Im new to the thread. And...I have questions!

[paul case]

It sounds like you have a big house build in mind.
I would get some help on your timber value from someone who does not stand to gain from it.

I bought a mill with the purpose of building a house from my own timber and the mill would pay for itself in that one project. It did. I was logging some of my own at the time and grade lumber market crashed back in '08. The sawmill I was selling to would only pay $.18 bdft on logs delivered to them. That made the decision easy for me. I had the time too which it will take a considerable amount of. I worked at it 4 days a week or more, either logging or sawing or building for 6 months to complete it. I did that with a EZ Boardwalk model 40 maual mill. It made it easy to learn as I knew almost nothing about sawing lumber. That was before youtube. My house build was much smaller scale than yours sounds to be and I did ALL of it myself, from thew septic to the ceiling.

I found that I could use a lot more of my lumber that I had figured when I was planning. We made our own paneling and door headers in 1 piece as well as door frames and trim. I even made some counter top out of my own lumber.

However I dont think most conventional carpenters would want to work with some of it the way we did. You are welcome to look through my photo gallery to see some of my house build. I built another one since then and it went even better.


  

  

 
Those are pics of my paneling. Red oak and ERC.
PC

[GAB]

Owning a sawmill is one thing.  Being able to operate it and make usable end product is a whole different scenario.
The learning curve for operating a sawmill has a lot to do with the operator, what is being sawed, temperature, the equipment being used especially properly aligned, to mention a few areas where expertise is needed.
For a real treat or education try sawing open grown Colorado Blue Spruce.
Gerald

[paul case]

I think that I learned a lot about sawing by sawing. Mind you that the first and only customer that I had to please with my house build was me. I learned how to and that it is possible to saw what someone else wanted from my mill.

Those first lessons have paid off big time.

I have built 2 houses and 3 barns on my family's farm and have NO MORTGAGE!
I even get to saw a board for my dads cattle headgate or some other small project! That's good stuff.

PC

[GAB]

I think that I learned a lot about sawing by sawing. Mind you that the first and only customer that I had to please with my house build was me. I learned how to and that it is possible to saw what someone else wanted from my mill.

Those first lessons have paid off big time.

I have built 2 houses and 3 barns on my family's farm and have NO MORTGAGE!
I even get to saw a board for my dads cattle headgate or some other small project! That's good stuff.

PC

Mr. Case:
I fully agree with your statement "I think that I learned a lot about sawing by sawing" and in my case I'm still learning.
As a matter of fact a lot of my mistakes (like long wedges for an example) my wood stove took care of for me.
Before I got the mill I had never sawed, and I spent the whole first year in the back yard playing or learning depending on how you look at it, honing my sawing skills.
A pine tree that I helped my dad plant in 1954 lost its top in a wind storm and I got to saw the butt log.  That was rewarding.
Gerald

[TKehl]

Lot's of good points above. 

One thing I haven't seen addressed is what kind of construction will the addition be?  Timber frame, standard stick built, etc. 

[ChugiakTinkerer]

Welcome to the forum Dustin and you have my sympathy as you ponder your options.  I'll reiterate what Brad mentioned early on and that is that if you're looking at this purely from an economics standpoint you will likely never be able to do it cheaper than the professional lumber yard that has years of practice and substantial economy of scale.  Where the economic analysis came into play for me was to realize that while milling my own lumber won't be the absolute cheapest way to go, it comes in a really close second place and at the same time offers me the chance to learn a new skill and have the satisfaction of making my finished product from the raw timber.  Milling and air drying your lumber makes it worthwhile to consider buying a mill if the other factors appeal to you.  Where the economics gets dicier is if you will need to have the lumber graded before you can use it in your house framing.  Kiln drying may be another needed step, and these both will cost you money and/or time.

[paul case]

GAB,

Those ''heritage'' trees make it very worthwhile.
The bulk of trees standing on my farm( my gpa bought in the 1920's) are too big for me to saw without a whole bunch of trouble. We have had several of the Red Oaks die a few years back and I cut them down only to find good logs that would have had to be quartered to saw on the woodmizer. I could only haul 4 at a time and we dragged them to the mill so we could use the 6k forklift to load them with. Some were over 175 years old. I have some Post Oaks that I will only cut down if they die. However I cut some of the paneling in my house from ERC I harvested from my other gpas farm. I heat my current house with a woodstove that the same gpa bought new in the late 60's. Means a lot to me but nothing special to anyone else.

