What mill to buy? Looking for input.

Southside · February 04, 2015, 11:39:48 PM

I want to get a mill here on the farm. I have no experience running a mill of any kind. The idea is that I have a number of projects that need to be done over the next couple of years and rather than paying to have my own logs milled or flat out buying lumber I figured I can at least have the mill and finished product for the same $$. I don't see a market in our area for portable milling services, perhaps I could sell a little QS or specialty wood locally, but don't see that as a big money maker at this time, if something were to develop down the road then I could look at upgrading at that time.

Want to keep the budget tight - not going to make a payment on something that sits most of the time. $3,000 is my goal, I understand that will not get me anything fancy. On line I have looked at the DIY - kit mills, Bell Saw type mills, and some of the manual basic complete mills.

Questions I have are what are the maintenance / operating costs of circular vs band mills? What are the pros and cons of the two different styles? How much lumber can one reasonably expect to produce on a Bellsaw or manual band mill in a day - assuming occasional use so I would be on the slower side I suspect. Of the models out there what ones would you avoid or recommend at the level I am looking at? It is in the plans to build a solar kiln for the hardwoods as one of the needs is to saw a new floor for the farmhouse at some point, anything would be an improvement over what is there now.

I love the twin blade Casey is building down in Lousiana but right now I can't justify spending that kind of money. Any input is greatly appreciated.

4x4American · February 04, 2015, 11:51:28 PM

You might want to look into Hud-Son's line of equipment, they have mills in your price range.

This is all my understanding:
Band mills save more wood, take less power, and the wood comes off more smootherer most of the time, leaving less work for finishing it.
Keeping a band cutting straight is harder than a circle mill.
You will have to either send out your bands to be sharpened. With a circle mill you can sharpen them yourself with tools you probably already have.
Circle blades cost more if you ruin the blade, but most of the ones you would be looking at would have shanks with replaceable teeth.

Time for bed!

Brad_S. · February 05, 2015, 01:17:05 AM

Funny 4x should mention Hud-son...that was the one mill I was going to tell you to avoid. Friend had one, I don't think he ever cut a straight board with it.
That and Ripsaw.

Ianab · February 05, 2015, 02:08:36 AM

On that budget the little Woodland MIlls might be the best buying.

It might be possible to find a used circle mill for that money, but it's a much steeper learning curve, it will be old, and probably needs work. They are also are harder to operate alone, and tend to have some safety issues.

The little band mill? Basically it's new out of the box, read the manual, watch some videos, put the mill together and start sawing. OK there's plenty more to learn as you go, but you will be making boards from day 1.

Not a high production mill, but as a part time hobby business, it will get you started without the risk of an expensive high production mill. What you learn with the little one will apply to a bigger mill if you upgrade later.

fishfighter · February 05, 2015, 05:04:19 AM

Quote from: Ianab on February 05, 2015, 02:08:36 AM
On that budget the little Woodland MIlls might be the best buying.

It might be possible to find a used circle mill for that money, but it's a much steeper learning curve, it will be old, and probably needs work. They are also are harder to operate alone, and tend to have some safety issues.

The little band mill? Basically it's new out of the box, read the manual, watch some videos, put the mill together and start sawing. OK there's plenty more to learn as you go, but you will be making boards from day 1.

Not a high production mill, but as a part time hobby business, it will get you started without the risk of an expensive high production mill. What you learn with the little one will apply to a bigger mill if you upgrade later.

This. I'm new to milling. Very green for sure. I did a lot of research for a cheap priced mill. My needs are to be able to cut hard wood trees. Use said lumber around my place. Must be able to cut at least 16'.

I ended buying a Woodland HM126. I only been having it for a week, but I been ripping lumber. Very happy with the mill. Once I put it together which took about 5 hours, I threw on a log and went to town. The cost of the mill with a extension track and 10 extra blades plus shipping to me cost $3800. Took less then a week to get it. I did have some questions when I got it and called them. Right off the bat I was very happy with the support. Also, Woodland is a supporter of this web site and you can read up on there forum here or do a search and there are a bunch of Woodland owners that post here.

