Sawmill question

[Craig D Peltier]

A sawyer that I used in the past mentioned a mill that's just like a lucas mill but he thought it was better. Does anyone have any ideas what he's talking about? This is strictly for slabbing large timber. Reason I'm interested in a lucas or the like is price, under 15k can get you slabbing up to 60 inch. I understand you can buy a ms880 stihl and Alaskan set up for cheaper that's a 2 person gig IMO.

thanks
craig

[Craig D Peltier]

I found it , it's a Peterson mill.

[Scott Driemel]

Hi Craig. Here's a morsel to think about.
Not certain entirely about the Peterson but I bought the Lucas because of this;
The Peterson runs a rectangular A-frame sorta cage thgat houses the head to cut the log. It runs on two rails on each side of the log. If you have a machine to lift the log carefully over the rail (on the ground) then your okay. I'd still cringe every time I lift a 2000-3000 lb log over this critical piece of kit. The Peterson is certainly heavier as it has a bunch more metal to it I think as well. If I was set up with machinery to load & unload carefully big logs, I'd have gone with the Peterson. The reviews say it cuts really nice & it can be moved to cut much larger timbers far more easily than the Lucas.
However ... it is a bunch more cash, and I believe not nearly as easily portable.
My operation includes a dozer, and a small tractor (which can't lift much). With my lucas, I ratchet up the side rails allowing me say 5' of clear unimpeded space to roll my logs up onto a low bunk to begin cutting. I don't roll over any part of the mill. On occasion, I'll cut a log that turns out to be ugly. Not worth milling. Now I just throw a choker on the log, lift my rails up out of the way and drag the 2000 green log off and move it away. I'm not 100% about the Peterson, but that alone made me choose the Lucas. I've had it for 5 years now & it's reliable, cuts great, no bandsaw marks(cause it ain't a bandsaw!) and is no doubt a pain to use to cut larger beams than 8"x8" without mounting a slabbing attach which is somewhat of a pain, and frankly ... not fun setting up.
All depends on your set-up. If you have the machinery, and the mill is going to saty in one place set up, then I'd spend the extra for a Peterson. (But it's a lot of "if's" isn't it?)
Best of luck, they are both great circular saw mills.

[Scott T Smith]

Hi Craig. Here's a morsel to think about.
Not certain entirely about the Peterson but I bought the Lucas because of this;
The Peterson runs a rectangular A-frame sorta cage thgat houses the head to cut the log. It runs on two rails on each side of the log. If you have a machine to lift the log carefully over the rail (on the ground) then your okay. I'd still cringe every time I lift a 2000-3000 lb log over this critical piece of kit. The Peterson is certainly heavier as it has a bunch more metal to it I think as well. If I was set up with machinery to load & unload carefully big logs, I'd have gone with the Peterson. The reviews say it cuts really nice & it can be moved to cut much larger timbers far more easily than the Lucas.
However ... it is a bunch more cash, and I believe not nearly as easily portable.
My operation includes a dozer, and a small tractor (which can't lift much). With my lucas, I ratchet up the side rails allowing me say 5' of clear unimpeded space to roll my logs up onto a low bunk to begin cutting. I don't roll over any part of the mill. On occasion, I'll cut a log that turns out to be ugly. Not worth milling. Now I just throw a choker on the log, lift my rails up out of the way and drag the 2000 green log off and move it away. I'm not 100% about the Peterson, but that alone made me choose the Lucas. I've had it for 5 years now & it's reliable, cuts great, no bandsaw marks(cause it ain't a bandsaw!) and is no doubt a pain to use to cut larger beams than 8"x8" without mounting a slabbing attach which is somewhat of a pain, and frankly ... not fun setting up.
All depends on your set-up. If you have the machinery, and the mill is going to saty in one place set up, then I'd spend the extra for a Peterson. (But it's a lot of "if's" isn't it?)
Best of luck, they are both great circular saw mills.

Scott, the Peterson WPF has a "high-low" track option, where the track on one side is close to the ground and the track on the other side is about 5' above ground. If you have the low-low track setup, you simply bunk up above the track and roll the logs over it w/o damaging it.

[Scott Driemel]

thx Scott for the info. I didn't realize the Peterson had that option. Always best to be corrected if my info was incorrect for sure. I'll go to the peterson site & check it out. If the original poster was interested in cutting beams larger than 8"x8" then the Peterson I believe, has that ability without too much work. The Lucas's carriage has to be spun around, (kind of a pain by yourself) or you utilize a slabbing attach. In several ways I wish I'd spent the extra for the Peterson. The Lucas's main rails are aluminum which is great. Not certain what the Peterson's are... aluminum, galvanized, stainless?

[Scott T Smith]

thx Scott for the info. I didn't realize the Peterson had that option. Always best to be corrected if my info was incorrect for sure. I'll go to the peterson site & check it out. If the original poster was interested in cutting beams larger than 8"x8" then the Peterson I believe, has that ability without too much work. The Lucas's carriage has to be spun around, (kind of a pain by yourself) or you utilize a slabbing attach. In several ways I wish I'd spent the extra for the Peterson. The Lucas's main rails are aluminum which is great. Not certain what the Peterson's are... aluminum, galvanized, stainless?

The Peterson rails are extruded aluminum.

Lucas has also brought out a 10" saw, but the Peterson still have the benefit of being able to double-cut w/o having to turn the saw around. Both are great machines.

Peterson was really pushing the high/low track option back in late '05 when I bought mine. I opted for the low-low option as that better suited my needs (and it's more stable).