NOW and again I have to spend a day number crunching. One way or another, we all work under pressure to both produce and pay our bills. If we have a nice new truck or harvester then invariably we have nice big payments to make each month to pay for them. Or, if we try to run older things, then we have the joy of lying underneath them in the dark getting dripped on with oil while trying to fix a problem.

One way or another, I’ve never worked out how rates for work always seem 10-per-cent less than what they should be. If you ever watch tipper drivers you’ll notice they will always try to squeeze in that extra load and at the sawmill it’s just the same – always pushing hard to squeeze out that extra bit of production. Sometimes, however, more is less and the push for extra production doesn’t always work out.

If you ever take the time to watch YouTube videos of sawmilling, you will witness log after log rattling through a continuous sharp chain system with logs butted up hard together in one apparent process of perfection.

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Similarly, larger logs get broken down on a band mill with the carriage flying backwards and forwards at breakneck speed with consummate ease. Meanwhile, in the real world (if you’re anything like me), your approach to cutting oversized logs has to be completely different to anything you see on YouTube videos.

A few years ago there was a series on some television channel which now eludes me called Big Timber. The programme focused on a small mill which harvested its own wood and the crew who worked in it.

The sawmill operated a narrow-band Wood-Mizer as its main saw which, to those watching, seemed to be doing quite an impressive job. Apart from the constant breakdown of machinery, which by and large was well past its sell by date, the series managed to make cutting/milling wood look like a relatively easy process.

However, on closer analysis, the reason for this was that the star was selling on much of the timber (cypress, Douglas, etc) he was harvesting to other mills and keeping the red cedar for himself. I really don’t blame him for this, as occasionally we get red cedar through the mill and all you need to do is set the saws to full speed and shut your eyes. It really is that easy, as it’s as soft as butter and quite oily in nature.

In this country, cutting oversize Sitka spruce is a totally different kettle of fish. Fresh cut needs a relatively powerful saw, and in our case these are 2,100-hp motors. If the saw is up to the job, a bit wide, then a nice sharp band will churn away all day producing straight, clean wood. Could you do the same with a narrow-band like the chap on Big Timber? Not a chance! Not even a glimmer of a chance. Not a hope in hell, as the whole process gets even harder if the logs have sat around for a while.

For whatever reason, the oversized logs we saw seem to get left around on harvesting sites, while the chipper canter logs and the chipwood get transported away first.

I would happily take logs on the day they’re felled as there is no advantage to them drying out.

What you save with one hand you lose with the other through increased saw sharpening and slower production.

Our preference is fresh-cut timber, as no one likes to mill wet wood or logs that have been left in some sodden environment. The condition of timber we get at the mill varies considerably and, while the majority is fresh cut, some can have been lying on site for up to a year, notwithstanding a healthy mix of dry windblown logs.

So, when milling, I’m constantly adjusting how fast I’m running the saws to keep the process as smooth as possible. Sitka which has sat around will usually mill nicely, but even small knots can become very hard and the key is to try to keep the whole process nice and smooth, but at the same time reasonably fast and efficient. It’s all about keeping everything flowing without any hitches. Slow and steady wins the race.

However, if you’re too slow and over cautious, then you’ll end up blunting the blades. The guy on Big Timber may well ‘manage’ on a narrow-band saw, but don’t be duped, because the process in the British Isles is completely different.

In an attempt to remain competitive, we are now running with two big bands and four cluster saws, edging with 14 circular blades with four on the trim saws which are to cut boards from the side cants.

Looking back, this place used to run on a 25-hp steam engine, then a 40-hp Fordson diesel engine with one circular saw and a little cross cutter making a total of two blades. Now we are running close to 20 blades off a 600-hp Cat generator and am I making a fortune? No way! Am I better off than the guy with the circular? Marginally. But the plates I have to spin are vast, with fuel and parts to order, staff to manage and motivate, orders to manage, to name but a few. If I relax for one minute you can almost guarantee something will happen. Even something as seemingly insignificant as the forklift running out of diesel can have a huge effect on the operation. Awareness, adaptation, anticipation and maintenance are all necessary just to keep the show on the road.

Having said all of this and despite being as vigilant as I can be, I managed recently to let the generator run out of diesel. Fortunately it was a Friday afternoon and I heard it misfire and switched it off immediately, but too late.

This is my worst nightmare as it’s very difficult to restart. Events began the previous Saturday, when the storage tanks ran low and I forgot to top them up when the delivery arrived on Tuesday. So the nightmare began and, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get the system bled or the hand primer to operate.

The system is pressurised but air locked, and even if you hit the primer with a hammer you couldn’t move it. Having tried everything I could, I decided after two days I had no other option but to start taking things to pieces to try to ascertain the problem.

This is not the first time this has occurred, and several experts have been involved in the analysis over time, but to no avail. In the past it eventually started, but this time it was having none of it. If it had had an old ‘inline’ injector pump I could have solved the problem with my eyes shut, but being ‘common rail’ it’s all new to me. The old Minimex system was easy to fix by stripping and replacing springs – a process I could do in the dark in a wood – but this was a leap into greater darkness.

I removed the pump and bench tested it, then decided to remove the diesel filter assembly. It had more pipes than an octopus has arms and all under high pressure. Fortunately, I worked out that a high-pressure valve, if held open with a piece of wire, allowed the fuel to flow, the plunger to plunge and the air (under extreme pressure) to funnel out. Five minutes later the system was up and running. As I now had all of the tools out and a job I expected to take all day resolved, I decided to spend the rest of the day on maintenance.

Another recurring problem suffered recently is that of premature bearing failures. I say premature as they have failed shortly after being installed and sometimes after only a few days.

Nowadays, bearings may come from a range of countries like China, Brazil, or South Korea, and their quality can vary massively. They have improved in quality, but my recent experience with them demanded greater scrutiny, so I decided to conduct my own investigations and take one to pieces.

Normally a bearing will be full of grease, but this one was bone dry, and when I tried to pump grease into it the grease just squeezed out between the outer shell and the holder instead of onto the balls where the lubrication is needed.

Further investigation revealed that the bearing had been assembled incorrectly and the holes for greasing weren’t aligned. This was after I returned the bearing to the supplier and was accused of not greasing it sufficiently, followed by a return visit whereupon I was then accused of over-greasing!

Such are the joys of world trade.