Sawmill Advice

[Nate_Surveyor]

I am a land surveyor.

I owned a Logosol M-7 mill for about a year. I sold it, to buy a faster mill. I built one building with the Logosol.

I want to but either a band mill, or a Peterson swing blade mill.

I have a pretty good line on a Peterson 8" ATS mill, with 13 hp honda, and track extensions. Used, but nearly new.

I am looking for some advice. I want to build a big house, and all. I have 4 children. Oldest is 5.

Thanks,

Nate

[DanG]

Hi Nate. Welcome!

Sounds like you need confirmation and encouragement, more than advice.  The Peterson will do the job for you. If it's in good shape, as you say, resale should be easy and quick if you decide you don't like it. There are oodles of used bandmills on the market at any one time, so you might be stuck with one of them for a while if you decide to make a change.  I'd say grab the swinger while you can. They don't come up for sale all that often.

You also might look around for a Mobile Dimension or D&L Double Cut saw. They'll do you a great job with a whole lot less work.

Stick with us. You'll learn a lot, and we could use a surveyor, from time to time. ;D

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I will answyer your question by asking questions.  What size and type is your log supply?  What type of lumber are  you wanting to produce?  Do you have any log handeling equipment to aid you?  Are you willing to do alot of hard work?
  I just ask these as it would help in giving you an answyer.  Now like DanG said if you can buy the swinger and have the coin then I would buy it and try it out.  If you do not like it you should be able to sell it and move to a band mill and might even make some extra coin.
  Now it has been my findings that folks buy a small mill and start cutting stuff for the house/barn/cabin and it becomes slow labot intensive work and after a spell the call me.   I can saw in a day what most do in 2 weeks and know how to make a good board.  I sawed for some folks that bought a band mill and traded it off for a swinger and then sold the swinger.  They took the cash and paid me to saw about 30,000 bdft for them.  I even let them help. ;D
  Let us know what you have to saw and we can help you make a better choice.
  I just noticed you are another ARKY  and new so Welcome!

[RMay]

Nate Welcome to the Forum if you wood like to see a Wood-Mizer LT-40 run I am south of you at Hollywood . ;D

[Frank_Pender]

Nate, I think you have an excellent choice in the Mobile Dimension mill, as I have three of the and soon, only two.  For the dimension of logs you and going to be working with you will find that you can easily get the footage you want each day, especially if you have some equipment to help in getting logs to and or onto the mill.  If you give Mobile Dimension a call at 1-877-272-9645 and speak with John, ZI am sure he could give you someone nearby that has a MD mill.   Good luck with your house project.

[CHARLIE]

Nate, use that red oak for interior wood too. It's not much good for exterior. If you look at the end grain of red oak, you'll see a lot of little holes. They are like straws that run through the wood and will literally suck the water into the board when it gets wet.  On the other hand, white oak is excellent for exterior use as those holes are plugged. :P

[shopteacher]

Welcome to the forum Nate and really glad to have ya here. Need some one with surveying experience.  I teach my construction class a few fundamentals on plot plans and layout with a transit, but would like to learn a lot more about it. So be ready to take questions. ;D

[OneWithWood]

Welcome, Nate!  Practice your surveying skills by traversing over to the members map, figure your coordinates and plant a tree.  While you are at it fill out the bio - inquiring minds want to know

[J_T]

Welcom Nate. I got a circle mill anything that might even have metal in it I send to a guy that has a band saw . You an't heard nothing till that blade doing 95mph hits steel.Maybe you woke Jeff and some of the others up  :D :D They got pictures ;D

[DanG]

Nate, I don't think the waste problem is so bad with my Mobile Dimension saw. What I give up in kerf is made up by being able to conveniently rescue those boards that are normally trapped in the slabs from a "through and through" saw, such as bandsaws and big circle mills. Not to say they can't recover it, but it takes extra steps, so much of it ends up in the chipper.

Most MDs are trailer mounted, and moving them isn't too bad. They are big, though, so it's a bit more trouble than most bandsaws. You do need some method of handling logs, as the MD doesn't have hydraulic log handling. I have an old forklift, the notorious "Hootiemobile", that makes it easy to operate alone. The only time I really need help is when the machine hands me a 20' 2x12.

Another advantage to a used MD is price. I got mine for $9,000, about what you would expect to pay for a used swinger, and far less than an automated bandmill.