Jeff Miller Inc

06/15/2026

So here it is, the latest and greatest Debarker from Mellott- this Debarker has infinite bull wheel speed control, built-in butt reduction feature, Superior carriage Construction, dual Motörhead with enough torque you can go right past the Cambian layer and make Fas mulch, if you want to !? all of this is done with two joystick controls and a nice spacious cab comfortable so your debarker guy shows up every morning and doesn’t go looking for a job somewhere else ! Is there a better way to D Bar LOGS, Sure a Ring Debarker removes less Fiber, but it doesn’t have the option of butt reduction. What does butt reduction do for you? So the Mills that I’ve installed a butt reducer they’ve been able to increase their production by about 4%

logs go better down the Log trough, better through the Metal Detector, stack nicer on the Log deck, are easy to turn on the carriage. The fletches go a lot easier through the Edger and the large obnoxious, butt end of slabs are no longer an issue. 4% sounds small, but it’s a big money number. 

06/15/2026

I’m on my way to manufacturer thats been building sawmill equipment for over 50 years. We’re gonna be trying out a new log Debarker design tomorrow morning. I’ll share what I find-the good the bad the ugly. All of it.

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

What’s not as it could be? Whats not where it should be? Is someone becoming the constraint in the mill- the ‘Peter principal’? What is the production per man per hour? How does it compare with the mills that have ceased operating?
What color is your bark, is it getting white, fas bark? Do you know how wide your blade teeth should be? But what is the effective curve after the cell vibrates and produces wash boarding or you’ve got uneven, sweating or saw wonders in the cut. What is your effective kerf ?
The wood gap.
When was the last time you did an efficiency audit? Have you checked your power factor on the power coming to the Mill at start up?
How about air leaks? An 8th inch air leak in a years time wears on the air compressor, the air dryer and on your electric bill to the tune of about $6000 total cost
Get unhappy with your Mill and you’ll see more money in your bank account!

06/02/2026

This is the 27th Line Bar that I’ve installed. They are not as common in Sawmill’s as they ought to be. It’s hard to manage why you don’t keep track of and one of the things that happens with a line bar is you end up with fewer boards going to the Edger. board width actually increases. There is better grade recovery. Because the line bar if properly set up - i.e. not a long one -can cut around the banana,timber bind or timber under stress becomes less of an issue and you won’t have as many thin middle of a board # # # and thick ends . With a horseshoe runaround rift and quarter cutting becomes simple.
manufacturing manufacturing
S manufacturing
equipment

05/31/2026

It’s always been interesting showing up at a mill and I’m not saying this about this particular Sawmill. I’m talking about Sawmill’s in general where there will be a lack of tools. There may be 5 million invested in Equipment and another 1.5 in Buildings and Land, and when I ask about tools, what I’m told is that they get mislaid or misplaced they don’t make it back to the maintenance shop.

So I think you’re paying for tools in the form of excessive downtime that could be significantly reduced. If you would make it easier for people to do the right thing and fix what they see isn’t working properly in the mill. It’s kinda like if you look out in the Log yard you’ll see a whole row of logs disappear when they’re cutting a certain length of species and yet for some reason, they buy more logs. I think tools are the same way. There’s a cost of doing business and it includes keeping each machine with the basic tools that are needed. A maintenance room that has enough tools and some duplicates so that two guys can work on two different issues at the same time. If you think you’re saving money, by not purchasing tools,  then you probably don’t understand the true cost of both unplanned downtime or what I call running downtime. There may be nothing broken down or out of service-but you’re going 42 miles an hour down the road when you could be going 55. You’re paying for the tools, even if you don’t buy them.  If you extrapolate out the cost per minute for downtime and your cost of opportunity, what could’ve been done if the right ingredients were present . Tools are gonna look awfully inexpensive. How does the mill benefit when your maintenance shop or toolbox is full of sawdust, cobwebs, the parts you took off the carriage four years ago that were malfunctioning and missing or broken tools ? You can’t manage what you’re not keeping track of.  Management is realizing the needs. 

05/30/2026

Crowning a Thin kerf Bandmill in big Valley Pennsylvania 

05/28/2026

Anything is possible. This mill was built by a guy with no eye sight, a blind man with ambition and persistence after working with the guys at this mill -“ I don’t wanna hear about what you can’t do, I wanna hear about what you can do !”

05/28/2026

The two best reasons to get into the Sawmill business
-because you want to make money, profit
-you have money and need to spend it on something

05/25/2026

Ending a long day at  Long Island Lumber. Both Band mills are ready for tomorrow with a good night sleep I will be too !