this is one of the reasons that i go by the hour i don't charge by the board foot because the board foot guys are sneaky and i can make another video about that another time but complete and total transparency especially in this day and age where it seems like everyone's trying to trick everybody is so very important when you get on a job so i say here's what the hourly charge is going to be so they know how long i'm there what the bill is going to be the only other expenses that i have is in blade cost if i hit nails bullets metal straps fencing anything like that all these things can be found inside logs then i expect them to cover the cost of the blade and i say the cost of my blades are 30 now i use wood miser double hard blades 7 or 10 degree blades they range anywhere from 22 to about 25 dollars a blade but you can get three or four resharps out of every blade and so i figure 30 dollars is a fair and reasonable charge for losing a blade completely and it basically never being able to be used again and so those are all my charges up front and i keep all of that in my liability form which you need to fill out before you ever do your first job second thing that you want to think about is this and this is a very important one because it has to do with one of the primary pieces of equipment in your business and that would be this what kind of truck are you going to pull your sawmill with to the sawmill job that's right the truck that you use is very very important now i think i finally found the best truck that you can have for pulling something like that and that is a heavy duty flatbed truck this one is an f450 my first wood miser i owned i pulled it home from indianapolis and i got it used and i pulled it back with a 2009 dodge dakota after that i realized i don't want to be pulling this sawmill all around places with a dodge dakota and so i stepped up and i got an f250 which was a 7.3 turbo diesel and that was a great truck for pulling it around it was also 4x4 so i could get in many places but one thing i realized is oftentimes i get customers who say hey can you bring some lumber home and get that dried for me in those cases the f-250 really couldn't haul the weight of the lumber and pull the sawmill and so i realized i needed something a little heavier plus in the sawmill business if you really start getting into it you're going to realize that you have a need to move loads quite often and so this has become a great truck for me and so the truck that you use is very important however chances are if you've decided to purchase a sawmill you probably already have a truck and that half ton that you got your f-150 or your your silverado 1500 or whatever your preferred brand is um that truck is going to do just fine for you to start but you're probably going to find yourself going to your honey there at home and saying i want now a bigger truck so just be prepared for that let's get into some of the basic tools that you're going to need for your first job i'll show you what i bring and what i've learned after several years so for me i have a basic tool bag that is full of tools i have drills i have drill bits i have chisels especially tape measures of course you need a tape measure obviously but one of the things that i have in here that has always been helpful is a light and i have several different kinds of these lights that i'll run off of i have dewalt in this case which it doesn't matter but i have 20 volt you know interchangeability and so all of that runs off of the same system you're going to want yourself some kind of a tool bag a basic tool bag because there are things that you will run into that you can't ever imagine running into like if you end up hitting a piece of metal in wood and it's easy enough that you can just chisel it out and keep cutting you're going to want some basic chisels and hammers and things like that and you also might want to drill to drill around and things like that just a basic tool bag like i have here is going to be very very helpful for you on your first job i also have a big tool kit you can tell my preference right now as far as brands go but this is my socket set metric standard everything it's not just for the sawmill what if your truck breaks down along the way you're going to need something to work on that and so you always carry a tool kit with you on your first job here is a little container that i keep it's just like an old milk container i guess you'd call it and these are what i call my absolute necessities that i need for a job first thing you'll see any wood miser is going to run off of this stuff automatic transmission fluid and you're going to need a bunch of it so i usually bring at least one of these with me to a job if not two i keep some pv blaster on hand you never know when you're going to need to lubricate something else transmission fluid is pretty much the go-to though for most anything at least on a wood miser sawmill you keep i don't know how you guys will choose to run your lubrication system but this right here the dawn dish soap is one of the best things or comparable type dish soap so that you can mix your water if you're doing a big job you're going to run out of water about halfway through your job or maybe closer to the end of the day and you're gonna need to refill that and so instead of bringing a whole other thing of water normally where you're at and i ask this ahead of time but the customer will have water on hand you can just refill and put some of that in also there's one more thing in here that i got to set this down to show you that is very important or at least it has been a timer too you're going to want some kind of a pry tool a big old hammer and some wedges all right now different people carry things like this i get mine from a professional forestry place and uh they work great why would you need this well it's not for splitting trees believe it or not although you can certainly buy ones that will help you with that the reason that i use these is if you get into a cut and suppose you hit metal or somehow you get pinched or you get halfway through a cut you realize oops that cut was too big and now i gotta back it out these things will help you because your blade will get pinched and you won't be able to back it