Do I sell the mill?

[handhewn]

   I got my old circle mill back after 35+ years and spent a few months getting it back in running condition. I quickly sawed up all of the 1 x 12 pine to finish the interior of my cabin. All I still need to finish the cabin is the 1" x 3" Doug Fir flooring. This 60" circular saw cuts a 5/16" kerf. I would create to much sawdust. Not to mention this saw does not cut as accurately as a good 1/16" kerf band saw which results in even more sawdust as more planing would be required.
   It occurs to me that I could sell the mill and have one of the local WM operators cut the 1 x 3 Doug Fir flooring strips. The local WM operators charge by the hour. My log stash sits in a saw-able area with two log loader trucks to load logs onto WM. I would off load lumber. This should cut costs to WM.
   If I do sell the sawmill, how much do I ask for it? I know circle saws are harder to sell and sell for less than band saws. This mill was hand built (for himself) by the best fabricator I've ever known, to the direction of a very old sawyer who'd run circle sawmills for many years. He was (at 85 yrs.) building a sawmill for himself at that time.
   The result was a success. It is mobile, with a king  pin at the front for towing by semi truck. Duel rear axles turn hydraulically, operated by joy stick. This sawmill folds up easily for legal towing on road. GM 671 Diesel powers main 60" saw, 3 blade edger and it's chip blower, 3 log turner arms, carriage  live log deck, saw deck off feed rollers, sawdust blower. The live deck and 3 blade edger do not fold into mill but are bolt on/easy move. There are finger dogs in the 3 head blocks that look fairly complete including the "pantagraph?" for supporting related hoses. I just use the manual dogs. The mill cuts to 24" x 24" x 24'. Yesterday I timed a full 24" cut through a 12' long cedar log at 9 seconds.
   Do I sell this mill? It takes three people to keep up with this mill. I'm one 70 yr. old man. If I do decide to sell this mill, how much do I ask for it?

[Southside]

Boy that's a hard one. You put a lot of time into it, definitely has nostalgia value and sounds like a great head saw set up that would make a Hurdle cry. Put a thin kerf resaw behind it and you have a production outfit for sure.

Lot of demand for lumber. Any chance of you becoming the manager and setting up a business instead? Yes a bit more investment but with capacity like that you could definitely capitalize on it. 

[handhewn]

I got just to darned many irons in the fire already.

[Ron Wenrich]

How much more sawing are you expecting to do?  You left the mill set for 35+ years, why would you expect to saw more?

[moodnacreek]

To day I will stop sawing and pull my mill to install a larger more modern one. This sawmill is in very good shape and it is a crime to put it outside. From past experience it will be hard to sell and last time I had to teach the guy how to run it and help with the set up.  There will be plenty who will want your mill but when they see it they will be afraid of all the work involved .  As I remember last time most who came to look [at the mill for sale] where in there '70's.      No many young guys will work til midnight [after their regular job] with a sledge hammer and a torch in grease and rust like we did.

[handhewn]

The only sawing I plan to do is to saw up my log deck of about 15,000 bd. ft. That lumber will do for all that I need. I planned on sawing that up as the mill waits on sale which could take days or years. At least the market for mill sales is at a record high although circle mills are of course harder to sell. speaking of which, how much should I ask for this mill. I am thinking of putting it on the sawmill exchange. Any suggestions on where I should list it would be appreciated.
Moodnacreek, are you staying with a circle saw or are you switching to a band saw?

[WV Sawmiller]

   I am not interested in buying a mill (or going to California) but your description of your mill is very interesting. It is the first mobile circle mill I remember seeing described. One negative factor might be the requirement for a semi-tractor to move it. Could a 1-2 ton truck tow it or is too heavy? I may have missed it but does it have air brakes? That info would help in determining a price and how quickly it might sell. 

   Pictures would be very interesting and a video of it in operation would be marvelous.

  Good luck.

[handhewn]

I'd guess the saw to be 20,000 lbs and 45 ft.long. Yes on air brakes. There are various pictures of the mill in my picture gallery, taken as I set it back up on the property I live on. These pictures do not include the addition of the 3 blade edger which I just finished setting up. I'll be running it tomorrow and will take some video then. I tried to send video to this site before and it could not be done (by me anyway) but I'll try again.

[moodnacreek]

H.H., Another circle a little bigger and with 11 push buttons instead of all manual. I would never go band unless I had a debarker mill, I mean a wide band. No patience for a W.M. style unless used for resawing.  I would love to put the old mill on wheels but it would be 12' wide without power.   W.V., there are many circle mills out there on wheels, especially Frick and Meadows.

[WV Sawmiller]

Moody,

   Thanks. I assume there used to be more mobile circle mills in use but this is just the first I remember seeing posted about one.

    I'd see them as a whole sawmill operation with a team and support equipment moving from landing to landing and would think they'd want to set up for a month or so to be worth the effort. 

   I don't know if they would be useful or a valid salvage operation to move to a disaster site after a fire, hurricane or tornadoes come through an area. Interesting concept?


   Not like our little band mills who will go saw one log for a customer.

[longtime lurker]

(Reading your description and having had a look at the mill pictures in your gallery)

It's that old thing about one mans trash being another mans treasure isn't it? If you have no further use for it then put it on the market, at whatever you think it's worth. If it sells - good. If it doesn't sell - good. It's not the kind of thing that would appeal to a lot of buyers. Most of them want small/manageable/hobby type thingys that they can run by themselves. But there's probably someone around looking for something just like that. Me, I'm cursing the miles because to me that setup would be a treasure.

With regard your 1x3 for flooring, why not break it into cants with your mill and then run the cants through local guys bandmill? It's a fast, efficient and accurate way to run both to maximum effect... and who knows seeing the combination work together might make the bandmill guy (or girl) see potential. Truth being that most portable bandsaw guys have no freakin' clue what a mill like yours can do, and seeing it run ahead of their existing mill might just make yourself a buyer.

[Ron Wenrich]

I ran a Jackson mobile mill that we made stationary.  I believe they still make one.  Meadows also has a mobile circle mill.  Meadows has a handset and a hydraulic mill. 

[moodnacreek]

Mobil circle mills come up in the auction papers all the time. A mounted engine makes them too wide and that is a big disadvantage . Part of the track usually folds up for transport . they can have a short log deck and turner and a conveyer belt on the board end. If made l/h they can be towed and powered by a farm tractor. With a tin roof and a kerf cleaner or mud saw you can saw dirty barked logs way faster than a mini bandsaw.  

[handhewn]

Longtime lurker, I agree about making my logs into cants for WM. I agree with this for several reasons. I can produce a cant very quickly due to my excellent hydraulics for loading and getting logs onto the carriage and squared away ready to saw.  Because of the 3 blade edger, I can rip the jacket boards into whatever dimensional I desire two at a time in one pass as I square up the cant. I ran WMs and a MD for years. I can say for sure that loading and getting the log ready for sawing often takes up more time than actually sawing the log. Getting the log up and ready is a strong suit of this mill. I would guess I could feed a number of band saw mills at a time. Even if I was feeding half a dozen band saws I could not keep up with the free dead logs (mostly Yellow Pine) in this small town. Between the beatles and the local monster fires trees are dyeing so fast they are everywhere including on my property. There are four small saws in this town. Maybe I should talk all of them.