Woodmizer Depreciation

[Crossroads]

Totally agree with the time and effort savings of not walking around the mill to release the clamp flip the log and reclamp every time the log or cant needs turned. Also, agree that the hydraulics will add to the resale values down the road. 

[Percy]

@Percy  - just FYI, spinning them with a pair of engine driven hydraulic pumps putting out 18 gpm compared to an electronic over hydraulic is well...... :D  Not to rub it in or anything.   8)

Yes..I seen you and Yellow and 4x4 spin them with envy......When you are idling...im close...??? ;D ;D :D :D

[terrifictimbersllc]

Think of the difference between a firewood processor and log splitter. 

[Nomad]

     I did a 15,000 bf job with a manual mill.  The next big job I did I had an LT50.  Hydraulics is the only way to go if you want to make money with a mill, IMHO.

[Brandon1986]

Yet again I step away from it for a day and get lots of feedback.. Fortunately this time it's mostly revolving around the same thing.. Once again thank you all for your wisdom..

You say it will help the resale value, which I do believe, however... Doesn't that dramatically limit the market from light business/heavy hobbyist like myself, to a "you must work and make it pay for itself" type of buyer?  Seems like the more expensive higher production mills take far longer to sell locally..

You guys are making me think long and hard on hydraulics.. I've gone from thinking I was buying an LT15GO to settling on a 35 manual to now contemplating an lt40 super... Boy howdy it would take a long time for a break even on a $35k mill only being able to spend limited time on it...  

[Dave Shepard]

If you have limited time, then you need to make the most of the time you do spend on the mill. 

[Chuck White]

You'd be surprised how quickly you can pay for a mill by sawing logs for others!

I bought my mill in May '08 for $15,000.00, and by mid-November I had brought in a little over $11,000.00 sawing mobile!

It helped that year too, that a microburst hit this area, I sawed a little over 71,000 bf and at a rate of $150.00/1,0000 bf!

So it won't take as long as some think it will!

[Southside]

Like anything there is a fine line between what makes sense and what is really nice to have.  A hydraulic 35 is a good compromise in that case.

[Magicman]

Doesn't that dramatically limit the market from light business/heavy hobbyist like myself, to a "you must work and make it pay for itself" type of buyer? Seems like the more expensive higher production mills take far longer to sell locally.

Rather than limiting, my thoughts are that it will actually broaden your market.  There are many more looking for a higher production sawmill and those that are not, should be or will be wishing that they were.

BTW, it's easy for us to spend your money. ;D

[Peter Drouin]

BTW, it's easy for us to spend your money. ;D

Yes, it is. :D :D :D :D :D

[Oddman]

The larger manual mills and the older less expensive hydraulic mills sell quickest around my area.
These guys are going to have you up-sold to an lt-70 if your not careful. Sounds to me like you have other profitable ventures to attend to rather than making a career on this mill. Do your boy a favor and learn him up on a manual, will give you a good reason to ask for his help at the mill and it is pretty quick milling with 2 guys that know what they're doing on a manual.

[Southside]

Ask @Bruno of NH the difference between a manual and a hydraulic mill.  

[Bruno of NH]

I should have got a hydraulic mill to start with.
The amount of lumber you can make with less wear and tear on your self is well worth the extra cost in my book. 

[curved-wood]

My first mill was all manual log handling. Now I have a LT40 hydraulic. No way I will go back. If you are not sure rent one for one day with an experience operator and you will have a more precise idea if the type of mill suits your needs.

[btulloh]

Since we're spending someone else's money, I'd go with the LT70, an edger, a resaw, a live deck, and some conveyors to tie it all together.  

[WDH]

I operated a LT15 for 14 years.  Now I have a LT40 with 35 hp diesel.  If I had to do it all over again, I would not saw on a manual mill for 14 years before upgrading .  My advice is that if you plan on sawing into the future, even if for yourself at a more hobby level, go hydraulic because you will enjoy using it 10 times more, will saw more lumber on it, and will be able to saw logs on the side for others at your convenience that will allow you to recover some of your investment.  

[porcupine]

I should have got a hydraulic mill to start with.
The amount of lumber you can make with less wear and tear on your self is well worth the extra cost in my book.

Watch a dozen youtube videos of the manual mills....
When I was looking at buying a mill a $5-6K manual was my idea of sawing. 
My youtube viewing then progressed to watching LT40's through LT70s.
The difference is obvious. Buy the most mill you can afford/justify.

[Southside]

Since we're spending someone else's money, I'd go with the LT70, an edger, a resaw, a live deck, and some conveyors to tie it all together.  

The only problem with that set up is you need to find folks willing to work - ask me how I know.   :-\

[CabinCreations]

Though my experience is very limited, I'll chime in too! I contemplated long and hard about the type of mill I was after, but it came down to time for me too. I have a full time office job (yay me... :D) but love spending my evenings and weekends outdoors working hard so that I can turn around and be proud of what I accomplished (prideful? - maybe, but that's me!). At first, the LT15GO was all I had my sights set on but the more I thought about it, the more a hydraulic mill made sense. 

Given only a short amount of time each day and regular household chores that can't be avoided, I could either spend my limited milling time wrestling with logs and walking around the mill turning, clamping and adjusting everything or I could spend a little more money and go hydraulic so that I can do all this in seconds as I'm standing by the mill head. The cost, of course, was a deterrent but at the end of the day, the more I can accomplish the better. I felt that with a manual mill, my whole day may be spent on the mill, not a bad thing but when it seems to rain every day here in PA, the grass always needs cut. 

I ended up getting a used LT35HD with low hours - so now, on those rare clear days in PA, I am able to run the mill all morning while the grass is drying and produce an amount of lumber that makes me feel my time spent was worth it, then still have time to cut grass.  8)

It sounds like you are in a similar boat as me - lots to mill but can't seem to find the time to do it. In a nutshell, that's what made me go hydraulic but to answer your real question, the used mill I bought was 8 years old and I still paid up for it ;D

[Bruno of NH]

Buy what you can afford or look for a good used hydraulic mill
When you find one don't wait to long it will be gone

[nativewolf]

Since we're spending someone else's money, I'd go with the LT70, an edger, a resaw, a live deck, and some conveyors to tie it all together.  

The only problem with that set up is you need to find folks willing to work - ask me how I know.   :-\

That is the truth.  Had a great worker, left because he got an offer for well over $20/hour and I have a hard time matching that for just grunt work.

[YellowHammer]

Having sold 2 WM mills, one manual LT15, which sold in one day, and an LT 40 which had 5 offers in 7 days, from across the country.  All were priced using the WM Orange Book values.  
The guy who bought my LT 40 drove 5 hours the day he saw the add because he said he knew it would be sold if he hestitated.  He suffered some sort of knee injury a couple months later and resold the mill for more then he paid me for it.

[Southside]

Was the knee injury due to him chasing deer away from his pick up?  :D

[YellowHammer]

@Southside is referring to the guy who drove so far to get my mill.  He left work with his wife from Ga, arrived at our place in North Alabam at 8:00 pm, paid us cash, drove all the way home and only about 30 minutes from his house, before dawn, hit a deer and tore up the front up his new $80,000 truck. 

No injuries, except for the deer, and didn't hurt the mill.

Buying old used WM mills and fixing them up would make very lucrative side business.  



 





 

[Bruno of NH]

I think YH has a good idea for someone. 
Buy the mill go through it and move it.
I got orange fever  8) I need more cow bell :D