out if you can back the blade out without having to take it out of the machine and do all of that it saves you lots of time and so this is one of the most important things that you can have especially as a new sawmill guy and so definitely get yourself a couple of these and a big hammer and some kind of pry bar to help you with that and not only do you want a pry bar but you're also going to want a big crowbar this will come in handy in more ways than you can imagine don't ask just get one you need a big crowbar and don't be cheap on it get a good one that is not going to bend or break i've had this one for at least four years and i still have been unable to bend it the next thing you're going to absolutely need and everything to go with it is a big chainsaw normally i will take two chainsaws with me i have my big one this is a hustle burner 372 xp this is not the biggest one they make but it's uh definitely big enough to do 99 of what you're gonna run into in a job and then also have a 455 that i take with me and between those two saws one is more of a trimming saw set up with a 16 inch blade this is set up with a 24 inch blade currently uh i apologize for calling them blades i know that just irritates some of you crazy chains chainsaw chains okay are you happy all right and along with that you're going to need yourself some lube for your chainsaw and some mixed gas for your chainsaw as well and this should go without saying i would think but you'd be surprised i have went to jobs and completely forgot about this you will need an extra five gallon container of fuel whether it be diesel or gas whatever your machine runs on because you know you will get approximately i would say maybe six to seven hours of run time out of a five gallon tank of fuel but if you're out there all day that's not enough and you can't assume that it's going to stretch and so you want to bring more and for me it's pretty handy because right now everything that i have runs off of diesel fuel and so if i bring this with me even if my truck runs out of gas hopefully it gives me a better shot at getting home well one thing that i've noticed on my channel is that i have what i call a lot of safety nazis on my channel and you know what i love you guys i'm glad that you're watching out for me and one of my videos don't tell my wife how i did this i can't tell you how many comments i got about you should have ear protection and folks i've said this again and again in my videos but i do wear ear protection it's these they're ear plugs okay i don't like to wear big ear muffs i prefer earplugs they're easier on my ears i think they block more noise than most of the over-the-ear ones and i don't get dust all around my head when i'm sawing either all right you're also going to need obviously a pair of glasses normally i'm working during the day and so sunglasses are the main thing but these work and then i actually have two pairs of gloves i have a pair of thick hide gloves for handling sawmill blades or anything super sharp and then i have a lighter pair of mechanics type gloves medium duty light duty gloves why is this the case well these are great but you know when you're running the sawmill mine has a power feed on it and all sorts of switches and buttons and i don't have tiny hands to begin with and so i tend to lose some of my fine motor control when i have big thick gloves like this on and these really help me when i'm operating the sawmill and just have to push something off occasionally but if i end up you know changing out a blade or i know i'm going to be moving a whole lot of heavy thick rough sawn wood then i'll start with these gloves and i can already hear what some of the old timers on my channel are going to be saying about that well you don't need gloves if you really are a real sawmill guy you know if you're a real woodworker and you know what i understand that because my hands are like leather anyone that shakes my hands will know that i have the traditional uh vice grip when i can shake hands but at the same time i've also learned look when you're working all day and you're handling rough wood because it's in the green and it feels wet it might feel soft but then the next day you realize no that was rough hardwood that i was carrying and you can end up braiding your hands pretty badly and getting splinters and things like that and i know that maybe you think it's the manly man thing to do is to like have a bunch of splinters but i prefer not to be continually irritated throughout the week because i was stupid and decided not to wear gloves and so obviously i'm not telling you guys what to do but two pairs is what i bring and that's what really helps me on a job when i'm working throughout the day now as you're making sawdust your machine is going to get dust all over it even if you have a dust shoot where the dust is supposed to go on the side probably 85 90 of that dust is going to go on the side but you're going to get a bunch on the mill itself and you're going to need that to clean that off every now and then and so that's when you're going to need one of these and that is a blower for your sawmill this thing is a lifesaver you know i used to bring a broom with me and i would just brush everything off like you know every half hour or so i'd brush some dust off of the mill and then one day this guy came out of his garage and he had a blower with him and he just started blowing off my sawmill for me [Laughter] and i thought how come i have not thought of that you know this was probably after i'd done about 30 portable jobs and i had never thought to use that and so one of these is very handy you can usually pick one of them up for about 150 dollars at most places and it doesn't need to be like you know a tornado uh force or hurricane force blower it just needs to be a normal little blower and it'll blow the dust off the mill and so one of these is very very handy and now i never go on a job site without it one of the things you're going to want to think about is staying hydrated throughout the day and so i always bring a water bottle and i bring not only this but i have like a big three gallon one that i'll bring with me i'll fill that up and then i can drink all day from that and so i'll either bring that or i'll