Sawmill choice

[nightfury]

Hello,

I am looking at getting a sawmill for personal projects. My father and I plan on using it for timber framing, decking, siding and dimensional lumber. What would be a good choice if we are on a limited budget? Could you shoot me a pm with details? Thank you!

[beenthere]

What would be a good choice if we are on a limited budget?

What is the limit on the budget?

[Magicman]

Always check the "For Sale" board here on the FF.  Also the sawmill manufacturers often have good used sawmills for sale.

[mad murdock]

Where you located?  what species and size (average) wood will you be working with?

[nightfury]

I want to stay in the 4k and below. The more affordable the better for us. I seen some chainsaw mills that was in the 3k. I would have to save for a year or so for that. If there was a used one below 2k I think it is something that we could afford comfortably.

The trees we have in our parts are mostly 2-3 ft in diameter, but we have some that are quite a bit larger. The varieties we have access to are Red Oak, Ash, Cherry, pith Elm?, Eastern Red Cedar, Bois d' arc, Black Locust, and very few Walnut and Sycamore trees. My father was a carpenter/framer for 40 years before becoming disabled and I guess he was a 4th generation at that. I am sure he would be more help, but he isn't computer savvy.

[mad murdock]

Sounds like for your budget you will be looking to a used band mill, or build your own, Linn Lumber has kits and parts to accelerate the byo plan. Of course if you have a decent sized chainsaw for milling, you can outfit for a CSM for the cost of an attachment or 2. Granberg or Logosol both have very good attachments for beginning CSM. There are also options to build a band mill styled CSM such as the Procut design. Best thing to do is see who is in your area and spend some time trying out the differnt methods, or at least seeing them used first hand, that will go a long ways to helping formulate a plan that will fit your idea(s) and budget. Be forwarned, you will get addicted.  :new_year:

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Sounds like you have some nice sized logs NightFury. I would get all the mill I could get on logs like that.
Good Luck!

[Ianab]

Tricky to know what to advise. There are plenty of smaller manual band mills in that price range, and they generally work fine for "hobby" type use. But going much over 2ft dia is starting to push your luck.

Swing blade mills are the champions for larger logs, but that's going to be out of your price range. even used.

Chainsaw milling is slow and hard work. Can be done, and to make a beam, it's only 4 cuts, so that can be practical. But cutting dimension lumber and siding is pretty painful.

What about a chainsaw setup to break down larger logs, and a small manual band mill to resaw quarters or cants from those large logs. If your are going to be felling 3ft+ trees I'm thinking you have a good chainsaw, or are going to need one? There are various techniques here, but something with a portable track that lays on the log, and some sort of winch to move the saw head is probably the most practical?

This sort of thing (from another thread)
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/28847/Image_281229~0.jpg

Anyway, I'm thinking if you shop around you can probably pick up a small manual sawmill for less than $2,000? They start at not much over $3,000 new. People buy them, and either get the sawdust bug, and buy a bigger mill, or they loose interest and sell them. Either way, it's a way for you to get sawing. Take care of the little mill and you will probably get your $$ back if do decide to upgrade in a year or 2.

Ian

[hunterbuild]

I'm still happy with my Harbor freight band saw. Got it for about $1600. It helps that I have a skid steer. It will cut up to 20+in logs. Mine has track to cut 18ft long. I bought a bigger motor but am still ok with the one it can with. 

[ladylake]

I'd really stay away from a CSM, huge kerf, lots of gas, hard on the saw, hard work  etc.  A cheap band mill would work but might need to be beefed up in some places plus better guide rollers.  The smaller Cooks, Timberking and LT15 would be real nice but quite a bit more, set one of those up for 40' long and you'ld get quite a bit of custom work.  Should also check EZ Boardwalk and Baker and I'm sure I forgot some of the better quality heavy build mills.  Steve

[Delawhere Jack]

Turning 2-3 foot dia. logs without support equipment or a hydraulic mill is NO FUN. The cherry log in this photo was 27" x 7 feet. About 1,200 lbs. It took myself and the client 2 hours to get it positioned for the opening cut.



 

The small manual mills work fine, but you've got to consider the effort it takes to handle logs as large as you're describing. I wouldn't recommend tackling anything over 24" in dia., and 20" is more realistic.

[thecfarm]

I have a manual mill. I use my tractor to turn some of the bigger ones. But even when I am using a peavey,they come down hard on my mill. My mill is ¼ inch 3X4 angle and than ¼ inch 2x4 tubing so the come down hard part does not bother the mill. But I have looked at a few others mills and the come down hard part would not be good.

