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O/T - Sawmill

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1130Leo

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I'm thinking about buying a Portable Sawmill, anyone here have one, or any advice from someone who has worked with these? Have Alot of dead Ash trees with good logs, thinking of making boards out of all of them rather than burn them.
 
You, me and a lot of others would like to own a small saw mill. I really don't have a big "need" for one and the price makes it prohibitive. Still would like one, though. I'll pass on what an old sawyer told me once. "Don't saw your logs until you either know what lumber sizes you want or have orders for what you're sawing." Makes sense to me.
 
Does sound like good advice. I currently know of two types I need, some 2" rough cut for trailer decking, and 1" for barn siding.... Just seems like a waste to cut up 40 or so logs into firewood...
 
Wood-Mizer is the only one I've had any experience with- cousin had one and did some custom sawing, and another guy had one and did some sawing for me. Its a band saw mill, and did a good job. But they're pricey- might just want to try to find someone with a portable mill to come out and cut for you.

If you've got some capital, buy one used, cut your logs, and re-sell.
 
I had a Woodmizer and did custom sawing for about 15 years. It was a good machine and had very little problems with it. It is something that will take a beating and maintance needs to be kept up on it. It is not a job for an old man but I enjoyed every minute of it and made a lot of friends over the years. I sold it in 2011 but I wish I had another one for my own use here. I would have to keep in out of sight or plan on going back to sawing.
 
We bought a Turner sawmill in late 2007, it was a lot less than the comparable Wood-Mizer model. Bill Turner builds them himself in Oxford NY. I spent months researching what brand to buy and at that time it seemed like the best value. We were going to have a sawer come with a mill but I got to thinking that by the time we paid to have a lot of lumber cut we could have bought a mill and then we would still have it at the end. I built a 20x30 two story building with two 1 story wings, a hay shed, a tool shed and various smaller things, and we have sold a lot of lumber too, as well as building kitchen cabinets and such. The last few years we have been selling more value in lumber each year than what we paid for the mill originally. If you don't mind the labor it is a lot of fun and a good investment.
Zach
 
I have a Frick sawmill that I am still in the process setting up for just that purpose. I have two farms , one that I live on , and another that was my dads and now my son lives on. We have lots of pine that is perfect milling size. We are planning on repairing the old barns on the older farm .
 
that Frick will make you happy . it's fast and a band mill is slow . I have both and hardly touch the band mill anymore unless it has to look like it's been planed .
 
dblair, I been tempted to send you a pm over on the forest site. I thought about paying you a visit one day..
I look at that your tube show from time to time.
 
I have owned a Meadows circle sawmill since 1986. Good mill, but their service is terrible. Always getting an order wrong. Mis-made parts, writing down credit card number wrong, wrong shipping address, out of parts and the list keeps growing. Every time I have dealt with Meadows they have done something wrong.
dblair is very right about the circle mill being so much faster than a bandmill. That bandmill will get boring pretty fast. Just too slow in my opinion.
 
Like many have said, a circle saw is faster, but you have more waste, (sawdust), plus you have a lot more to maintain and keep in adjustment.
A band mill costs less and makes less sawdust, albeit slower. Personally, if I were buying one mostly for my own use, I would go with the band mill, they are easier to move around also. There was a man in our neighborhood who had two circle mills, one stationary at his house and one that he would set up on site for large tracts of timber. The last time I was at his house, he had a nice little band saw unit sitting there, and I saw no sign of the circle mill.
 
I am on my fourth WoodMizer. Never owned anything else but sure do like my LT 40 Super Hydraulic with Kubota power. Started with older 15 then a 30 , gas 40 and now the latest one. When you need service woodmizer is right there.
 
I had a Woodmizer LT40HD. It made a lot of money for me & kept its value for when I sold it. If I weren't disabled , I would still have it. Even being disabled, I could still saw all by myself where a circle saw set-up needs a crew to function.
 
Another vote for Wood-Mizer. We got our LT40 in the early 80's when you still had to go to the factory in Indy to get them and it's still going strong, parts are still available, service is still excellent, and they're still making the same basic mill, which is a testament all in itself to their staying power.
 
There are many many makes of small sawmills out there these days. My dad had a Clarke bandmill when I was younger. I earned a lot of spending money during high school and college with that thing. Shop around and find something that will work for you. This is a case of time and money are inverses. A cheap mill will work but is slow. The bigger ones are faster, but cost more. There are band mills out there that will leave any circular mill in the dust, and only make half the sawdust doing it. The key to success with a small band mill is learning to maintain your blades. A properly sharpened and set blade makes the difference between great lumber and square firewood. Circular mills have more tolerance to blade maintenance, but if you wreck a blade it is $$$ to repair or replace. You can afford to trash a band now and again. (When I custom sawed, the owner of the wood got billed for every blade wrecked by metal in their logs...) Get a copy of Timberwolf's catalog if you want some good information on band blades. (see link) They make a very good blade, but the info pertains to any brand.
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