Any one have their own saw mill ?

[Paddy]

Steppenwolfe,

When I was just a youngster, I built a band saw saw mill. I used angle iron as the track. The wheels the blade rode on was made of two heavy duty 4 gang pullys. I bought enough belt to make the tire for the blade to ride on. All was heavy but simple off the shelf stuff. Like 1" keyed shafts and pillow block bearings.

At the time I had no $$ so I built it. Today, I would by a used one

They are fun to use

 

[Paddy]

Steppenwolfe,

When I was just a youngster, I built a band saw saw mill. I used angle iron as the track. The wheels the blade rode on was made of two heavy duty 4 gang pullys. I bought enough belt to make the tire for the blade to ride on. All was heavy but simple off the shelf stuff. Like 1" keyed shafts and pillow block bearings.

At the time I had no $$ so I built it. Today, I would by a used one

They are fun to use

 

[mudcat47537]

I purchased a Kasco mill when we bought out property. I was working as a timber cutter at the time. I select cut a few trees from our property as well as doing some clearing and sawed the lumber to build our house. That was 20 years ago. I kept the mill and did custom sawing for people for another 10 years. Then a guy I had done a lot of sawing for offered me nearly what I gave for it. I sold it to him as I was then starting to work in concrete and never seemed to have the time to saw.
Those that state that sharp blades and proper set are the key are right on. I also agree with the Woodmisers are nice mills too. I have a buddy that runs one and it does well, much easier on the back than mine was as mine was all manual and 25% of the cost. But you could not tell the difference in the lumber that came off if them.
My father in-law has a very nice mill a Cook brand very very nice, right around 60k the way if us set up.

 

[MotorSeven]

Step, I have a Woodmized LT15 Bandmill which I used to build my house, 1/3 of a hay barn(so far), a mill shed and a few other projects. It has paid for itself many times over. I started out with a CSM(chainsaw mill) and quickly realized that a band is really much more practical on large projects. First you need to decide if you want a all manual mill or one with hydraulics. My LT15 can do everything a full hyd mill can do, but it requires labor and time. Someday I will trade up to the LT35 full hyd mill.....but new that's about $20K....I only have $6K tied up in the LT15. As mentioned above go here to read learn & ask questions about band mills:
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?board=7.0

Here are some pics of my LT15 millng my 5x10 rafters out of 26' Hemlock that was 25" in dameter:

loadind a smaller pine log for the barn build:

millng:

 

[slowzuki]

I built a sawmill to saw the lumber to build our house. Worst decision I made in the building process. Should have just bought the LT-15 and I would have been money ahead, had my milling done and sold it on down the road before I finished my bandmill. Hindsight is great though.

Still have the mill, it hasn't been run in 5 years as I've been too busy but because its home built not worth much. Hope to find a good blade sharpener again and mill up some beams but been too busy.

 

[pnhd65]

Go for it. I bought a used Woodmizer LT30 20 odd years ago and built my own house with it. Many a time since, I've wanted that mill back. I just got a used LT 15 GO yesterday. Chomping at the bit to get started. Next project is an addition to a shed I built years ago. Forestry forum is a wealth of knowledge. If you get a mill, keep in mind you're on the bottom of a learning curve.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have an alaskan and it is fun, but I would NEVER use it for any sort of serious production work. M7 has it nailed, and did a great job on his place.

My only two questions on all of this is drying of the wood (how did you do it? Did you need to do it?) And the actual cutting of the wood, I have seen sites that say you need to cut logs a particular way so that the lumber you cut is correct and structurally sound.

 

[MillWeld]

I have a Cook MP32 . The pic shows quartersawing a 30" post oak. I've had it 11 years and have modified it to electrically assist most of the log moving/turning.

 

[CliffordK]

Mom's cousin bought a couple of acres of wooded land.
Bought a second hand logging crane.
Built a log house with scored and cut 2' or so diameter tree logs.

Cut most of the interior lumber.

It was a project that took several years, but the end result is truly spectacular.

I don't know much about the sawmill, other than he bought an old combine to salvage the motor which runs it.

Anyway...
Sawmills do come up for sale occasionally.

This one showed up on Craigslist today. I think it is being moved from Texas to Oregon.
Woodmizer Sawmill

Also locally.
SAWMILL-WoodMizer LT-40 Super Hydraulic

and a bit larger, but rougher one.
1950'S OLD FASHION PORTABLE SAW MILL

And Another.
Sawmill Woodmizer LT40 Super Deisel

Don't they have some trees left back East? I'd be surprised if you can't find one locally. Most of the portable ones appear to have bandsaws. I don't know what my Mom's cousin has, bandsaw vs circular saw. I would assume some of the smaller ones have a thinner kerf, and thus less wasted wood.

 

[atgreene]

We've got a Bellsaw 42" inserted tooth PTO powered mill. We had a Lane/Chase before that powered by a 671 Detroit. We've tried bandsaws, but for the money ($1000 +-) you can pick up a circular saw Bellsaw that runs off your tractor, saws 2-3x as much per day and does a nice job. I like the bandmills and all, but when our 1000 dollar mill will saw 3 times what our friends $40,000 woodmizer will saw, I'll take the circular saw anyday. The bandmill makers cry about sawdust waste, but for the amount anyone here is going to saw, an extra bladewidth of sawdust would take several lifetimes to pay back for the cost of a bandmill and blades vs a circular mill. JMHO:2cents: