Any of you have a sawmill or do any milling?

JOCCO · Jan 20, 2019

Band mill or circular, cedar shingle mill etc. Lots of portables around me. Been around it most of my life. Just priced 1000 board feet boarding in lumber at lumber yard. $910. Guess for some barn repair we will be sawing!!!

rrlund · Jan 20, 2019

The brother in law always wanted one of his own to run with the Keck,but he passed away before he was able to make it happen.

jCarroll · Jan 20, 2019

As a kid....(1948) my Dad bought an old circular blade mill and made it operational to saw trees which had been
cleared for river dredging to produce lumber for a new barn. My brothers and I snaked dozens of logs from the riverbanks.
The mill was a whole nuther machine .......... hammering the blade, alignment of the carriage, sawdust removal, power via flat belt.

I envy modern band mills .......

JOCCO · Jan 20, 2019

Yes tractor or engine driven circular mills have pretty much gone out. Most went to band saw types.

JWA · Jan 20, 2019

I have a HF bandmill. Fabricated a 20' bed for it, serves my needs very well for out building construction and repairs.

rrlund · Jan 20, 2019

There was a young guy here who was talking about buying one of those and doing custom cutting with it. I don't know if he ever did or not. He worked at a slaughter house and died on the job late last summer. For the most part,the Amish do all the sawing around here.

Richard G. · Jan 20, 2019

I have a 50's model Turner mill with a 42 inch circular blade and a 42 foot track that I pulled with tractors for years and then later, an LAE Case power unit. Thinking about getting it going again.
Richard In NW SC

westga · Jan 20, 2019

I have a 00 Frick. Powered by 471 Detroit. Well everything but the blade (methheads).

Circle mills are for those that enjoy old stuff, band mills are for those that want lumber. LOL!

sms · Jan 20, 2019

I have a circular mill I use for myself. And a couple old ones that need restoring.

jm. · Jan 20, 2019

Jocco , I have a Wood-Mizer LT40 Supper hydraulic with diesel power. It is my third Wood -Mizer mill. My mill is my golf, when I don,t want the phone ringing and no worries I go saw. This old big farm always has a downed tree some where so serves tow purposes, relaxation and I get the lumber. My mill will probably be here long as I am on this hill.

JOCCO · Jan 20, 2019

RR a lot of guys jump in out of it for a business with portables. Some just do there own from a farm wood lot. I knew the amish did a lot of it but they are a ways away. What I noticed is it depends on lumber price take the log price and sawmill price add them and it can be cheaper to buy lumber. Not so at the $910 I priced!!!

kcm.MN · Jan 20, 2019

I'm in the process of getting a small mill set up. My lumber needs are very specific, so just using an electric chainsaw. My largest trees won't be much over 12" diameter, so don't even have to get a replacement bar for the chainsaw.

About the only wood available here is Aspen, so will work fine for posts. Is slow going right now with the cold. Have to wait for temps in the teens or higher, so might have a bit of a wait.

Have always wanted a band mill, and Wood Mizer is pretty much the cream of the crop.

Destroked 450 · Jan 20, 2019

This pertains to hardwoods, I know nothing about pine or other soft wood markets.
Barn lumber isn't the same as it was years ago, back then many of the small operations sawed cross ties or cribbing and sold the lumber to who ever would buy it so one could get good lumber for barn siding at a decent price.
Today furniture and flooring lumber are the main products sawed with cross ties and crating lumber as secondary, low cost barn siding is now from the heart wood that has to many knots or rot in it for the high grade markets, doesn't make very good barn siding ether.
Good quality lumber comes at a high price today, to high for the average person wanting to side a barn.
Some are using lower cost popular lumber for barn siding but it doesn't last as long as the oak lumber that was used for hundreds of years.
The lumber on our old feed barn is getting bad, due to the cost of good lumber we'll be residing it with metal.

I turned logs on a old 01 Frick circle mill powered by a JT Cummins years ago, part of the reason I have back trouble today, my friend that had the old Frick mill now has 2 modern all electric high production sawmills.

pcsaw · Jan 20, 2019

The one with a steam engine on it is really neat where do you live I would love to stop in sometime and check it out

jm. · Jan 20, 2019

SMS so the last photo has an engine mounted right there with the saw or is that what I am seeing?

dahlin · Jan 20, 2019

Have had two Wood Mizer saw mills just sold an LT15 and am waiting for my new one to come any day now. We sawed about 10,000 board feet last summer and have about that much stacked up for next summer. Randy

Butch(OH) · Jan 20, 2019

I have a Peterson swing mill. Although it is highly portable all I do is saw for myself. Might pay for it self in 50 years but I dont care, having the exact lumber I want when I want it is priceless. I have ash to mill when the weather moderates

caterpillar guy · Jan 20, 2019

I would like to have a mill since I have trouble finding a mill to cut long stuff. Like over 25 foot up to about 40 foot. Most mills will only do about 16 feet. One local guy can do 24 and told me about with the help sawing 28 foot.
Most of the band mills I have looked at on line will only saw small logs. To get some size you get into the big money.

sms · Jan 20, 2019

Yes, steam engine. They were called a portable mill because it was self contained, just needed a portable boiler.

sms · Jan 20, 2019

NY Catskills. About two hours NW of NYC. I saved this from someone I know, he was going to push it out of the way to build a road on his farm. He remembers it running. Email is open.

Donald Lehman · Jan 21, 2019

Get a band mill. Most band mill owners I have had saw for me don't change their blades often enough and saw wavy lumber. You cannot saw decent lumber with a dull blade. The only exception I know of is spruce. That stuff is hard to saw accurate even with a new blade.

Brian G. NY · Jan 21, 2019

<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto10222.jpg">[/quote]

I saw one of those little steam engines powering a mill at the "gas-up" this year.
They were powering it by using a hose connected to a Case steam tractor.
I had never seen that before.

Brian G. NY · Jan 21, 2019

I meant this little engine.

sms · Jan 21, 2019

Gallupville Gas-up I assume?

bass · Jan 21, 2019

(quoted from post at 08:53:42 01/20/19) Band mill or circular, cedar shingle mill etc. Lots of portables around me. Been around it most of my life. Just priced 1000 board feet boarding in lumber at lumber yard. $910. Guess for some barn repair we will be sawing!!!

i'm a sawfiler in a southern yellow pine mill here in texas. we have a single line mill and use a chipper, quad band mill and a double arbor circle saw gang. a pine tree aint got no chance.

bass

Any of you have a sawmill or do any milling?

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