Think I’m going to get a sawmill.

[Hersheyfarm]

I like the woodmisers, LT15 is what I’m leaning to but really want to stay around $7k tho. There are other brands that are cheaper. As far as use it will mainly be just for me but I’m sure neighbors will want some stuff. Wood…oaks, hickory, maple, poplar, walnut, cherry, locust, and a lot of cedar. alot.

So 26”ish logs, 16’ bed, manual push is fine.

what brands do some of you have and your experience?

 

[Cataclysm]

Sawmills look interesting to run. Wish I had time to give them a try.

Youtube has endless hours of reviews. Mike with Outdoors with the Morgans is a good start.

Mike owns and rates the LT15 pretty high. I would trust his judgement from watching his videos.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have a Timberking, the remains of the old Belsaw circle mills.

I've wanted a mill for better than half of my life, the manual band mills was what I wanted to spend. After much thinking it over for a long time during my search, I figured that they were far too much work to be much fun and after the "shine" wore off and I'd go back to buying rough sawn lumber for next to nothing (.50c bd/ft) with his logs!
Then my mill showed up on c/l, fully hydraulic, blade sharpener with a tooth setter and a lap siding jig plus 50 some blades half of which are new! I hurried right over and handed him his asking price of $15k!
I read of a lot of guys with a woodland mills manual mill that are satisfied but during the past 2 years they seemed to be the only ones to give a delivery date that wasn't 12+ months out if you got any dates at all.
I don't think that you can go wrong with a woodmizer and your return if you wanted to sell or upgrade would be commensurate with the purchase price.
I've got every way imaginable to move logs (tractor, skid steer, excavator) but I'm sooo glad that I waited for a mill with hydraulic log handling.
Call WM for a list of their sawyers near you and see if you can watch him/her saw.
This might key you in to the work involved just leveling and turning the log on the mill, the cranking for raising and lowering the saw head and pushing it through the cut is not the hard work that I mentioned above.
My mill in the building that I'm building for it.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

What model is that?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Sawmills look interesting to run. Wish I had time to give them a try.

Youtube has endless hours of reviews. Mike with Outdoors with the Morgans is a good start.

Mike owns and rates the LT15 pretty high. I would trust his judgement from watching his videos.

I do watch them sometimes but haven’t seen his sawmill videos. Will look them up. But, a channel i have been watching is lumber capitol log yard. Its ran by some young sisters….but they really do show and explain about the sawmills they run. They have a lt15 and a lt40. Never thought I’d watch teenage girls for info.

 

[Rustyiron]

What model is that?

It's a B 20, delivered to the original owner early 2000. It was a "hobby" thing as it is for me. With the insane wood prices and building a home for it, it's not hard to argue that it's completely paid for it self and could be sold for $5k above my purchase price.

 

[Raul-02]

With the insane wood prices and building a home for it,

A home for the mill. At first, my hasty read made me think you used the lumber to build a home for yourself.
I've read that using DIY milled lumber is darn near impossible because the code enforcement people won't approve uncertified lumber and getting the license to do certification is rather expensive.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

I like the woodmisers, LT15 is what I’m leaning to but really want to stay around $7k tho. There are other brands that are cheaper. As far as use it will mainly be just for me but I’m sure neighbors will want some stuff. Wood…oaks, hickory, maple, poplar, walnut, cherry, locust, and a lot of cedar. alot.

So 26”ish logs, 16’ bed, manual push is fine.

what brands do some of you have and your experience?

I purchased a Woodland Mills HM 126 with the larger engine earlier this year and she will do 26" and just over 16' with one optional trac extension. They are one of the few actually delivering these days and the experience was all very positive performing well out of the box. They have a larger unit on wheels that would be around your budget.

Sawmills, Bandsaw Mills, & Wood Chippers | Woodland Mills USA

woodlandmills.com

Been building my setup over the last few months.

