cheap band mills

[marc]

I am 16 and live in Ottawa, Ont Canada and I am looking for a cheap band mill for about  $5000 Canadian.

[Tom]

Hey marc,
Most of the band mill manufacturers have mills that fall in that catagory.  They are a lot of work compared to the mills that have Larger horsepower and hydraullic options but they will get the job done.  If you think a manual mill will produce the daily board footage that you need, expect around 800 board feet, then your manufacturer options are pretty good.  If you need to get in the 1500 or better board footage per day then a bandmill with power feed of somekind and log handling capabilities will be needed. A used mill with these features will probably still be more than you are budgeted.

Ask more questions, we'll get more answers and by the time we finish you will know where you stand.

[kat]

I have a small mill that I might even sell for around $3800 US that is a Wood Wizard. It is well put together and I have sawn probably 6000 bd ft of lumber with it. It is great for the small operator that wants to saw on a small scale. I have set this mill up so that it can be portable, has an axle that is removed when sawing. This mill cut up to a 28" dia. log up to about 14' in length. It is a ten horse mill and all manual. I reached the point where I do enough sawing that I'd like a bigger rig with some automation. The toughest part of sawing is rotating the big logs and hauling away the large boards and planks. So you can get a productive mill in your price range. I'm in Michigan if you'd like to see it work. I can also send you some pictures via email if interested.

[Kevin]

The Lumbermate 2000 falls within that range, just south of North Bay, Ont. on Highway 11.

[marc]

Kat,  

  I would like to see some pictures It will give me a since of what kind of mills and the condition they are in at that price range.