Buying a Saw Mill?

[Lizza]

Hello All,

We are thinking about getting a saw mill. I've found two places so far that sells them, the ones that Northern Tools sells and the Wood Mizer ones. We are leaning towards the Wood Mizer only because they have so much promotional material online.

We have a 16 acre wood lot that desperately needs to be thinned of Fir mostly with some large Oaks, we have some Maple and Madrone but I don't think we will be cutting those. We also have a never ending list of building projects. Seems like a good idea and we are still doing the math.

Does anyone have any experience with home use of saw mills?

[Wendy]

My dad started out in 1988 with a Wood-Mizer. His business grew from there & in 1998 him & 2 of my brothers formed a corporation that has remained very busy even now in this economy. They use only Wood-Mizers & are very pleased with the mills & the customer service. 2 of my brothers work for Wood-Mizer also. Wood-Mizer is located about 12 miles from me. They are well built mills that work good & seem to be easy to operate. Dad started out very small doing sawing for himself & custom sawing. They now do close to a million dollars a year in sales running 2 mills & 2 re-saws. Dad is now retired, but I have 2 brothers that co-own the business, 2 brothers that work there full-time, a nephew full-time, & several nephews part-time. I think you would be very happy with it.

[Lizza]

Originally Posted by Wendy

My dad started out in 1988 with a Wood-Mizer. His business grew from there & in 1998 him & 2 of my brothers formed a corporation that has remained very busy even now in this economy. They use only Wood-Mizers & are very pleased with the mills & the customer service. 2 of my brothers work for Wood-Mizer also. Wood-Mizer is located about 12 miles from me. They are well built mills that work good & seem to be easy to operate. Dad started out very small doing sawing for himself & custom sawing. They now do close to a million dollars a year in sales running 2 mills & 2 re-saws. Dad is now retired, but I have 2 brothers that co-own the business, 2 brothers that work there full-time, a nephew full-time, & several nephews part-time. I think you would be very happy with it.

Thank you very much Wendy! That is exactly what I wanted to know!! We are looking at the manual saw mills, they look easy to operate and really for the money it seems for us to be the way to go since we only have the small wood lot. Do you know if the manuals are easy to operate? For the price, again, it seems the way to go.

[Wendy]

I believe they are. I am sure that is what dad started with.

[timfromohio]

I have fantasized about getting one of these as a home-based business ... well, that's the excuse. They look downright cool and would help me with my woodworking addiction.

You might check out the following site for used mills:

http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/

[nc_mtn]

I have a Hud-Son. They are alot more affordable then Wood-Mizer and built MUCH better then the Norwood that Northern Sells. In fact I wouldn't use one of those if you gave it to me.
Hud-Son (while they sell big hydraulic mills) gears more for the average users and have the mills priced so.

Edit to add site

http://www.hud-son.com/

looks like they have a rebate/sell right now

[Sawmill Jim]

Don;t know your age but a manual mill is loooots of work . Hand turning ,loading the deck then pushing the saw head . It can be don but i am not able anymore .

You also need support equipment like a fount loader or fork lift .

I prefer a circle saw myself . http://www.forestryforum.com/index.php

Take a look over here those guys know their thing .

Standard disclaimer i know nothing about sawmills or chainsaws

[Beeman]

The saw mill itself is just a part of the investment. Remember you have to get the logs to it and somehow load each log onto it.

[Darren]

Before you buy, it might be worthwhile in the long run to do more research.

The link below will take you to one of the magazines that specializes in sawmills and woodlot management. If you're going to make money, you might as well get the most for your investment. You may want to focus on the process rather than "We're thinking about a sawmill." As others have pointed out you may need additional equipment and depending on your area you may need more facilities and equipment to process the lumber if there is a demand.

A magazine subscription is cheap compared to the price of a sawmill. It might give you a few ideas.

http://sawmillmag.com/

[Sawmill Jim]

Originally Posted by Beeman

The saw mill itself is just a part of the investment. Remember you have to get the logs to it and somehow load each log onto it.

You telling me i started with a sawmill and 4x4 tractor with loader on it .

Now that i'm selling every thing i wound up with a 4x4 huge loader for the mill a semi trailer mounted knuckle boom , log truck T J log skidder

One thing leads to another and another Count had a dozen motors to keep maintained

[Lizza]

Thank you all VERY much. I really appreciate all the advice!

As to getting the logs to it we have a Kubota tractor and we were going to buy a winch for it to drag the logs out of the forest, the Kubota also has forks. We were thinking this would be adequate? It did look like it needed a few accessories to get the logs on to the actual mill. Having a wood lot we already have good chainsaws.

Glad to know about the Norwood from Northern Tools. When people said it came on a 4x4 pallet with so-so directions and boxes full of bolts, my husband was thinking no on that one. Wood Mizer I believe comes assembled.

[Wendy]

Wood Mizer I believe comes assembled.

Yes they do. You also need to think of customer service & they have great customer service. At least from what I am told from others. Nothing worse than buying something & then not getting help from the company when you need it.