[drobertson]

If you are sure about the size of the logs, and what you plan on doing with them, I would give serious thoughts as to the lighter weight mills.  I would consider what the finish product is going to be a realize time is money as well.  Handling large logs is a chore, even what comes off is a chore, some form of equipment or roller system would be close to very important if not necessary.  For the budget you mentioned, I would look into EZ boardwalk mills,  but there are many more to be looked into,   Hope all goes well, once you are settled, it will be very rewarding,   david

[nightfury]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am gonna do plenty of research. Is there anyone in oklahoma who is willing to help me out with getting started?

[Magicman]

It would be helpful to add your location to your profile.  Oklahoma is a big state.   ;D

[nightfury]

I am in Ada, Oklahoma. Stonewall, actually, but no one seems to know where that is Thank you so much, I will get my profile updated asap.

[lowpolyjoe]

I have no bandsaw milling experience but I've been drooling over the entry level mills for about a year now.

The Logosol chainsaw mill looks pretty nice but some good points were brought up about the drawbacks of CSMs

I have my sights on the Woodland Mills HM126 if I ever run into some extra cash and decide to get a bandsaw.  Looks like a heck of a value for about $3K.  They have a nice mill comparison chart on their website that makes it look like they have the rest beat easily.  I'd be curious if anyone disputes any of their info.  Find Woodland Mills banner near the bottom of the sponsors, then click their "Sawmill Comparison" link in their menu at the top. 

Good luck!

[thecfarm]

nightfury,no one knows where Chesterville is either.  :D

[Ianab]

I have my sights on the Woodland Mills HM126

Problem there is the 2-3ft (plus) logs he's talking about. Those little mills do fine with the smaller logs (under 2ft). Over that, there aren't many cheap options.

Ian

[mad murdock]

I have my sights on the Woodland Mills HM126

Problem there is the 2-3ft (plus) logs he's talking about. Those little mills do fine with the smaller logs (under 2ft). Over that, there aren't many cheap options.

Ian

True Ian. I have to say though an Alaskan style CSM with the correct setup and good sized powerhead can tackle the big logs for little $$ in comparison. Though they lack the speed, they have their place, especially if one is equipment deficient, nothing like taking the mill to the log in the woods, and hauling finished product out.

[21incher]

I purchased a Hudson HFE-21 a couple of months ago. It is a great little mill and gets the job done on smaller logs. The reason I went with this size mill is because all of the trees on my property are 24" or less at the base. After starting to take down trees and dragging them to the mill I realized that a 10 Ft. x 24" log is the max size log my compact tractor could handle plus it was the max size cant I could turn by myself on the mill and a 10 ft x 20" x 2 1/2 inch slab is to heavy for me to pick off the mill alone. So I would have to say get a mill big enough to handle the size trees you will be cutting and make sure you have a piece of equipment available that can move load and turn the weight of the size logs you will be milling or you probably will never be happy with it or could even get hurt. Even if you have to go a little over budget to get a properly sized mill you should be able to sell some of your wood once you start cutting to and recover the extra costs.

[dboyt]

It looks like you're about 4 hours away from me (Neosho, MO).  You're welcome to come out and play with my Norwood mill.  It may be a little bigger than what you have in mind, but it will give you a good idea what a band mill can do, and how much muscle is required.  I have milled up to the 36" max diameter, 10' long logs, using a loader to load and turn the logs.

[Deese]

Nightfury,
Welcome to the Forestry Forum. I have been a forum member here since about late August and let me tell you...the folks on here will do their best to help as much as they can...

I had a limited budget and decided to go with the EZ Boardwalk Jr. It's around $4200 with a 13hp Honda engine. It will cut up to a 30" diameter log if you have sharp blades. I know this because I've done it several times already. You won't be able to use the log clamps with the bigger logs though...you will have to wedge the log into place, which really isn't a big deal. You will have to go slow on those big logs but as long as you have good sharp blades, you will be fine. But--as others have previously stated, these manual mills require a LOT of labor. It's hard to understand how important this issue is until you use one for a while. You can forget turning those really big logs for a second opening cut until you have slabbed it down enough to reduce the weight enough for turning with a cant hook. But for $4200 I have been happy with it.

[schmism]

a note on log size.   
for a given length

a 16" log has twice the volume as a 12" log
a 20" log has 3x the volume a 12" log
a 24" log has 4x the vol of a 12" log

a 28" log has 2x the volume a 20" log or 5x the vol of 12"
a 34" log has 3x the volume a 20" log or 8x the vol of a 12"

opening face cut on large logs   
if you were to take a 2" thick slab as your first cut
26" log - opening face 20"
36" log - opening face 23.6"
48" log - 27"

If you already had a large chain saw (MS660 etc) you could get a CSM to split or quarter larger logs for use on a smaller manual mill.

But if you truely think a majority of what you will handle is 2-3'  a larger mill designed to handle those logs should be seriously considered.