 

[hopm]

EZ Boardwalk

 

[caver]

I was going to buy an EZ Boardwalk until I came across a good deal on a Baker HD18. Problem is they are way labor inesive dealing with the lumber and the logs. Then that beautiful lumber you cut warps/splits a couple months after you cut it. The cutting is the easy part.

 

[Ken45101]

FWIW, I bought the Harbor Freight sawmill on sale a coupe of years ago, my first experience with a sawmill. I could not justify anything more sophisticated. The mill has given me some decent project lumber around the farm but it is extremely heavy labor intensive having to manually roll and adjust the logs, especially for a single person operation. Production rates are very slow.

It is faster than a chain saw mill ("Alaskan Sawmill")

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I purchased a Woodland Mills HM 126 with the larger engine earlier this year and she will do 26" and just over 16' with one optional trac extension. They are one of the few actually delivering these days and the experience was all very positive performing well out of the box. They have a larger unit on wheels that would be around your budget.

Sawmills, Bandsaw Mills, & Wood Chippers | Woodland Mills USA

woodlandmills.com

Been building my setup over the last few months.View attachment 759098

Year, been looking at them. Way cheaper than woodmiser. Lots of good video with them. Seem like a heck of a deal. I’m going to call them tomorrow to see their turnaround time.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

What is the warping rate on larger 1x’s And 2x’s?

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Year, been looking at them. Way cheaper than woodmiser. Lots of good video with them. Seem like a heck of a deal. I’m going to call them tomorrow to see their turnaround time.

Received my mill in 8 days from time of order so they are shipping pretty quickly.

 

[Rustyiron]

What is the warping rate on larger 1x’s And 2x’s?

I've got a lot more to learn, but I think it's got a lot to do with the species and where the tree is growing. I've seen the tension come out of a tree as you saw boards off of it.
Forestry forum has a sawmill section.

 

[Raul-02]

I've seen the tension come out of a tree as you saw boards off of it.

wood internal stress and tension has never been a cut and dry proposition for me. I gotta take a pass on my saw and see if it collapses on the blade. Doesn't matter whether it's on my Austrian Slider or my Bandsaw, sometimes it's just going to be a problem and sometimes it's not. If the tree was a leaner I can pretty much guarantee lots of internal stress. Even seasoning doesn't relieve it. Neither does kilning. I have done it in a steam box. Not very efficient.

 

[JRH02]

12 years ago we built our home from scratch. Except for setting the log kit up I have worked by myself. A lot of planks and boards came from our Woodmizer, cut on our land. Two out buildings used 100% lumber from the mill except for sheets and bit of treated. A lot has changed in the last ten years. Back problems intensified, carpel tunnel, both hips and a knee, bad ankle - whah, whah, whah. But wisely when the DW chose and negotiated for the mill she must've seen into the future. She bought the hydraulics for loading, positioning, rolling, clamping, etc. 12 years ago it was just cool, faster and safer. But now I wouldn't be able to do the milling without the hydraulic functions. Think forward as you ponder your purchase.

Yup, the mill was expensive. But its in excellent shape and would sell for a decent price in a heartbeat today. And I can't speak higher of the mill. The only ongoing problem with it is its a haven for yellow jackets in the summer.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I have always wanted a mill too and maybe one of these days I will get it. For now I have a friend that is a mile down the road with a full hydraulic Woodmizer who I get my wood from. It is definitely a lot of work but oh so satisfying to make something beautiful out of wood that used to be a tree on your own land.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Biggest problems with lumber after it's milled out of a log is because of how it was handled after milling. I've been milling with a BSM since the 90's and I just don't have all the problems folks seem to be having.

Learn how to "properly" sticker lumber and almost all of those problems go away!

SR

 

[Rustyiron]

I cut about 95% hemlock, all for buildings. I really don't have any problems with twisting or the like. It's sawn and used within a month or less.
I know that Rob (seems to) cut a lot of furniture grade lumber and his stickers and cheap ratchet straps....