replacing my mill and need advice...

Thehardway · August 10, 2012, 04:25:37 PM

I arrived at my sawing job on Monday to find my mill had been stolen. It was a Hudson Oscar 18 (5.5HP B&S) with two track sections. I doubt it will ever be found and so I am looking around for another mill to replace it. I liked the Hudson alright but it would have been nice to be able to saw a little larger dia. log. Other complaints I had were sawdust buildup on carriage wheels, time consuming blade replacement and tensioning procedure and a little underpowered. The main things I liked were ease of portability, cheap to fabricate track extensions and easy on gas
Being that it wasn't insured, I am having to pay for replacing it on a very limited budget (under 3K) so here is what I want to know. The only saws I see that come close to my specs would be a Hudson 121, Woodland Mills HM126, or a used Used Woodmizer LT10, or Norwood ML26. I cant find either of the later and track extension would be more difficult to home fab for either of these from what I can tell.

I'm leaning toward the Woodland Mills HM126 and seeing if I could purchase the cutting head only and then site building a welded track carriage for it. (I can cut and weld and have no problem sourcing angle and box steel)

Do any of you have first hand experience with this saw and its ease of operation?

The bulk of my use will be cutting beams and posts, I don't anticipate doing a lot of production type milling. I do a few one off jobs making custom slabs for fireplace mantles and some cedar and pine boards. Might do some siding.

I know there are a lot of nicer saws out there that I would like a lot better but the fact is unless someone has a used one they are wanting to unload cheap I just can't afford to go over 3k and would prefer to keep it around $2500.00

I have contemplated building my own but Not sure I could build one for cheaper than the hudson or the Woodland mills and I have enough projects on the table right now.

Thanks in advance..

drobertson · August 10, 2012, 05:10:22 PM

Sorry to here about your loss, really, that is awful. I am not much into to small manual mills, but if that is what you like I would look into the Sawmillexchange.com. They have a great listing of mills of all sorts. If it were possible, and you upgrade to just a bit of a bigger mill I would suggest wood-mizer, The Lt-10 and 15's can be equiped with the molding head anytime. It sounds like you do stuff for higher end, end products so that's my opinion. Might pack the stuff up in the truck at the end of the day, hard to believe the thiefs, but they are out there. Good luck, if you believe in that, David

Chuck White · August 10, 2012, 05:25:23 PM

It's really hard to believe that some people have enough nerve to steal another mans sawmill, but then "it takes all kinds to make the world go around!

I think if I were in your position I would save for a little while and go for a used or new Wood-Mizer LT15 with a 12-15 hp engine.

hackberry jake · August 10, 2012, 06:19:32 PM

If you have a tractor, you could look on Craigslist and find an old belsaw in your price range, other than that, I would try to save until you could get an ez boardwalk jr... I may be a lil partial to the jr though.

thecfarm · August 10, 2012, 10:08:45 PM

That's too bad. If found they should be laid on the mill and sawed. Very slowly and very thin.

Meadows Miller · August 10, 2012, 10:38:46 PM

Gday

Thats a dogs act pinching another blokes sawmill :( >:( >:(

I had My bandmill stolen about 12yrs ago still ticks me off and I was in the same position as yourself . Would you be able to finance something like an lt15 with your $3k down as I would go for something like that if you could Mate ??? as a circ would be hard to shift for small jobs good used band mills are hard to come by but you should be able to find something like that and be sawing again ;) ;D ;D

Best Regards Chris

barbender · August 10, 2012, 11:42:27 PM

Sorry to hear about that, there's some low down critters out there. I'd try to save up and get a used lt15 myself, but that may not be possible. I just like the heavier construction of the lt15, the ez boardwalk and norwood mills look very solid as well. Get one you can fab a trailer package under so you can bring it home at night if necessary.

bandmiller2 · August 11, 2012, 08:25:14 AM

Too late to lock the barn door,but would probibly be good form to chain the wheels and install a hitch lock.They can be defeated but theves are lazy no good SOB's and won't put the effort in. Frank C.