I don't even start to know it all about sawing. Just when I think I do I saw into the mill.  I figure out that I couldn't see that the backstops were all the way up because my big head got in the way.

PC

[GAB]

Mr. Case:
I hear what you are saying about the large trees.  That is where a Peterson type mill would come in handy.  I helped a friend set up his Peterson style mill and for small stuff I personally would not recommend that type of mill.  When purchasing a mill some of the factors one needs to strongly consider are what the raw material will be and what the desired end product is.  Not every one can afford to have different types of mills in the yard.
Concerning the big head -just remember that mother nature does not allow drop outs, and can bring one back to reality real quick.

Mr. Cfur has not said what type of raw material he has or what the size of it is.  If he has I missed it - sorry.
If it is softwood to be used for framing a suggestion I have for him would be to saw like 6+" wide for 2x6's etc. and stack them properly for air drying.  Just prior to using, put them back on the mill and resize them to 5-1/2" or whatever is needed to accommodate commercial windows and doors.  This would allow him to straighten his framing material and get a nice straight and square building.
Hardwood intended to be used for interior trim and flooring can be sawed the same way but will need to be kiln dried prior to sizing and molding.
Gerald

[coyotefur]

As far as the home addition. i plan on using the stick method. I'm personally not doing the work but i figure thats what the local contractors will use.

As far as what kind of timer i have I'm not exactly sure. The property is on Big White Oak if that gives any indication.

With all the suggestions to use a land manager, i called one today. We are meeting this Friday and going to walk the property. He will give an appraisal first for $350+ mileage. If i decide to use him as a consultant he will charge 12%. I talked to another guy who charges 10%, I may use that as leverage. ;)

Thoughts on the land consultant route?

[drobertson]

Resources and timing going through the gov. sys. here lead me to a retired forester, from the same agency, MDC, he agreed to an 8 dollar an acre fee, which was my cost share amount, 880 bucks went to me, and straight to him, for a timber plan and evaluation,  volume included, plus the education, a no brainer. Not sure bout your state or practices, knowledge is a premium,  many loggers have it to without the degree, just saying, knowing and having on paper is always a good thing for the record. Just my two cents worth,

[TKehl]

I have no personal experience in this, but I could see a builder charging more for a "special situation" with "non-standard" lumber.  (IE not a pine/fir 2x4, 2x etc.)  Even if your time isn't counted, I struggle seeing saving much $ on this route unless you are doing the building yourself.

I can already hear the bellyaching... "Well I gots to predrill dem der holes fer the nails to keeps em from splittin.  My nailgun won't sink nails into dried oak, gonna have to hand nail them and charge a gazillion more $$.  DanG this stuff is heavy.  ...."

Trying to put myself in your situation with what you've said of knowledge, equipment, and preference:   I'd sell a chunk of timber (maybe not all at once to spread out the tax impact), buy a small manual mill and mill up some of the rejects, tops, junk trees left behind, and trees damaged in the process and use that lumber for flooring, trim, and maybe paneling.  Then either keep or sell the mill based on the experience.

[Ricker]

I think the consultant is a great way to start this project. Accurate and unbiased information is always a good thing to get before making decisions on anything real important in my opinion.

[dustyhat]

If your just getting 500 per acre for your KY white oak you better rethink your WINK ,WINK.

[coyotefur]

If your just getting 500 per acre for your KY white oak you better rethink your WINK ,WINK.

Is that a low estimate?

[dustyhat]

Well i probably should not have said it like that.    when i hear big and white oak in the same sentence i get excited.  as i have not seen your timber it could be a good price for saw logs. but i would want someone to look to see if you have good stave or veneer. we sold quit several this year that brought 500 a 10 foot log. pays to check diff places.  just dont want you to get the shaft.

[Brad_bb]

What Jeff said.

Breaking even/pay for itself depends on your viewpoint.  If you consider only the cost of the mill versus the cost of the lumber, then yes it'll pay, but then you have to discount any value for your time and labor.  I recently was trying to figure out if I'll break even on my projects given all my costs  and my time and labor versus paying for it.  I think I may about break even, but my project is at least 4x the size of yours.  I will tell you though that the mill is indispensible when doing custom work.  In addition to green timber, I'm using a lot of reclaimed timber and barn wood for trim, building vanities, and many other things.  Without the mill, I wouldn't be able to use the barnwood (remilling pieces to what I need).

I have an LT15.  It's a manual crank mill and I like it.  I don't get tired from it, especially cutting beams from center and boards from the outside.  The LT15 is lower cost than a lot of the hydraulics.  I have no hydraulics.  I sort of see the hydraulic mills as being better for producing boards, a lot of repetitive work.  My mill does pretty well for beams.  I also have Woodmizer's Beam Planer which can only run on a two track mill.  It's a great tool that I use a lot.  I want to say I got both for about $18K if I remember right.  I could sell it with good resale value and get a hydraulic if I wanted, but I prefer the LT15 for what I do.  I mill a lot of curved branches too.  The hand crank helps with that.

[paul case]

Are you kidding?

Sawin is so much fun that I should have to pay to do it!

I am one of them silly guys who don't go to work since I love what I do!

PC

[Cedarman]

The only thing we bought of wood for our house commercially were the trusses.  The rest was ERC for interior studs,  6x6 cedar for outside walls, poplar for 2 sided porch, full 1/4 sawn cherry for kitchen cabinets custom made, traded oak lumber for the build, 1/4 sawn ash for major floor,  sassafras sawn for bathroom cabinets and wood work, and all trim custom made with planer and router.  Plus 16" wide white pine and wide cypress for paneling.
Hired the builders by the hour.  They were efficient and easy to work with. They said they never enjoyed building a house as much as they did mine.  So, it depends on who you get to build your house.  Years later when I ran into those guys, they still said the same thing.

[Kbeitz]

What Jeff said.

Breaking even/pay for itself depends on your viewpoint.  If you consider only the cost of the mill versus the cost of the lumber, then yes it'll pay, but then you have to discount any value for your time and labor.  I recently was trying to figure out if I'll break even on my projects given all my costs  and my time and labor versus paying for it.  I think I may about break even, but my project is at least 4x the size of yours.  I will tell you though that the mill is indispensible when doing custom work.  In addition to green timber, I'm using a lot of reclaimed timber and barn wood for trim, building vanities, and many other things.  Without the mill, I wouldn't be able to use the barnwood (remilling pieces to what I need).

I have an LT15.  It's a manual crank mill and I like it.  I don't get tired from it, especially cutting beams from center and boards from the outside.  The LT15 is lower cost than a lot of the hydraulics.  I have no hydraulics.  I sort of see the hydraulic mills as being better for producing boards, a lot of repetitive work.  My mill does pretty well for beams.  I also have Woodmizer's Beam Planer which can only run on a two track mill.  It's a great tool that I use a lot.  I want to say I got both for about $18K if I remember right.  I could sell it with good resale value and get a hydraulic if I wanted, but I prefer the LT15 for what I do.  I mill a lot of curved branches too.  The hand crank helps with that.

Now thats a neat machine. Not much talk about it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyNh39oUnvE

[redprospector]

Are you kidding?

Sawin is so much fun that I should have to pay to do it!

PC

You mean...you don't? Hmm. I may be doing something wrong then.  :D

[Mountain State Farm]

Welcome to FF Dustin,

All the above is sound advice. The only thing I can add is to find a local guy that will let you help around the mill. After a few days you will know if sawdust runs in your veins. Running tail for someone cutting green White Oak all day has a way of changing a man and you will get a great education along with insight to owning a mill.

[ozarkgem]

The only thing we bought of wood for our house commercially were the trusses.  The rest was ERC for interior studs,  6x6 cedar for outside walls, poplar for 2 sided porch, full 1/4 sawn cherry for kitchen cabinets custom made, traded oak lumber for the build, 1/4 sawn ash for major floor,  sassafras sawn for bathroom cabinets and wood work, and all trim custom made with planer and router.  Plus 16" wide white pine and wide cypress for paneling.
Hired the builders by the hour.  They were efficient and easy to work with. They said they never enjoyed building a house as much as they did mine.  So, it depends on who you get to build your house.  Years later when I ran into those guys, they still said the same thing.

How about some pics of your house. Sounds like a nice build