bring gatorade uh stuff like that that can help replenish me throughout the day and a lot of times you end up in new home construction and there might not be anything around and so you need to think about those things throughout the day and when i work i don't stop i might take a 20 minute or half hour lunch break but that's it other than that i'm working and so staying hydrated is very very important throughout the day i know again this seems like common sense things hydration all right now i need to address what is one of the most important things on a job site no sarcasm here at all and i really mean that this is not sarcastic okay and this is how are you going to move logs around on the job site so ideally you've already communicated with the customer at least three to five times if not a dozen times before you ever get out to the job and you have clearly communicated that the logs need to be in order in a place where they can just be rolled onto the mill since i have hydraulics that's what i work with and that's what i recommend you get too if you can afford it first thing is moving the logs trust me folks unless you have like the best customer ever they're never going to be exactly where they need to be and even if they are there you're going to have to pull them a couple feet this way a couple feet that way and so you're going to figure out how to move those so here's what i got i got my big truck and then you get a couple of these deals here tractor supply in my local area has them and some kind of a tow strap now i used to use chains but i tell you i really prefer these kinds of straps now because they don't pull nearly as hard in the truck there's more give to them and i find that they are just as strong if not stronger than the chains are most of the time and you're pretty much never going to come across a log if you get a good strap that is ever going to break your strap and so this is one of the first things you're going to think about and these work great to just pull things around the yard if you have the space to do it but there is one tool that will save your back and save your life on a sawmill job let me show you what that is as you see here this is a log right buck arch now i could say a lot about this little piece of welded equipment behind me here but i'm going to spare you a little bit of time on that because i've already made a video at least a couple years ago doing a review of that particular arch and i can tell you it has been a dream on the job site number one you won't tear up the customer's yard nearly as much with that thing number two because of the work of leverage and it being on wheels it makes it a lot easier to move them around a couple guys can move some pretty good sized logs with one of those things without any equipment number three they're very adaptable you can hook them up to trucks four wheelers side by sides you name it and believe me most of the people that you're going to go do jobs for at least a good percentage of them may not have tractors or skid steers or things like that and so when it comes to moving stuff around it's a very important tool to have it's going to run you a little over a thousand bucks but it's going to pay for itself fast in time and labor very soon after you start using it if you have a log arch then you already have these but if you don't have a log arch you are going to need these and this is skidding tongs sure you can wrap logs with chains or you can wrap them with rope or whatever else but this has been the gold standard of log moving equipment for centuries and it will not do you wrong this one hooks up to my log arch and so it's got this bracket that fits in the top of the arch but it's also got this big metal ring that i can hook up anything to and these things are essential on a job site when you start pulling logs around and so i think you can buy these directly from log right and i'm sure there's other suppliers your local timber place might have one of these but spend good money on these the cheap ones break the cheap ones aren't sharp and the cheap ones aren't designed to dig into the log the same way so make you make sure you get yourself a good pair of these and remember your sawmill if it's a wood mizer can only handle logs up to 36 inches so you don't need something that can grab a 48 inch log speaking of moving logs there is yet another thing that you're going to want and this is something that i get asked often by customers do you have something that you can roll the log with to get it on the mill while you're here now why do they ask that question well my guess is is because they have rolled these logs or they've tried to roll these logs by hand or by foot and have realized that it is almost impossible to move something even though it appears to be round and so you're going to need something very very critical and something that any saw miller has to have and that is one of these often referred to as a cant hook or if it were straight here it would be called a pv and it is simple leverage folks this part digs into the log and then you grab it and once it's grabbed you can easily use the force of leverage to rotate it and the only thing better than one of these is two and so what i have if you can see here put them down at my waist this is a longer one i believe this is 60 inches and i believe that this is 48 and these also are from log right and no i do not get paid by them have never received a dime like many people i just enjoy the product and so i think it's worth promoting good companies they also make a shorter version of this that is only about that long and the reason the shorter ones are helpful is because oftentimes when you get on a log and it starts to get really small the hydraulics on your mill may take longer to rotate that than what simply going up and just moving it by hand will do and so cant hooks are very very important they are a necessity here's a couple more last second things that you might want to think about before you get to your first job you're probably going to want if you don't have fine adjust outriggers you're going to want a jack to jack up your sawmill and get it level you need a level sawmill but a level sawmill is what you need to have to run a good job along with that you're