Fricasseekid Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Not sure where this thread belonged. But anywho... I've been admiring the Woodmizers for a while now. What got me started thinking about milling was when my uncle told me he want to scrap the 4 large, straight, and healthy cedar trees on his horse ranch. I begged him to please wait till I could find a means of transporting them and milling them into lumber and slabs. I also have a few other friends that own a tree service and they said that anything under 15 ft basically gets trashed because that all the big mills want to pay for. If probably get mostly red and white oak, maybe some pecan, and the occasional cypress and cedar. What I want to know is how profitable is sawyering? Is the money made in milling lumber for others or in milling and selling the lumber for cheaper than the lumber yards? I think the LT28 would be about right for me. The machine I'm eyeballing is $12k. What should I consider about getting into this? Is it a good investment? I work construction and am tired going from job to job. I'd really like to be self employed and the custom furniture just doesn't have a high enough labor/profit benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fricasseekid Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Oaks, cypress, and pine are the most common woods down south. If I could get my hands on a bunch of sinker cypress that would be ideal. That stuff can sell for $25-35 bd/ft. I do have about 2 acres. I should be able to sticker and air dry a good bit of lumber there. I was think more money would be made off milling for others though, rather than storing lumber in my yard for months at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fricasseekid Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Thanks for putting me in the appropriate place admins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 I would expect your investment to be a good bit higher than the $12k for the mill itself. Even if you plan to mill timber that is already down, and plan to go on-site, you will need some log handling gear, and probably a way to snake logs to where the mill is set up, since trees don't always fall in nice level spots next to an existing road. A woodmizer owner that I used to buy lumber from found he could never make it pay enough to quit his day job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fricasseekid Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Well I believe the mill comes with one of those log rollers and it has an on board winch to load the logs up and I'm hoping with the cooperation of my tree work buddies I can avoid the need for a tractor at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 The best money is going to come from selling air or kiln dried lumber and slabs. That means storage space and deep enough pockets to wait on a return on your investment. Plus without a tractor/ forklift you have got a lot of hours of backbreaking work in your future. The folks buying green rough cut lumber expect a bargain cause they have to sit on it and wait for it to dry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fricasseekid Posted September 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 Yeah. I had planned on air dryin the lumber in my back yard. I have a 20x30 awning right next to my shop that would be perfect for storing lots of lumber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Crawford Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 Evaluate your competition. How many are in your area? How busy are they? How much do they charge? How long have they been in business? Around here there are several and they can generally come within 1-2 days so I infer are not very busy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fricasseekid Posted September 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 That's good advice Tom. I will check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPCV_Woodworker Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 I've got a Kasco II-b, I love it. That being said, I've never made a dime off of the wood we saw. We do everything from slabs and 5/4 stock for woodworking all the way up to 2x12s for buildings, about 90% of it gets consumed on-site. Granted, we're building a house and barn, so we use a inordinate amount. I'd still say, unless you're going to go full-time, and process a lot of wood, you'd best stick with your day job and use this as a supplement. That being said, consider getting in touch with developers, when they clear-cut for housing developments, they actually pay companies to take the logs away and chip them. For the cost of hiring a truck and driver, you can enough wood to keep you sawing for a few weeks, or a year of weekends. Also, refrigerated tractor-trailers can be easily modified into solar kilns, and retain heat very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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