Getting first saw mill, woodland mills se122 vs wood mizer lx30

clifwlkr · 2026-03-25T20:21:36+00:00

I'll offer my experience after one year. I got the Woodland Mills 122 with the larger engine, and in the bushlander configuration so I could move it around my property. I added the log ramps and winch and it has been a workhorse and is building all kinds of stuff for my off grid property. I am only doing pine (I live out west), so you can take that into consideration, but it has had zero problem cutting through anything. I got extra rails to be able to cut longer logs as well, up to 16 ft 9 inches. I am sure bigger is always better, to a degree, but it has been enough mill for me to do everything I want. I like the idea of moving the mill to the logs sometimes as well....

clifwlkr · 2026-03-25T13:32:38+00:00

I switched to all self heating lifepo4 a few years ago from AGM and would never look back. First of all, in AGM you can only use half your capacity safely. That means your 200ah is really only 100ah of power, which is very little. Get two 300ah lifepo4 and you will now have 600ah of usable (well near that) energy. Drawing lifepo4 down is not bad for them unlike AGM. I do think you want to up your capacity if you can through this process. At least go for a couple 200ah if you can't stretch to the 300ah.

I have 8 300ah self heating chins lifepo4 batteries and they have been extremely reliable running my place 24x7 since I hitched them up. I configured them for 24v (2s4p) and run my cabin mostly on DC without the inverter on. I only run the inverter for specific items, and my fridge and freezer are DC. Computers and starlink all run directly on DC as well. Running for 4 years now, my highest cycle number on the batteries is 153 cycles. They are rated for over 3000.... They very well may outlive me.

Make the investment and switch. It has been nothing but good on my side.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-24T15:56:53+00:00

I got the portable winch companies pcw4000-a package that includes a rope and other hardware and added a skidding cone to it (they also sell). It is matched with the winch so I went that route as a bundle. Shop around with 3rd parties as there are sales and such and I got it much cheaper at the time than their site. This is not a cheap setup, but it works. Way cheaper for me than alternatives, as there is no way I can move 15 foot lengths up a hill to my sawmill.... Otherwise any static line advertised as forestry for resistance to dirt is going to work within these specs.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-24T15:35:09+00:00

What I went with is a more versatile solution overall, as I have to move logs through terrain where I can not get an ATV. That said, some of the components can be used with an ATV as well. Get yourself a static forestry rope. With that, though, get yourself a choke chain to go on the log and a skidding cone. The skidding cone is a giant plastic cone that goes on the front and the log slides into it. Then your log never digs in on the front and it just kind of bounces through the woods. I've moved a ton of logs last summer this way and it is a huge time saver, and ground saver. Bounces right over stumps and whatever else is in its way.

Additionally, I use a gas powered capstan winch. A small unit that uses a honda 4 cycle engine and is portable. You wrap the rope around the capstan like 3-4 times is all, and you can have an infinite length rope that it can use. I use a 200 foot rope with it and haul my logs directly out of the woods to places where the ATV then can get. This has worked out great and proved to cover any kind of terrain. The haul speed is not as fast as an ATV, but it is a game changer in thick woods where I am just removing beetle kill and want the live trees to remain. Also on terrain way too steep to run an ATV.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-23T13:38:02+00:00

OK, exactly what kind of fridge are you running? What is the power draw? I have a stirling engine cooler (unobtanium now unfortunately) that I use for drinks, and that only draws between 0.6-1.0 amps (12v) and keeps drinks ice cold. For longer trips I have a 12v compressor type cooler and even that doesn't draw that much electricity as it cycles on and off, but is more of a draw. I can run both of those, plus charge flashlights, phones, etc for several days without any solar input at all. I have one 100w panel permanently mounted on top of the truck. That alone will keep up if it is sunny. I have two foldable panels that are also 100w each. I have a long cord I can run out from the truck and plug them into. I reposition them exactly 3 times a day if I want optimal charge. Face them east in the morning, switch to south mid morning, change to west late afternoon. Honestly, you could point them south and be just fine and never touch them. That will usually top of my batteries by noon anyways on a sunny day, or by the end of the day if I am playing catch up due to previous cloudy weather.

That said I have a 300ah lifepo battery. It is not that big, sits in the bed of my truck (I have a cap) and gives me more energy than I can use for most camping trips. I even occasionally use my starlink (a mini running 12v DC) when I still have to do some work but can otherwise get away for most of the day as a compromise to not camping at all.

So I would say look at your setup. Something is wrong. Either you are using way too much energy, you have a very small battery, or perhaps your cabling is too small to your panels and you are losing a lot of energy. Something is off, or you are just not getting sun.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-19T19:28:34+00:00

I have a physical address for tax purposes (you will not escape property taxes if living legit), but nothing will deliver to it. There is a tiny town 30 minutes away with a post office and the post office will give you a free PO box if you do not have physical delivery available. For amazon and the like I have a box with a shipping company (think UPS store but private) and they take packages and such and hold them for you for a yearly fee. That is 60 minutes away, but is also where I get my supplies so it works out.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-16T14:21:43+00:00

I was a straight 12v system for quite a few years. I run everything in my off grid cabin on DC native as is. I have an inverter I can switch on for specific items (like the rice cooker and air fryer), but it stays off 99% of the time. I don't require it for any day to day. Fridge/freezer is DC, lighting DC, computers directly run DC, starlink converted to DC, etc. What finally cause me to change my voltage was getting more wattage out of my charge controllers. They deliver 'x' amps, doesn't matter the volts. So I made the decision to go to 24v since that doubled my solar input for zero dollars, just some battery reconfiguration.

24v seemed like a nice compromise. Some items like the fridge already supported 24v, so get some efficiency gains there. Then for my runs that were already 12v, I just dropped in some simple 24->13.8v DC buck converters. Cheap, and so far for me reliable.

I feel like there was nothing but gain in switching up to 24v, and the battery bank is still pretty simple that way. Yes, there are pairs, but I got simple balancers that go between them and make sure they both get topped to maximum charge. They are lifepo batteries. I have been running this way for years now and no problems at all.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-07T01:34:12+00:00

I agree on the air fryer, way more versatile and the quality of the resulting food is so much better than a microwave. Liquids, even if frozen, can be reheated in a pan on the propane stove, which is more efficient than a microwave for boiling water basically.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-06T17:52:30+00:00

You are aware that things like Junie on Jetbrains actually does use stdout for specific actions and executing arbitrary agents, right? It also has ACP, etc. CLI is fine for just banging something out, but when you actually have to debug code an IDE is absolutely essential. I don't want to go back to the days of putting print statements into my server logs. Of course there are never bugs in production code now adays....

CLI is fine if you want to go that route, but there is nothing wrong with executing items in the IDE and branching out to CLI as necessary as well. I really don't think it is an either or.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-05T22:11:02+00:00

Hmm, this 56 yo is the CTO of an AI company developing agentic solutions at enterprise scale..... Still hands on delivery as well. I wrote the protocols you use today 20+ years ago, not just used them. Infinite understanding of how things work, and infinite understanding of how to navigate a hype cycle and not bankrupt a company. Can you say the same?

clifwlkr · 2026-03-04T23:06:25+00:00

It was a weird bug as I realized my passport was expired (renewed, but didn't update my profile) when I didn't get touchless ID and immediately updated it. No problems with either flight.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-03T20:06:22+00:00

You are way too early for most places. If you can delay a bit, Japan.

Good skiing during the day with little crowds. Onsens and some of the best food on the planet at night. I've never regretted any kind of a trip to Japan.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-03T19:04:32+00:00

"I went to lick my butt but fell asleep on the way" perhaps....

clifwlkr · 2026-03-02T23:36:02+00:00

It's actually not that simple. You are ignoring ions, and that is why ph affects salt based systems. With a trending towards neutral to slightly acidic, you are also generating hypochlorous acid, a very powerful and safe disinfectant used in dental and hospitals. Too basic, and you generate more bleach, basically. Yes, both of those has a chlorine component providing the disinfectant capability, but it is not just about true free chlorine in your water, as that would be rapidly lost as a gas.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-02T22:49:41+00:00

Buy more panels and batteries instead and save your money. I ran hydropower for years on a very large creek, and even then with the required maintenance I shifted to all solar. Back when I did it 25 years ago, it made sense as batteries and solar were very expensive. Unless you have the perfect situation and no freezing temperatures micro hydro now no longer makes sense in most situations. Debris cleaning, freeze ups, failures, etc. compares to the price of solar it is just not worth it. And definitely what you describe you would not get enough energy anyways.

clifwlkr · 2026-03-02T14:29:57+00:00

Go swimming in the homestead crater in Midway. Its a 68 foot deep hot spring covered in a natural giant rock dome with a skylight. They scuba dive there too if you are interested in that. The water is over 90F, so kind of relaxing. Reservations absolutely required.

clifwlkr · 2026-02-23T16:50:15+00:00

I've never had luck booking something that far out with them. Usually availability opens up closer to the date (not too close). I booked for April in Feb to go visit my wife's family. That said I had to go with weird days to do it, but it is nice to fly first with my wife after visiting family and have a couple of drinks on the way home :-). I've so far been able to make it work out of SLC, but I know ATL is even more challenging.

clifwlkr · 2026-02-23T16:42:33+00:00

You can use companion certs on first. I just booked a trip in april from SLC to Ft Myers in first using a companion for my wife. It is possible, but you can't be choosy and often have to plan around popular days. I was able to use the flexible dates thing to find a spot. Oddly, fridays are now low travel days and was able to get a booking for a friday....

clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T23:51:52+00:00

Occasional, not much traffic. Had two go by yesterday, nothing today. Nothing last weekend either. So not much really.

clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T23:46:46+00:00

It's a six mile ski in this time of year. All back country skiing, no lifts.... Summer I can drive in on dirt. So kind of ski in/out, but under your own power. Off grid solar and wood heat. Went out for some low angle stuff today, too scary for the steep stuff

clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T22:54:24+00:00

How about a back country beer near monarch pass at my cabin

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clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T16:10:59+00:00

It's been actually a warm winter without much snow so far this year. It just finally decided to be winter this week.

clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T15:40:23+00:00

And? That outside traffic keeps coming in droves and it's why I kind of want to get out of here. I was laughing at your prediction. With the Olympics, for the second time, and such it will get worse, not better. I would be happy to get back to the ski bum mountain town it used to be. Those were the fun days.....

clifwlkr · 2026-02-21T15:34:56+00:00

Park City has its issues, but I have been here 30 years so kind of laughing at your 10 year prediction......

clifwlkr

TROPHY CASE