Sawmill. What do I need to know.

[TnAndy]

I bought a Woodmizer LT40 in 1991, and totally recommend them. The models have changed numbers some....mine has the 34"x21' capacity, and is a "manual" mill. (has the power drive of the saw head, electric up/down of the head and in/out of the blade guide) Unless you plan to saw full time, the manual model is completely adequate for part time use.

I have around 60ac of timber and have been selectively cutting for 30 years now, along with buying logs when I can or simply getting them for free (lot of times) if I'm willing to go get them. With your 250ac and a willingness to work at it, you'll find a ton of use out of a mill, AND as Rob says, you can sell the mill down the road if you decide to. I probably will in another 20 years.....or so......

I also started with an Alaskan, building my first shop building with it.....and it changed my world to go to the Woodmizer. You'd probably be amazed at all the things you'll find to build once you have a supply of inexpensive lumber. I've built all kinds of sheds, a new shop, 3 rental houses (not on my property), buildings/barns for other people and furniture galore.

Sawdust isn't much of a problem, but slab wood can be if you don't use wood for heating....I do heat with wood, but still end up piling a lot of mine up and simply burning the pile from time to time.

Cutting a 30' beam on a 21' mill....it can be done !

Cut tapered lap siding....I use it everywhere on my buildings.

Four 12' logs out of a 24" DBH poplar tree = 100 2x4s and 90% of them better than anything you'll find a Big Box store.

My shop...100% cut off my place.

Hog housing:

Chicken housing:

Firewood housing (aka 4 cord sheds)

 

[TnAndy]

Hay housing (cattle stalls underneath)

Round bale housing:

Vegetable housing....arches made of dead green white oak.

Renter housing

Bird housing

Dining room table for a buddy of mine's new house (which he cut all the framing for using my mill I lent him for a few months)

Nah, if you have a sawmill, and run out of projects, it's ONLY because you just ain't looking hard enough ! :laughing:

 

[EddieWalker]

Andy, I really enjoy seeing your pictures and what you have accomplished!!!!!

 

[TnAndy]

And you might check out used mills.



Sawmill Exchange

SawmillTrader.com - The Sawyer's Trading Place! - Sawmills

 

[TnAndy]

Andy, I really enjoy seeing your pictures and what you have accomplished!!!!!

Thank you Eddie. I still drool over that gazebo of yours.....true wood art man !

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have been impressed with Norwood mills, so check them out. I feel like WoodMizer is the best, but they are also the most pricey.

"These days", the only thing they are the BEST at, is advertising!

SR

 

[N80]

Andy, thanks for the post. Those are some of the things I'd like to do. I'd also like to do a big gazebo but it would not be anything like Eddie's. I'm not that gifted.

Also good point about commercial lumber. The quality these days is awful. My back porch steps were made of (yellow) treated lumber. Installed by a professional contractor. They were literally rotten and falling iapart in less than 6 years. No special circumstances or unusual exposure. Some sloppy work but that's it. With regular nont-treated 2x4s, 2x8s etc, I spend forever in the big box or lumber yard sorting through the pile just to find stuff that isn't twisted, splintered or covered in bark.

There is a deer stand in my creek bottom that has been there for nearly 20 years. Just a ladder with a seat. It was made of the wet green treated lumber. It is in contact with the ground and is under water 3 -4 times a year when the creek floods. It is still solid.

 

[N80]

"These days", the only thing they are the BEST at, is advertising!

SR

Which brand would you get if you were buying one today?

 

[Rustyiron]

Rob has a Norwood mill iirc. I've had the band mill itch for a long, long time and never really understood why Woodmizer is so popular. A friend has one and is constantly having electrical "issues" and the cantilever design has always been a big "why" for me, one "leg" is inherently unstable and not long ago WM introduced a 4 legged mill. :confused3:
I'm not knocking WM and a lower end manual mill is not all that electric motor, switches, wiring and solenoid dependent and for me, I just don't understand the single beam and cantilever design from an engineering standpoint, just like when Chevy switched to holding up a 4x4 truck with torsion bars:confused2:, just not for me but there are plenty of folks with WM saws and GM trucks.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Which brand would you get if you were buying one today?

My mill is a Lumbermate 2000, it has been stone reliable,

And has no problem staying dialed in, I can saw out veneer if I want,

I have looked at most of them, and milled lumber on many of them. As to what brand I would buy, depends on what category of mill I was buying, but in a manual mill, I'd be looking HARD at the Norwood and Ez Boardwalk brands...

SR