midtnwoodworker Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 I have about 2000 bd ft of lumber sitting in logs right now. The only portable mill I could find quoted 75hr. Anyone have experience with portable mills and how much they charge? The only reason I am considering a portable mill is because my usual mill takes about a year to get any lumber back from. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 Never had lumber milled, but 75 an hour seems fairly reasonable. I have seen people quoted $100-125 per hour plus blade damage charge if a blade is damaged. Also some require minimum in terms of hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 The guy I used charged a price per bf, a price per mile he had to drive to get to you and set up fee. Setup fee: $25 Price per mile: $1.50 Basic regular slabs: $0.35/bf If blade is damaged: $25 My guy kind of estimated down but we ended up with $140 for 250 bf. Took about 1.5 hours. I could have saved at least $60 or so by driving to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 The guy I've worked with charges $60 /hr but i know he prefers the wood to come to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxerjoe04 Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 Have heard $100 hour or .35 cents/bf around me. I'd ask him how many bf an hour he can cut, since being paid by the hour, might not get in any kind of hurry, would def shop around though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Endres Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 I was quoted by one guy $75/hr. I also bought oak from a guy that has a rate sheet similar to what Cliff said. I have his card somewhere but can't remember his prices off the top of my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 My sawyer charges $100/hour minimum 2 hours and the first blade is free. More than one and you pay at $25/blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 13, 2016 Report Share Posted April 13, 2016 I had some milled a year and a half ago and he charged $100 hour. He changed blades 3 times during the 3 hours it took him to cut these logs. He did not charge for the blades and turned the clock off during the blade change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 22 hours ago, K Cooper said: I had some milled a year and a half ago and he charged $100 hour. He changed blades 3 times during the 3 hours it took him to cut these logs. He did not charge for the blades and turned the clock off during the blade change. Coop, were any of the blades damaged or just not cutting well any more? I should clarify that my guy only charges if the blade is Damaged and cannot be simply sharpened. He has a blade sharpening station where he can sharpen the blades in about ten minutes. If he hits metal buried in the log, the teeth aren't easy to being back so those are tossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 38 minutes ago, Brendon_t said: Coop, were any of the blades damaged or just not cutting well any more? I should clarify that my guy only charges if the blade is Damaged and cannot be simply sharpened. He has a blade sharpening station where he can sharpen the blades in about ten minutes. If he hits metal buried in the log, the teeth aren't easy to being back so those are tossed. He would lay a 6' straight edge down the length of the log and across it after each cut and if he could see daylight, he would change the blade. Luckily he never came in contact with metal. Not sure what that would have cost me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 5 minutes ago, K Cooper said: He would lay a 6' straight edge down the length of the log and across it after each cut and if he could see daylight, he would change the blade. Luckily he never came in contact with metal. Not sure what that would have cost me. That seems a bit excessive, whenever we get a bit of wave, a little bump up of the hydraulic tension of the blade accounted for the stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 I had some cherry milled in Louisiana 3 years ago by a "good ole boy" who only changed blades when they broke. The difference in the quality of the cut from this guy and the later is like day and night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 Was his name cletus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwood Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 The guy I use charges 25 cent and board foot and 50 cent for metal strikes. Couple of those and the log gets tossed in the firewood stack. Nothing for travel or any of the other stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneoldcoot Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 This has been very interesting to me as I am in the process of ordering a portable sawmill and it gives me an idea what to charge here in nw Georgia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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