posted 2 months ago
When I use my 13 HP mill it takes approximatelly:
-10 minutes to pick a fi 300 mm, 2 m long log with the tractor, transport it, load on the mill and secure; longer/heavier logs will take more time
-one 2 m long pass takes around 80-90 s at a speed 2.5 cm/s
-positioning the mill head for the next cut, thanks to the inprecise mechanism, takes up to one minute; it may take less if you don't care about having uniform thickness for all planks/beams
-the log has to be rotated, so the edge of the planks will be square; one rotation and re-securing may take up to 5 minutes; if log became substantialy lighter, it will take 2 minutes
So to slice this log into 2x6 and 2x8 or only four 2x8 planks it would take 7 cuts. Entire operation would take me at least 25 minutes. Please take into consideration that I mill very heavy/sappy green eucalyptus or still heavy and hard when pre-dried. On the other hand people usually mill larger logs so the weight will be equally high.
Cutting longer lumber will be more efficient, but at the same time more sensitive to perfect levelling of mill's bed. Longer lumber will be also more difficult to keep it straight when drying.
Please mind that if you want to produce quality quarter sawn stock, it will take more cuts and more material.
Summing up: if I added 30 minutes for adding fuel, water, short rest from noise and dust, I could produce 29 m2 (310 sq ft) of 2x8 lumber within 8 hours if everything goes smooth - but frequently it doesn't.
If someone is using softwoods, has more powerful mill, uses front loader not a fork lift attachment, it would be more.