going to want wooden blocking to put under the feet of the outriggers and under your jack at least where i live the ground is almost always soft and so you're always dealing with those situations so you want some wood blocking the other thing you're going to want to think about as far as that goes is just a basic shovel you're going to find yourself in situations where the ground isn't entirely level and you're going to need to dig out some areas and again all of this is communicated before time with the customers and so in my disclosure agreement it already says that they're going to keep the wood scraps and they're going to keep the sawdust and they'll have to figure out what to do with that and that i may be digging some holes in their yard and so they're all fully aware of this and these are things that are necessary you know if if if your log loading arms aren't all the way down in the ground and you have to roll these big heavy logs over something that is that high off the ground you know like your legs don't come all the way down that becomes a real problem to get them on there and so being able to dig out a little bit here and there to get everything how it needs to be is very very important and oftentimes just a simple shovel would be all that you need to do that so let me think if there's anything else that you'll want to think about there's a difference between rural suburban and city milling if you are taking your job into the city or even into most suburban neighborhoods they're not going to want a big pile of sawdust shavings in the middle of their beautiful manicured lawn granted you've already told them hey i'm bringing a big truck i'm bringing a sawmill it's going to make marks and they expect that but one of the things you want to think about is perhaps bringing a big long tarp to put where the sawmill pile shavings will be coming off of the mill there's not very much you can do about underneath the mill you could tarp all that off too if you want to be really clean but the primary problem is the big bulk of shavings that you're going to end up with at the end of the day if you're milling just a couple logs on site which is usually the case in a city environment because you know it's uh the tree that was in the backyard it's going to be full of nails that you're going out to mill it's going to cost them a zillion dollars in blades if you're just doing that kind of a job then it's relatively easy to move the tarp around at the end of the day and put the shavings somewhere in the yard but if you're cutting like 10 trees you'd be amazed how much weight there is just in wood shavings and so you may want to think about cleanliness when you're on the job site and what you're going to have to do that way the other thing you're going to want to think about and this is a very very important one for me is the professionalism of the job you're going to do look i i don't mean to be demeaning to anybody but there's a lot of unprofessionalism in these kinds of trades now don't hear me wrong i also think that some of the nicest people that you will ever meet in your life are in these trades but at the same time a lot of times you get guys that are just shooting from the hip they don't know how to clearly communicate or express expectations they are not at the job site when they say they will be at the job site or they'll make appointments and then at the last minute cancel them for various reasons okay but professionalism is such a big deal and at least for me in my business this is what i believe has set me apart from a lot of the other guys i was on a job site just a couple weeks ago and the customer told me that he had another sawmill guy out a couple weeks before me and within five minutes of this first samuel guy being there he told them get off my yard with more expletives is what he informed me but he said get off my yard i don't want you here and why was that because this person did not know how to properly communicate to the customer the expectations of the job during that day and so i had already communicated with this individual several times in the past before i ever got out there and then once i got out there i gave him a realistic expectation of what kind of workload we could do during that day and guess what we got it all done and even i was surprised that we got it all done and so clearly communicating expectations and having a level of professionalism is so very important and quite frankly it's becoming more and more uncommon in the world today where people are becoming more and more casual and quite honestly more and more vulgar in their dealings with other people and so that's really a biggie i would say 95 of the jobs that i get it is because i'm reliable i clearly communicate i am there when i say i'm going to be there and i do what i say i am going to do and those very simple and basic things i think are what will help you on your first sawmill job i have never had a single customer at the end of the day be unsatisfied with what they ended up with and so for that i'm very thankful i have had some people that have been more difficult to deal with but never unsatisfied and so just like any other business you need to watch your p's and q's but it is very very rewarding hopefully this video has been helpful for you as you consider doing your first sawmill job and i'm also interested to hear like i said from some of you guys who have been doing this for a while and have done a lot of portable work is there anything that i've missed on here that you would bring with you perhaps you could help me out well guys if you've enjoyed this video please go ahead and consider subscribing and hit the like button for this video if you have enjoyed it and hit that bell of course if you want to be notified of all the future videos that are going to be coming out guys i thank you for watching god bless you have a good day

Channel: Southern Indiana Sawmill

Views: 19,879

Keywords: sawmill, mill, job, woodmizer, moodmiser, mizer, miser, tool, cant hook, chainsaw, log arch, truck, fuel, gloves, straps, tongs, log grabber, logging, saw, advice, pro, professional, consult, wisdom, knowledge, safety

Id: RoEGyZHm3yI

Length: 25min 10sec (1510 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 17 2020