Need ideas on how to start a hobby sawmill please!

[MadMaxy7]

Hey everyone! Brand new to this forum. I recently purchased some land with lots of poplar, balsam, cedar and birch and I was thinking of getting into sawing some logs as a hobby/potential side business. I've been looking at the woodland mills 126 or 130. Are there other brands that fall into the same price range of $5000 that might suit my needs?
Future projects for myself include a garage roughly 40'x32' with 12 foot ceiling, sauna and other outbuildings/sheds. 
I just picked up a Kubota B2601 with a front loader which I'm planning on making some other attachments for to pick up logs and skid them out.
I'm just looking to get some ideas on how to start this adventure!! Thanks in advance!!  8)

[flyingparks]

Woodmizer has some that fall in that price range but they are taking a long time to deliver.

[Ventryjr]

I got about $7k into my circle mill with live log deck and log turner. Produces a lot of lumber in a hurry.  

[SawyerTed]

The best education you can get before starting down this road is to hire a portable mill and sawyer to saw some of your logs.  

[KenMac]

I suggest trying to find a local sawyer and watch, help or assist in any way he might let you to get familiar with the process and find out how much physical labor is involved. The closer his mill is to what you want the better for you. You can then come much closer to formulating a plan that works for you. Good luck with your journey.

[rusticretreater]

I am jump right in and go for it kinda guy, but I also read, read, read about it. And watch, watch, watch the youtube vids.  You should pick most of it up.

Keep checking on those sawmills.  There are quite a few brands out there.  I have a Woodland Mills HM130Max and am totally satisfied with it.  The forum main page has areas for most of the major manufacturers.

Start sketching your layouts. You will be processing entire trees, not just sawing some logs.  You have to store and stage logs, get them on the mill, stack, dry and store lumber, handle waste and flitches, process trash logs, handle the branches, stumps and brush piles, store an ever growing pile of equipment, etc.

As I am clearing land to build a garage/workshop building and am on a timeline to get the foundation in, I am logging more than milling and they are stacking up way more than I anticipated.  I had to expand the log yard.  So also layout things with an eye for expansion.  Its easy to set things here and there, its a lot harder to move them later.
  
I love every bit of it as do the other folks on this forum.  Enjoy the journey.

[doc henderson]

where are you and how old are you.  if this is a hobby then you will have to earn money to pay for it.  and hope to save enough on lumber to pay yourself back in the process of building.  a used mill may go for new price now and a new one may be a year wait.  If it was a business, there would be benefits to getting a loan.  as a hobby not as much maybe.  Many manufacturers have a list of people with their mills. so, check in with a few of them.

[mike_belben]

Hire someone to saw enough framing lumber to put up a sawmill building that is 2x larger than you think you need, and with a steel I-beam clearspan that is 3 feet wider than your longest dream mill.  If you cant afford to build one that passes snowload as a completely clear span, stick some removeable lally screw jacks in there to pass snow code that you can pull out to load real long stuff in summer through an increased clear span then put back in for winter. 

Study the mobile guys mill and if you are able, build one. If you arent and/or have money buy one after the crash.  It should be here by the time you have the building up. 

[MadMaxy7]

Thanks everyone! I'm 28 years old in northwestern Ontario. Yes looking at another sawyer is a very good idea. Perhaps I'll start with that this year. Clear some land and learn in the process. 
Does anyone use their 3-point hitch on a tractor to skid logs out? If so do you have any pictures of the attachment to do so? I'm looking to make that this winter. 

[mike_belben]

Tons.  There is a fresh thread about it in the logging forum

[thecfarm]

Welcome to the forum.
That tractor,25hp?, might be a little small, but it will get the job done. Depends on the lay of your land too. Hope you have no hills to go up.
Check out Logrite for a cantdog or a peavey to help turn those logs, sponsor on the left, nice people, made in the USA.
Have to cut trees before for logs and hauled them out with a tractor? It's all hard work and can be dangerous at times.

[MadMaxy7]

I've definitely cut my share of trees before! Just haven't pulled any with the tractor yet. Yah it's 25 hp and no hills on the property. For sure all of it can be dangerous just have to work slow and carefully! 

[SawyerTed]

Skidding with that small tractor will be much easier with a log arch.  With a log arch a tractor, ATV or side by side can skid some fairly large logs. 

Another option is a sled type device used on the front of the log to make it easier to skid.  I've most recently seen men with teams of horses use them.  They look something like a nose cone on a rocket. 

[Crossroads]

Hiring someone to mill enough for a saw shed is great advice. Good luck and welcome to our world 😁

[TroyC]

The arch will help with that 25 hp tractor.




EZ Boardwalk has a Junior mill in your range. Wait is quite a while.

[terrifictimbersllc]

My dad rigged a chain under logs and across the 3 pt hitch and got that end off the ground, then dragged them. 25 hp Kubota L2050DT, 4WD.  

[Sixacresand]

When I first bought a mill, I had never used one except one that was demonstrated at the fair.  I didn't know the Forestry Forum existed or anyone that had a mill,   I just jumped in for about $5K to see if I liked milling.  

