WoodMizer bandsaw. Electric or Diesel

[charlieb]

I'm looking into getting a woodmizer - I spend several hundred quid a year on getting timber cut by a (not near enough) neighbour with one, so I know from experience they do the job I want done.  It'd be mostly stationary, but I do want flexibility to move it occasionally.   SHould I buy a diesel version (more available second hand, and pretty robust even if they have all the normal ICE problems, not least innefficiency); or an electric version which would be an excuse to go 3-phase (I want to for wind turbine anyway) but in the medium term would be run off a generator?

 In fact the question is broader:  Is it sensible to switch as much machinery as possible to electric, and just get one or two portable generators to run them off if I'm away from a plug?    It's an attractive idea for capital cost (once the gennie's been bought), fumes and weight reasons (I'm thinking chainsaws, splitters, saw benches etc)  but I bet there are good reasons not to..     Thinking about it, this would basically be switching from two-stroke machines to diesel-electric hybrids.

Any experience with electric bandsaws, or thoughts on the wider idea? THanks
Charlie

[camillitech]

Hi Charlie,

electric every time, it took me almost twenty years of living 'off grid' to finally work this out, prior to that all my compressors, cement mixers, and welders were petrol or diesel driven. Most of them at some point caused a failure on the driven unit or its mounting due to vibration from the engine. The equipment was without exception always noisier than if powered by a nearby generator and invariably ran hotter due to the proximity of the prime mover.

My trusty Baur diving compressor would fracture one of its £200 inter coolers every couple of years, something that it's none done since going electric ten years ago. Mixing cement has become a pure joy since I changed from petrol to electric and if I could find a powerful enough electric chain saw I'd buy one for use near the house 

For reliability you can't beat electric motors, and generators are invariably easier to start (off load) than most things like mixers and compressors (on load).

Good luck, Paul

[Lurk]

From what I have seen the electric band saw mills are much better cutting - less interruptions, quieter / more pleasant to use. I don't own one, I use a logosol mill with styhl ms660 - and BIG EAR MUFFS. But then I use it really remotely where I couldn't get my disco' or a trailer - lots of humping big bits of wood back to the access point. So if yo are mainly static go for electric - my workshop runs single phase 1.75kw motors on most of my tools, including a bandsaw I made up from a Wadkin C6 basket case - it cuts 22 inches depth nice and steady which is handy for book matching veneers or panel boards.
Wish I could afford to go three phase though.

[charlieb]

Thanks Paul, and Lurk, I was hoping people were going to be pro the idea. I'll keep looking into the generator options then - it's encouraring to hear someone else agree with me on benefits of electric over engines.  Yet another reason to come up and get another couple of Weaners off you in Jan/Feb Paul; I hope the pregnancy's gone well...

[charlieb]

PS. My flatmate in Edinburgh is a pro tree-surgeon at a botanic garden.  I'll sound him out about electric chainsaws, as I know he was testing one the other day.

[charlieb]

OK, stupid questions time:

• is this the sort of thing I should be looking for? http://www.justgenerators.co.uk/pages/Pramac_P6000S.htm . There's a cheap one local on ebay now. (obviously not for the woodmizer, which needs 11kW, but for things like chainsaws/splitters/benchsaws etc.)
• Am I right in thinking that most generators will change their output to match demand on them (like a built in ICE does on, say, our logsplitter)? How bi is the efficiency penalty for having an oversized generator running well below capacity? (In other words, should I get several generators for different loads, or am I OK with one or two biggish ones?)

Many thanks folks
C

[camillitech]

Hi Charlie,

that seems like a good choice and will run most things, it may even perhaps be too large if you're going to need a bigger one anyway for the WoodMizer. You really need to ask yourself what you're likely requirements are power wise and take it from there. You may be as well off, with say a 3Kw petrol for the lighter stuff and a 15Kw diesel for the bigger stuff like the WoodMizer. Depends on how long you're going to run them for and what your load could be at anyone time.

Running a diesel generator at less than 50% load for extended periods is bad for it, but I'm talking running one for 24/7, for the amount of use that your likely to do it will make little difference to its longevity.

Remember sizing a generator for starting a motor is a little more complicated than just adding up the wattage

http://www.gillettegenerators.com/sizing/sizing03.html

Pigs all doing fine, see you next year, Paul