Saw Mills.....

[Dave F]

I hope I'm putting this in the right forum. I looked around and searched the site but couldn't find any discussions of saw mills so .... here goes.

I have a piece of property that is heavily timbered (21 acres). I plan on harvesting roughly one tree a year to supply my woodworking needs. I certainly have no desire to denude the area, so I'll carefully select which ones to harvest. Consequenty I've been lloking into purchasing a saw mill to cut my timber. Those dang things are SPENDY!!

I believe I have settled on a great one. I'm pretty focused on the TimberKing 2000. Looks to have great capacity, enough automation to make a one person operation pretty doable and portable enough that I could "hire out" to go mill for someone else to offset the cost.

Here's pretty good look at the TK2000 in operation.

I'm just wondering if any of you guys have had any experience with the TimberKing line of products and what your thoughs might be. I'd also like to hear of any other brands you may have encountered and what you think. Any and all discussion is welcome...

And yes.. I'm also looknig at building/buying a kiln to dry everything as well.,... I just need to find the money tree in my woods and make sure I DON'T cut that one down...

[rmac]

I'm gonna guess that machine costs between $20,000 and $30,000. Is that even close? If so, it's gonna take you a long time to pay for it if you only cut one tree per year. If you "hire out", as you say, to pay for it, are you gonna to have time to do anything else?

-- Russ

[Boatworks Today]

Depending on the size of the logs you'll be running through, Woodmizer makes a nice line of units starting around $4k and go up to as much $$ as you would like to spend :-) The one that I would like to get someday is the step up from the entry unit; the LT-15 for around $7k.. The one you posted is a BIG unit; wondering if since your milling needs will be small a more basic unit might be a better choice? Dont get me wrong, that timber king is sweet! Woodmizer also makes large mills that would be comparable to the timber king. http://www.woodmizer.com/us/Home.aspx

[jab73180]

That is a lot of money for 1 log a year. I would suggest a small manual mill. The one in northern hydraulics gets good reviews.

[Dave F]

Yeah, it may seem like overkill. But, I have been reading about the "single arm" or "single tower" mills as being a bit unstable and may not yied as consistant of cut. I dunno, I like the ideal of the mill head being fully supported on both sides.

I will most likely cut more than "one log a year". I'll be milling full trees, (big old ones on my land, oak, maple, walnut). I have plenty of friends who have forested acreage as well so I'm certain they'll keep me busy too.

I own my own business and am incorporated so most likely the business would purchase the mill as a capitol expenditure, then depreciate the cost over a few years. I'm not overly concerned about that. Prices for a factory refurbished model is in the 18K range.

I dunno... still thinking it over.

Thanks for all the input.

[dwacker]

Check and see how they are holding their resale value. We sold our two woodmizers in Feb and lost our shorts but did better than some of the other brands. Woodmizers seem to be the go to machine but most dont have them long. Do you have a decent tractor? One thing folks dont think about is the tractor and usually end up buying one that is way to small. Have you thought about a beam planer add-on? Beam planer head is great if you live in an area where folks build rustic style homes and want they're trees made into beams for their own homes. FWIW a refer trailer is one of the best kilns you can put together on a reasonable budget. Refer trailers are easy to come buy used and any trucker will set it for you for next to nothing.

Don

[duckkisser]

if you want to make a busness out of it go ahead but if your looking at your own needs might end up being cheaper and easer to hire out to a miller and have him cut the wood for you. most millers charge int he range of .30-.60 cents a board foot unless they have to break a blade then they will charge for a new blade. because you will need to figure out a way to move the mill around, plus you will need to move the tree around to the location of your mill. remember you will always need more then a saw to make lumber. and alot of people will want the boards to be planed and have one side cut strait so they can imidiate put it in there shop. i have seen lots of people use trailers for there kiln but i always like the idea of a barn type kiln. that way you can not only dry wood but also store it long term till you need it.

[scsmith42]

Hi Dave. I own a sawmill and a couple of kilns, and it is indeed rewarding to be able to mill and dry your own lumber. One of the best forums available for millers is the Forestry Forum (www.forestryforum.com). It's a well run site with a plethora of information on it.

Timberking mills have a good reputation, but if I were you I would not be afraid of a single arm mill such as a Woodmizer. More lumber has been milled with Woodmizer mills than probably all of the other portable mills put together, and most pro's that I know that use a portable bandmill use the Woodmizer LT 40H or LT70. Just about all of the talk against single post mills is by folks that have not used them and are not speaking from practical experience.

I myself use a Peterson Swingblade mill; swingblade mills are the best solution for milling extremely large diameter logs and quartersawing, which are the two areas where I focus.

Sawmill and Woodlot magazine is a good publication to subscribe to in order to increase your milling and drying knowledge. You will need the ability to handle logs and lumber, so if you don't already have a rough terrain forklift or something similar, you will want to add this to your acquisition list as well.

The USDA manuals, along with Eugene Wengert's "Sawing and Drying Hardwood Lumber" manual are must reads for anybody becoming actively involved with milling and drying. There is a lot more to milling than just cutting (assuming that you want to produce high quality lumber suitable for woodworking), and Gene's book is a great place to start.

Most small operators choose either a solar kiln or a small dehumidification kiln. Nyle makes the best small DH kilns (look into their L200's), and the Virgina Tech design is the leading solar kiln design. Personally I would stay away from the reefer concept for a kiln (been there - done that); the problem is managing the airflow within the kiln. Nyle's kiln plans are a much better option.

In addition to the Timberkings, other bandmills to consider are Woodmizer, Baker (great product), and Logmaster. The latter makes a solid mill, but they are not long on customer support. Woodmizer's support org is the best in the industry.

Feel free to ask me any questions; I'm happy to share the knowledge that I have.

Scott

[Dave F]

Wow, Excellent information, thank you Scott.

I do have a 48 hp tractor with a forklift, FEL and Backhoe with a "thumb" . I'll be getting a log handling attachment for the back end once I get set up with a mill, etc. I don't see log handling being much of an issue.

I'll certainly look into the webnsites and resources you mentioned. Again, thanks!

DF