Magicman · August 11, 2012, 08:46:14 AM

It is just so depressing when you discover that you have been ripped off. Hopefully, you can find a sawmill replacement soon so that you can gradually put this ordeal behind you. Keep us posted.

giant splinter · August 11, 2012, 09:00:49 AM

Harbor Freight has a mill that looks very close to the one you are talking about,both are made in China in the same factory with a few minor differences in appearance. The H.F. mill is right at $2000.00,there are some positive comments on these mills on other forums that will confirm this. Hope this helps you out and maybe the police will find the bums that helped themselves to your equipment.

Solomon · August 12, 2012, 06:35:06 AM

I know a guy who has a lumbermate 23 hp for sale. Right up your ally.
I have a picture of it in my phone. Give me your cell number, I will text it to you. Its located about 20 minutes from down town Norfolk, Virginia

UpInATree · August 12, 2012, 09:09:17 AM

So sorry to hear about your robbery! Like this economy isn't tough enough....hopefully a hidden benefit will come from all of it.

sigidi · August 12, 2012, 05:02:43 PM

Bloody mongrels!!! find 'em and beat the sawdust outta them

Solomon · August 13, 2012, 04:09:20 PM

I bought that lumbermate mill . It's got a 24 ft cut length, 23 hp motor. all manual , 16 blades with it. 24 inches between guide bearings. You'd be jelous if you knew what I paid for it! I entertaining offers.

Solomon · August 13, 2012, 06:35:23 PM

BTW, It's a Lumbermate 2000

Thehardway · August 14, 2012, 09:27:44 AM

Solomon will give you a call...

Meanwhile, back at the farm... I'm getting more serious about building my own saw based on the Linnlumber 190A or 1900. It seems like it is well built, well designed and the price is well within my budget if I buy the kit version of it, weld it myself and use the 16H B&S engine I have with 12V starter generator that is sitting on my retired Simplicity tractor. I could also use the hydrostatic transmission pump on it to provide some aux. hydraulics for log turning etc.

This all has me wondering, are there any designs out there that use a second idler wheel for band tension rather moving the primary band wheels? Seems it would be less complicated, give a more accurate cut and be easier to build.

What are the pros and cons of a mechanical vs. centrifugal clutch? I used a centrifugal on the hudson and it seemed fine, I notice some of the more expensive mills use a belt tensioning mechanical which seems counter intuitive as a lever is cheaper than the centrifugal.

Any users of the Linn 190A or 1900 out there? what is your experience?

The LT 10 is to small for the $ and the LT15 is double my budget. Same goes for the Boardwalk Jr. From what I see the Linn could be just as good if not better for my particular use and a whole lot cheaper.

Mike@Norwood · August 14, 2012, 07:18:11 PM

Hello

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here, but just so you're aware.... We (Norwood Industries) have an older model sawmill, a LumberLite 24 model equipped w/ a 9 HP honda engine that is in great condition and sounds like would fit into your budget and plans. It was used sparingly at a couple tradeshows. The saw is advertised in the Garage Sale section of our latest edition of the Norwood News, along with a bunch of other great deals.

Retail value of the LL24 sawmill is $3,995. It's on sale for for $1,997.50 (50% off)

If interested, give us a call toll-free at 1-800-567-0404 for more details.

Here's a link to view an online version of the Norwood News
http://www.norwoodsawmills.com/newsletter/
(the font size is little small and tough on the eyes. I sent an email to our website moderator to have it adjusted)

Have a great day,
Mike at Norwood

Thehardway · August 15, 2012, 08:04:08 AM

Mike,
Thanks for letting me know amd that is an awesome deal on that LL24. I was watching some YouTube videos on Norwood Mills last night. It got my appetite for sawdust back up. It looks like I might have a deal worked out with Solomon on his recently acquired Lumbermate 2000 so I may be a part of the Norwwood family soon. I will check out the online newsletter link.

My apologies to the moderator as this has become more of a wanted/forsale post and that was not my intent.

I would like to continue discussion on topic of what makes a bandmill great vs. mediocre vs. junk. I think I will start a new topic addressing the pros and cons of mills.