[Lizza]

Originally Posted by Wendy

Yes they do. You also need to think of customer service & they have great customer service. At least from what I am told from others. Nothing worse than buying something & then not getting help from the company when you need it.

No kidding! Good customer service is something that is not a given with every company, that is for sure, glad to know that Wood Mizer provide's this.

[Beeman]

Originally Posted by Sawmill Jim

You telling me i started with a sawmill and 4x4 tractor with loader on it .

Now that i'm selling every thing i wound up with a 4x4 huge loader for the mill a semi trailer mounted knuckle boom , log truck T J log skidder

One thing leads to another and another Count had a dozen motors to keep maintained

That's all a result of your brain getting stronger then your back.

[just_sawing]

I have been Sawing for 16 years now and it is the reason that I was able to retire from a public job.
The one thing that you have to realize is that you have to balance the cost of the mill versus just paying some one else to saw your logs.
It cost to own and it cost to saw. I not saying don't do it but if you Saw a month and the mill sits it would be better to hire it done and enjoy. If you are driven to keep it a part of the Homestead it could be one of the best things you could do. I recommend that you go and visit even work on a mill to try before you buy.

[FarmboyBill]

You dont want to just drag a log through or on the ground. Haveing a log arch on wheels is much better, but thats more equipment. Just dragging a long along the ground causes it to pick up stones, ect which dull the saw, and are thrown out around the area makeing it dangerous. Anyone who has run a log filled with nails, barbed wire, ect, can attest to the danger to operators and to the machinery, thrown teeth in a round saw, possibly a busted band in a band saw. I worked around at least 2 old saw mills. Never a band mill

[woodsy]

I thought I wanted a sawmill too but already have 7 other gas engines to maintain.
Over the years we have hired the sawing out, to a local with a LT-40 Woodmizer.

Last time about 3 yrs ago was about .18 cents per bd.ft., pretty reasonable really.
Sawed 6,000 ft for about $1,100. Average costs these days about .20 cents per bd. ft. in this area.
Other costs of owning besides gas and oil is blades and sharpening, general maint.
We own 25 acres of mixed woods and a good amount of pine but can't see how purchasing one of any sizeand quality could pay for itself on property this size.
It would be fun to have one around for the occasional sawing though, hobby sawing.
How many thousands of bd. ft. do you plan on sawing.??
We've hired out sawing on about 25,000 bd. ft. ($4,500.00 spent, it was .13 bd. ft. when we started) over the years and have enough left over, after finishing house, building garage and sheds to build a small cabin.
Might be worth hiring one to start out, learn about the machine, how the pros saw lumber etc etc.
Once you've worked around hydraulic saws, you won't want anything less.

[TnAndy]

MorningStar,

A small bandmill is one of the handiest of tools around a place....great source of cheap lumber if you have timber.

I bought a Woodmizer LT40 in 1991, and it has paid for itself many many times over.....sheds, barns, 3 rental houses and thousands of board feet of cabinet/trim lumber later, I can say it's one of the very best tools I ever bought.

If you have a small tractor ( mine is a 33hp New Holland ) with a front loader, you have about all the support equipment you need unless you plan to saw commercially.
I bought a 3 point hitch winch, Norwegian make, and that is VERY handy for skidding out logs....has 150' of cable on it, and it's STOUT.....it will either pull the log out, or pull the tractor to the log ! Mine is an Igland brand....there are several other brands out there.



The "manual" mills ( non-hydraulic ) are fine, again, unless you plan to take it on the road and saw for others.....then the log loader, turner, and clamp are handy for increased production.....for homestead sawing, that is more money ( and increased maintenance ) that you do not need to spend, IMHO.

I think they have changed the number designation some....my LT40 is the 21' length model, and will do about 36" in diameter....though I find the BEST saw diameter is about 10-18".....those are fairly easy turn and handle by hand on the bed, but there is a hand crank winch deal for larger stuff.....I rarely saw anything larger because it just isn't on my place TO saw.

I'll HIGHLY recommend Woodmizer brand, not only do they have the best designs on the market, I think, but the re-sale value of them is great as well...and the service is top notch if you need it. ( there is very little that goes wrong with them )

If you don't want to shell out for a new one, there is a place that does a lot of business brokering used mills...they just about always have a good selection of bandmills for sale.

http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/

I "normally" keep my mill under shed to saw.....but sometimes if I have a lot of logs in one area of the farm, rather than haul all of them to my mill site, I just haul the mill to the logs....takes about 10 minutes to set up from a move, and you're sawing. Here's a pile of white pine floor joist material that is now a rental house

[Lizza]

Thank you all so much and thanks for the great review of yours TnAndy, Great pictures!!!!

Lots of thinking to do. My hubby doesn't like the computer much but am going to drag him over to check out what everyone had to say. Again, thank you all so much. There is so such a varied and helpful advice on this entire board, I knew someone must have had some experience .