I did look at the Harbor Freight mill that cost 1K less. But once you really look at it real close, you can see were that extra 1K is spent. Besides that, for me, I would have to build extra tracking. That and what motor that came with the mill. We all know most of the things HF sell are cheap knock offs. ;D

One thing for sure is there is a lot of info here on this web site. I been reading on this forum. Read the past 90+ pages and I been picking up a lot of good info.

goose63 · February 05, 2015, 05:55:41 AM

There a lot of us Woodland Mill owners here. I like mine easy to run and work on

No I cant cut lumber with the big boys but I don't need to I'm cutting for my self.

For the money I don't think you can go wrong. I did look at all of the rest but after watching Josh run the mill in the video sold me on the Woodland Mill

Good luck in the hunt for a mill

xlogger · February 05, 2015, 06:24:58 AM

If you can get down to Raleigh (a couple hours drive for you) at the state fair grounds they are having a farm show there today and tomorrow with 3 different kinds of small sawmills there. All have smaller mills in your price for sale there. I'm no fan of the Hudson but he did cut straight lumber with it and it was white oak.

4x4American · February 05, 2015, 08:09:00 AM

I have a friend who has a Hud-Son, and I had a customer who has a Hud-Son, and they both love em. As you may have read on this site, any properly adjusted mill will cut straight. The customer who has his is a woodworker and saws mainly hardwoods with his, and my friends oscar is on a mixed diet.

RM Farm · February 05, 2015, 09:07:03 AM

I also have the Woodland Mills HM 126. Great mill, excellent customer service, and not a bad price. I can't say enough about it

thecfarm · February 05, 2015, 09:17:08 AM

You said farm? I suppose you have a tractor to get the logs out? I would go to as many shows and members close by to see thier mills. I looked for years before I brought mine. Took me a while because of money. It's nice to have a mill. Kinda like a bass boat. :D

Magicman · February 05, 2015, 09:48:00 AM

Quote from: thecfarm on February 05, 2015, 09:17:08 AMIt's nice to have a mill. Kinda like a bass boat. :D

That comment is funny to me Ray because when I bought my sawmill the previous owner's cousin told me later that me buying the sawmill was kinda like buying a boat. Both the seller and the buyer were happy. :D

thecfarm · February 05, 2015, 12:33:50 PM

In my case it is like a bass boat. I know your situation is diffeant. Mine will sit for months at a time without being used. I have used it enough to pay for it with just what I have sawed myself. But I could of spent probabaly $1000 and had someone, like you, come saw what I needed and saved $6000. ;D But than I would not have a ~~bass boat~~ sawmill to enjoy. ;D

sigidi · February 05, 2015, 02:49:23 PM

For my two cents, you can't go past a Lucas, the learning curve is much much smaller than any band mill, setup is much easier, keeping everything properly aligned Jas easier. I'd suspect the money spent on bands outweighs the money on blades - I haven't 'broken' a blade in 11 years commercial sawing only need new tips from time to time, around 30 sharpens using the supplied sharpener before needed new teeth and that's around 40 cubic metres of Aussie hardwood log, the stuff you guys have might get double that per blade. Nothing other than servicing needs doing during its life

Southside · February 05, 2015, 11:58:43 PM

Thanks for the input guys, @fishfighter that is an impressive machine for the money, @goose63 the spots in the video where the owner is making veneer was pretty danG impressive. @xlogger would love to go down to the show, why they have those things during the week is beyond me, two of the mills I ship to end settlements on Thursday and with this wet winter I need every good day in the woods I can get. @thecfarm oh yea, have the iron to get the logs out, actually thinking I could use some of my non-commercial timber and turn it into lumber rather than send it off for pulp. There is absolutely no value to a 9' pine log even if it was 30" in diameter and clean, I can't even sell it as pulp as it is too short, now if I can get 370 BFT out of that same piece...

Of course now I am sitting here all night watching videos and drooling, ahh - the automatic sharpener, the portable trailer option, a little building just for the mill (can't mill in the rain you know), the list goes on and on!!!!

What about log leveling - do you worry about the taper with these manual mills or just mill with how the log lies?

schakey · February 06, 2015, 03:45:14 AM

Morning Southside logger, I am in the same boat(not a logger or farmer) but on a tight budget and ready to retire. I am wanting a WM LT15 and my second choice is a Woodland. Have a great day and happy hunting.

