Band Sawmills

Thinking about a band sawmill, pros and cons. Are some really worth the money they are asking, or is it better to buy one without
all the bells and whistles.
 
Fall is the season for logging shows and there may be one near you? Lacking that I will say that a manual bandsaw mill is VERY labor intensive IF the log is cut as it should be to maximize yield. Rolling large logs by hand with a cant hook isn't anyone's idea of fun for very long. People who saw very much at soon graduate to a hydraulic mill. An alternative is a swing blade mill. I have a Peterson, takes 15 minutes to set it up over a log and it cuts from the top down, log never needs turned. They cost more than a manual band mill but less than a hydraulic one. Whuch is best for you depends on your wants, needs and health. I only had to watch a manual mill being operated for 20 minutes to realize it wasn't for me (at the time) age 60
 
Depends what you intend to use it for, milling a few boards for use around the place or are you planning to produce lumber to sell.
I have a Harbor Freight mill that I use to mill lumber for use around my place, sheds, shelving and such, it serves my purpose well. Low investment and does the job for me, I did extend the bed so I can mill 16 foot material, easy to do.
 
Like the other posters have said, depends on how hard you want to work. I am 78 years old and on my 4th band mill. The cheaper manual mills require a lot of work. I see folks get one and almost instantly go to moving up or wanting something that is less work. I have a full hydraulic diesel powered wood-mizer now and can really put out some nice lumber. Look long and hard before you invest.
 
Don't own one, but have had logs sawed with one, but recently had some logs done on a circle saw. What I like better about the band saw is you get a lot more lumber, with a circle saw you loose 1/4 + with each cut to sawdust, with a bandsaw maybe .050? Years ago I had some larger oak logs cut to 7/8 lumber on a bandsaw, wow, I sure got a lot of lumber! We went to a logging expo once where they were demonstrating one, the guy had a wife or girlfriend to carry the lumber away, and that seems common, that usually a lady is doing all the hard work!
 
Like the others havesaid a manual mills a lot of work. I had one for about 20 years . I bought it cheap and sawed 2 logs on it them I added hyd to it. Another thing that has not been mentioned is the blade maint. Who is going to sharpen them and set them. These 2 things are what gives you good lumber
 
That's what I'm planning to do but have some reservations. I watched one video on the HF mill and it seem to take too long to saw an oak board. Then when he picked it up it appeared the blade may have deflected an 1/8" or more with the cut. There was waves in the surface. Anyway I've got some disease going through oak trees on my place and thought I should have a mill. I'm also planning to start building a house and thought if any of the wood was ugly I could cut beams out of the log instead of four quarter.
 
If you have oak wilt in your trees the center of the tree will be all rotted out. At least that is what they were around here. Here they used them for firewood they wer so bad and you could not transport them only certain times of the year. Bad blades will cause what you are describing on the cutting of the boards
 
Same here, the forester said it was oak leaf blight. He said it would go through red oaks (pin oaks) first, then black oaks (chestnut oaks) next, then white oaks. Just checking deer stands and there are probably 20 dead and more with dying leaves in the tops.
 
We've had a manual Turner ground mill for 13 years, and I have cut around 6-8k board feet per year on average with it. It is a bit of work to load logs, but not too bad since it's a ground model only 6" up. Pushing the head is not that hard, nor is raising and lowering the head. The thing that is hard is carrying away large pieces, 8/4 ash 20+" wide and 8 feet long is heavy to lift by myself but I get it done. Ours was about $4500 new, and at that time I thought it was the best value in a manual mill. I have not kept up with the market since then to know what the options are.
 
Manual vs. hydraulic... depends what you are sawing. Dad had a mill that started as mostly manual, we added hydraulic carriage drive after a few years. As a strapping young buck, that manual mill was way faster than any hydraulic in the northern spruce/fir timber we ran mostly. Seldom had a log bigger than 16”. Most were 12” and smaller. Most of what we made was 2x8 and smaller. On the odd occasion, we would have a few bigger logs for special projects, 2 guys with can’t hooks would manage them. If you have mostly large diameter hardwood, a hydraulic mill will have value.

I would not want one of the ground set mills. The bed on ours was thigh high, we had and old wagon bed set next to it as a bunk. Would load logs on the wagon with a skid steer and roll them onto the mill. Slide the lumber off and carry it out.

There is quite a bit of science and a touch of art to servicing band blades. Different woods, and different seasons require different blade setups to cut straight. See if you have someone relatively local that can sharpen and set blades. If not you will need to consider the cost and time of being able to do that yourself. Blades fresh from a factory box may not work for your needs. I used to have a hard time finding a manufacturer that had consistent set to the teeth.
 
John in MD: just a few thoughts on manual vs. "automatic". There are all sorts of things that can be automated on a mill, some of which may have value to you and some of which may not. A partial list would be loading logs onto the carriage, turning logs, adjusting the head and toe of the log to compensate for taper, clamping the log in place, moving the carriage up and down to adjust thickness, moving the blade guide in and out, running the blade through the log (the actual sawing), bringing the carriage back after a cut, removing cut boards from the rest of the log, and moving those cut boards off the mill.

We bought our Wood-Mizer LT-40 in 1984, when buying one required traveling to the factory to pick yours up, and it's still sawing lumber. It does not have a hydraulics package, though it does have power saw and high-speed reverse, and provisions to both load and turn logs on the carriage. Power sawing is, in my mind, essential for decent, consistent production, though I've helped friends with fully manual mills before and it can be done if you're willing to bust your tail. We found that loading logs onto the carriage was reasonably easy to accomplish with a tractor and loader, and unless the laws were quite large it was faster for a couple people (and note I didn't say guys--LOTS of lumber on both our mill and my friends was sawn by gals!) with some experience working together to turn them with a peavey. Again, that's a "couple" people--doing it yourself on an unpowered results in lots and lots of running around the mill in circles as it seems you're always on the wrong side or end to do what you want! Also, as mentioned, blade maintenance is a considerable amount of the time it takes to saw, whether you're doing it yourself or paying someone else to do it. When considering this, consider how much reliable help you'll have and their skill sets before deciding how much automation you need, along with the size and type of lumber (both the logs and the finished products--it takes a lot more trips down and back to cut small, thin number as it does to cut large planks) and what kind of production you realistically want to make, which will all help guide you toward the level of automation you need.
 
I believe I can rig the front loader on my tractor to rotate the logs. Will need something, I'm 65 and I'm going to modify the saw to cut 16' logs. One tree I'm going to have to figure out how to cut the size of the log down with a chain saw before the saw will handle it. It's about 36" in diameter.
 
I've had my manual band saw since 97, it has 20' of track, 13hp Kohler ( gallon of gas will work you haft to death). Its easy to keep running & maintain. Set the track proper & is very accurate ( I use a laser level) Sawed over 300 sixteen foot logs so far this season. Its one man, bring in logs, saw logs, remove sawdust & slabs.lot of work I'm 76 & its better than buying an exercise machine!
cvphoto57618.jpg
 
Question for you guys doing semi commercial sawing. I have a 8 ft, 14 inch cherry log I want sawed into 3/4 lumber. How much should I expect to pay? It has been cut for about a year, can the lumber be planned at the same time? How much will that add to cost of sawing?

Bill
 
My wife's cousin has a "manual" band mill.
He set it on the down hill side of a driveway and witt a couple of heavy planks, he can roll the logs onto the mill almost level.
Still has to use a cant hook to roll the logs but he's a big rugged guy so it's not too big a problem. Maybe when he get's older? LOL
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top