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Buying a new mill!

Started by Johnny94, September 08, 2017, 01:31:12 PM

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Johnny94

Hey everyone this is my first post!
I'm not new to sawmills but where I'm to its a little bit old school, a lot of manual push bench sawmills run by diesel motors, I'm looking into a new mill and it's going to be a bandsaw mill, I live in Newfoundland and there is not many dealers, I can get a Woodland mill most suitable for me would be HM126, I'm looking for some opinions on these and others similar to it.
Thanks!

mad murdock

Welcome to the Forestry Forum! A new mill is always an exciting beginning to a lifelong adventure!  I can't opine on bandsaw mills (BSM's) as I have a small, but very capable swingblade sawmill.  One thing that will help you to decide, and us to give better advice, is to let us know a bit about what you plan on making with the mill specifically, what the typical size log you expect to encounter with the mill, etc.  If you want to do more live edge wide cutting for example, there may be machines/add ons better suited for that than say doing mostly dimensional work, or even random lengths for woodworking vs longer lengths for timbers etc. 
A lot of variances in the type of milling one will do most of the time, and zeroing in on those areas will help you to narrow the search and options to exactly the tool you will either be in love with, or hope you got a different one.  One thing that is pretty universal, get the most HP you can reasonably afford, and any automation will make you more efficient, as well as not get tuckered out as fast.  Good luck, and dont forget to check out the forum search tool as well.  Tons of info on this site, and lots of good people with good advice! 8) 8)
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

thecfarm

Johnny94,welcome to the forum.
Do you plan on sawing just for yourself?
I have an all manual mill. It's alot of work and time. That's why I say,If I Don't Do It,It Don't Get Done.  ;D The mill works great. Not something I would want to try to make a living on.
I only saw for myself. I saw out buildings for us.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Johnny94

Typical log dimensions around me are 16-20 inch. Most of my sawing will be for myself, with the exception of helping out a family member or friend with a project. Most likely I will be sawing lumber for a shed and a garage, and hopefully within the next few years a new wooden boat

Deese

Welcome to the forum, Johnny94
2004 LT40 Super 51hp w/6' bed extension
Cooks AE4P Edger
Cat Claw sharpener/Dual Tooth Setter
Kubota svl75-2 skidsteer w/grapple, forks, brushcutter
1977 Log Hog Knuckleboom loader/truck

Ianab

With the smaller logs and hobby sawing, the Woodland sounds like a sensible option.

Also think about support equipment. Tractor with a FEL or a log arch, some way to move the logs around. There are various options, depending on what you have available.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Johnny94

The dealership I work for sells Stihl equipment so I got some pretty good options for a good price, I have been looking for a tractor for years now, i would benefit a lot from a tractor, living off grid has lots of challenges.

btulloh

Welcome the Forestry Forum Johnny94.  Good luck with your quest.

I have been using an HM126 for a little over two years now.  It's been good to me, with mostly routine maintenance.  The support has been really good when I had a couple small issues.  It's hard to say how different mills compare unless someone has seriously used a number of them.  Most everyone on here is pretty satisfied with the mill they chose.  If there's any way you can go and look at some mills close to your it would help also.

When I decided on the Woodland Mills, I hadn't looked at any of the other smaller manual mills.  I had only seen some of the bigger Woodmizers, and couple Norwoods.  They all cost more than I wanted to put into it at the time.  After looking around for feedback (on here mostly) I just jumped in and got the HM126.  My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.  It has served me well.

Good luck with your research and your future projects.  You'll really want to get that tractor as soon as possible too.
HM126

thecfarm

Going to need a peavey or a cantdog. Logrite is a sponsor on the left. The site will tell you which one you may like and pictures too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

sawmilljoe

I have a Woodland hm126 and before I got it had made a couple of mills. Looked at every mill I could before getting it and the woodlands was the best value I could find. Well 2.5 years later I could still not ask for a better mill for the money I spent. I have pushed this mill to its max many times and do use it to saw for others. There customer service I  top notched .

Johnny94

Thanks for the help much appreciated, I'll keep updates coming

opticsguy

I purchased a TimberKing 1220 and love it!!  Not sure how it compares to the one you are looking at but I can highly recommend this sawmill.  I only saw for myself.  I have a 27 HP Ford tractor with front bucket and 3 point. I built a forklift for the three point and use it to move and load logs.  Manual mills can be a lot of work, support equipment helps on and sawmill.
TK 1220 band mill,  1952 Ford F-2, 1925 Dodge touring, too many telescopes.

Treehack

Good choice on the 1220 Optics.  Did you get transport package as well?
TK 1220, 100+ acres of timber, strong left arm.

tizzel

Hey Johnny, I'm also from Newfoundland. I'm seriously looking at buying the HM126.
Seeing as this post is 3 months old, I was wondering how the mill has working out for ya.
My plan is to mill lumber to build a cabin and a small shed at the cabin

thecfarm

tizzel welcome to the forum.
johnny94 has not been back since Sept 25.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

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