Where have all the Sawmills Gone?


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Woodmizer has a search option on their website to help people get in touch with small scale sawyers.  That being said, the big commercial mills and cheap imports have really depressed the price of lumber, which makes it harder for small mills to generate enough output to pay workers.  Think of this as the wal-martization of milling.  coupled with the downturn in consumer spending and most people fold. 

 

My suggestion, find a real-estate agent who sells lots in the country.  About 35% of the forested lots sold near towns get clearcut for housing, and the trees get hauled off for mulching &c, or sold for timber (when run by a developer)  If you get there before they do the clearcut you can usually get them for a song.  A while back we got an entire truckload of logs for 600 dollars, I can't remember the total bf we sawed out of it, but it just about filled a tractor trailer, and supplied 5 years of firewood from what we didn't get around to sawing.

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In my area, 25 mi NW of Nashville TN, there are 3 sawmills in 10 miles (possibly more) but they either do ties or pallets

and aren't really 'public mills'.  And I don't think these mills run kilns.  The bark strips and saw dust mainly go to local

tobacco barn owners by the truck load to cure tobacco.

 

I am guessing that we could contact them and most managers are friendly.  I haven't approached them, but I suspect it

might be possible.

 

Contact some local farmers or your county agent, they probably know where local mills are even if they aren't 'public'

mills.  We had some trees taken down recently, and even the tree removal folks took 'good logs' to the mill to help

increase their profits, and it is better than just burning or grinding or paying to dump them.

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Around here, it used to be that there was at least one sawmill every 30 miles or so.  When I started building houses in 1973, I could get Yellow Pine framing lumber that had been sawn, air dried on sticks for a year, then milled straight and dressed after it came out of the drying kiln which was fired by burning sawdust.  You could buy YP 2x4s that were straight and stayed straight.  You can't hardly find a YP 2x4 these days, much less one that is straight, or will stay straight.

 

You could buy any size board of C and Better clear Yellow Pine in stock, and have a lot to pick from fairly cheap.  It was well cured and stable too.

 

All these mills have gone out of business now that they have to compete with the big box stores who sell wood that is sawn, dried, milled, and banded into bundles in less than 24 hours.  Stand back when the bands are cut on a stack of this lumber.

 

Even all the old carpenters, except for maybe me, who used to work with the properly cured wood are gone now.  I don't know any of them still alive anymore around here other than me.

 

In 1980, I bought White Oak lumber to use as siding on my house and barn for one hundred bucks a thousand. They cut all the sapwood off before they would dare charge for a board.  You can still buy it about an hour away, but it's a lot more now, and not graded for quality.

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Around here, it used to be that there was at least one sawmill every 30 miles or so.  When I started building houses in 1973, I could get Yellow Pine framing lumber that had been sawn, air dried on sticks for a year, then milled straight and dressed after it came out of the drying kiln which was fired by burning sawdust.  You could buy YP 2x4s that were straight and stayed straight.  You can't hardly find a YP 2x4 these days, much less one that is straight, or will stay straight.

 

You could buy any size board of C and Better clear Yellow Pine in stock, and have a lot to pick from fairly cheap.  It was well cured and stable too.

 

All these mills have gone out of business now that they have to compete with the big box stores who sell wood that is sawn, dried, milled, and banded into bundles in less than 24 hours.  Stand back when the bands are cut on a stack of this lumber.

 

Even all the old carpenters, except for maybe me, who used to work with the properly cured wood are gone now.  I don't know any of them still alive anymore around here other than me.

 

In 1980, I bought White Oak lumber to use as siding on my house and barn for one hundred bucks a thousand. They cut all the sapwood off before they would dare charge for a board.  You can still buy it about an hour away, but it's a lot more now, and not graded for quality.

Tom, where are you located?

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I live in Northwest Arkansas, and I am having a really hard time finding good sources of hardwood.

Maybe I just don't know how to look. I search lumber mill and sawmill and am just not finding any good leads close by.

The question is this:

Is there a good online source for finding lumber mills and hardwood supply houses?

Does anyone happen to know a good one in my vicinity (SW Missouri, NE Oklahoma, SE Kansas, NW Arkansas)?

Thanks for any help I can get...attachicon.gifsawmill.jpg

I have used hardwoods2go.com twice, shipping is fair, and wood is reasonably priced. I bought 40bf of spanish cedar, I got lucky and this was s4s! shipping was fast as well. Selection isnt that great but take a look.

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