Southside · February 06, 2015, 07:10:20 AM

How did this thread drift into boats so quickly anyway?

thecfarm · February 06, 2015, 07:29:03 AM

With a boatload of members it will go to food or boats. :D

Ugly Tree · February 06, 2015, 07:30:59 AM

I had a limited budget and went with the Woodland. Cutting lumber for sheds, shops, and once the learning curve straightens out, a 3300sf house. Got the mill, 10 pack of lenox blades, and two extra track extensions (22ft capacity) $4200 delivered to extreme South Arkansas. Get it level and keep a tight band and it will cut well within its advertised capacity. My best day was about 350 bf but that was before I built my roll on log deck. I still debark the whole tree too before loading it. After learning a little bit, I feel like I can easily cut 600-700 feet if the logs are prestaged on the deck and I don't debark everything, and I have a predefined cut list. Not sure if that;s good or bad for a completely manual mill, but I would be happy with that output. Would highly recommend for the money. I might consider upgrading to a 15hp Kohler in the future though. Just to give it a little more umph.

goose63 · February 06, 2015, 07:31:39 AM

Some one will bring up food too just don't bring up

GRITS some on here don't like em ;D

WDH · February 06, 2015, 07:49:55 AM

The LT15 with the 25 HP engine and the power feed is a very fine manual mill set-up. With a helper, you can cut well over 1000 bf in a day. It is a real workhorse. I am approaching sawing 100,000 bf on mine.

Hale87 · February 06, 2015, 07:56:49 AM

Before purchasing my LT40HD I had a Hudson for maybe five years. Can't say I ever had problems cutting a straight board. I liked it very much and could easily cut a 1000 board foot in a day, but of course that always depends on the logs you're cutting.

DMcCoy · February 06, 2015, 08:20:05 AM

I have an old belsaw that I have maybe $1,300.00 into. It cut straight and square. As far as aesthetics I prefer circle sawed lumber for siding, you just can't beat the scratch marks imho. When I sawed 1x siding I ended up with 3 piles of roughly equal size; sawdust, trimmings, and lumber. I would not recommend you use a belsaw to cut 16' in a "portable" arrangement. Circle mills need to be level, and level under the load of a moving log. You need over double the length of your longest log and it must be flat end to end and side to side the whole way. Mine is 48' long, but I have never cut longer than 17'. My feed rate was 75' per minute. Never kept track of output, haven't used it for 14 years. The noise is incredible, cool, but loud. The saw dust pile from the belsaw always bothered me. I would give it away but it was still a pain.

I'm building a bandsaw sawmill. I will keep both mills, only because of the scratch marks.

fishfighter · February 06, 2015, 08:24:11 AM

Quote from: Southside logger on February 05, 2015, 11:58:43 PM
Thanks for the input guys, @fishfighter that is an impressive machine for the money, @goose63 the spots in the video where the owner is making veneer was pretty danG impressive. @xlogger would love to go down to the show, why they have those things during the week is beyond me, two of the mills I ship to end settlements on Thursday and with this wet winter I need every good day in the woods I can get. @thecfarm oh yea, have the iron to get the logs out, actually thinking I could use some of my non-commercial timber and turn it into lumber rather than send it off for pulp. There is absolutely no value to a 9' pine log even if it was 30" in diameter and clean, I can't even sell it as pulp as it is too short, now if I can get 370 BFT out of that same piece...

Of course now I am sitting here all night watching videos and drooling, ahh - the automatic sharpener, the portable trailer option, a little building just for the mill (can't mill in the rain you know), the list goes on and on!!!!

What about log leveling - do you worry about the taper with these manual mills or just mill with how the log lies?

Building my building for my mill now with lumber I'm cutting. ;D

Log leveling, I do. I'm using a floor jack once I line up the best cuts out the log. I had learn very quick to know what I want out on the log before cutting it. First few logs, I didn't have a idea what I wanted. :laugh:

Another thing. Try to keep your work area clear. Cut offs build up real fast and before you know it, they start to pile up and come back towards the mill tracts, blocking the mill head. Don't ask me how I know this. :laugh: I have to spend time today to clear that area. >:( :laugh: Cutting red oak, I pulled some big first cuts off. Those will be used as fire wood for next winter. If I get enough of those, which I'm sure I will, a half cord sells for $120 to $150 in my neck of the woods.