[Nebraska]

Milling logs with a small manual mill is great therapeutic fun. Make sure you have a plan to deal with the waste, the stacks of drying lumber that magically
invade your  available storage.
 The obstacles life drops in front of you that you can't plan for.   They seem to take away lots of  time from sawing.
The tractor is a good move. Get some pallet forks for it. Be careful.  Enjoy the ride.

[MadMaxy7]

What kind of prices can you sell the wood for these days? Just a round-about guess?? I'm talking conventional lumber or even cedar posts/beams. I have a lot of big cedar on my property.

[btulloh]

Putting your location in your profile will give help us answer these questions better. A lot depends on your local market and species availability. 

What kind of cedar?  There's a member in NC that does a lot business sawing ERC.

[rusticretreater]

Prices for wood vary based on location and availability.  On the east coast where there are lots of trees, the prices are lower.  Same for the Pacific Northwest.  In Virginia, the State Forestry Agency tracks the prices.  You can also check websites of local sawmills and wood dealers to see what they post online.

I have a small Kubota tractor and I skid logs regularly.  I have a grapple which handles a lot of the stuff and then a log arch for the bigger stuff.  The three point hitch will lift much more weight that the FEL.  Great for getting the ends of logs off the ground.  I have a three point triangle brace with a trailer hitch sleeve that I use to pull my log arch around.  I can also just wrap a chain around it when I have to pull a log out of the brush.  You can also use a skidding cone, but you dirty up the log and tear up the ground.

[MadMaxy7]

Thanks everyone! I've got white cedars on my property. Along with lots of poplar, birch, balsam, etc. 

[wisconsitom]

Hi MadMaxy7.  I'd be interested to know if you have any thoughts on how to, or even whether to manage your woods.  White-cedar, for example, is a valuable resource, both commercially and ecologically, and in much of it's range is not regenerating well.  I'm all for utilizing this and all species, but would have to use the phrase, in a sustainable fashion.  Just curious what the view might be a little to my north, mostly on the cedar.  The others you mention can regen adequately in most cases.  Deer are the issue with cedar.

[MadMaxy7]

Oh it would definitely be in a sustainable way. I'm not clear cutting in any means. Just looking to take what I need to build and maybe sell some if I have extra. 

[Daburner87]

Since you are in Ontario Woodland Mills is right up your alley and can definitely hit your $5000 price range if you get it without the mobile trailer.  For my situation the trailer was necessary.

[MadMaxy7]

rusticretreater would you be able to post pictures of your skidding setups on your kubota? 

[Wlmedley]

Been moving some pretty big poplar logs with a 25 hp Massey Ferguson 

 

[doc henderson]

speaking of MF tractor, and i think it applies to one case, anyone need a power steering pump?  free to someone who needs it, not sure what the shipping would be.  



 

when I looked it up by part number, it fit about 10 MF models and the one case.  it looks new to me, and has been moved for the last 30 years.

fits:  Hydraulic and Power Steering Components: 523092M91 Fits Massey Ferguson - Models: 165, 175, 255, 255 Perkins AD-212, 265, 275, 382, 50C, 50D, 6500, MF165, MF175, MF255

and more I guess

[DennisK]

That needs to be advertised in dairy areas!  :D or in Canada/England.

[OlJarhead]

I started this way!  First with a CSM a dozen years ago or so and then the Wood-Mizer LT10 which I later molded to a trailer and the later still sold to get the LT40.  I still have videos on my YT channel of milling with that little mill and produced a lot of lumber with it.  Frankly it paid for itself a few times over!

As so.eone who took the path you ate considering I'm happy to answer questions and you can check out my thread here which covers my journey down this road!

Cheers and Welcome.
The Old Jarhead

[Nebraska]

@MadMaxy7  a good read is OlJarheads  milling thread. Just an FYI  if you haven't seen it.

[rusticretreater]

I won't have anything for awhile as everything is covered in snow and its 20 degrees outside.  I am inside and plan on staying that way for a bit.

[MadMaxy7]

Is it better to saw logs when they are dry if you can help it? Or is it okay to fall a tree and bring it straight to a Sawyer? Is there any difference? 

[OlJarhead]

Better to mill as wet as possible!  Like right after falling.  You can wait a short while but milling wet is best and seal the ends of the log first.  That will prevent end checks while dries.

[Wlmedley]

speaking of MF tractor, and i think it applies to one case, anyone need a power steering pump?  free to someone who needs it, not sure what the shipping would be.  



 

when I looked it up by part number, it fit about 10 MF models and the one case.  it looks new to me, and has been moved for the last 30 years.

fits:  Hydraulic and Power Steering Components: 523092M91 Fits Massey Ferguson - Models: 165, 175, 255, 255 Perkins AD-212, 265, 275, 382, 50C, 50D, 6500, MF165, MF175, MF255

and more I guess

Wish I could use it.My little tractor doesn't have power steering but I wish it did.Mine is a 1020.

[OlJarhead]

If you have a bobcat style front end loader you can get forks for it relatively cheap.