Hi everyone, I've been reading this forum for a while now in hopes to learn about portable sawmills. I live in northwest Florida near panama city.
About a year ago someone offered me some cypress logs if I came an got them. Being a hobby woodworker I jumped on it thinking that I could get the logs sawn up. Well talking to my Dad at the time and he said why don't we get a sawmill, he always had a dream of having one. So we started looking into it and finding other "free" logs. We looked at plenty of mills and Cooks caught our eye. Being they are made less than an hour from us and look to be a quality machine we set our hearts on a Cooks.
Well while we were in the process of saving and collecting logs, my Father/best friend pasted away suddenly back in February. He had health problems but i never thought he would be gone so fast, figured I had some more years with him.
Well now I'm on my own with the dream we had together if buying a mill, doing woodworking and eventually building a timberframe off our own timber and with our own hands. I am very determined to do this for myself and the memory of my father.
Now on to the question/discussion. I have found a used Cooks sawmill with all the features we wanted for sale within minutes of my house. The owner runs a woodworking business and uses the mill all the time. So it should be in fine working order. Without the guidance of my Dad I really don't know what to offer or what a fair price maybe.
The mill is setup stationary but he has axle in the shop. Cuts 22' logs by 32" diameter. No hydraulics all manual mp32. I'm going out tomorrow to look at it more closely and possibly make an offer or see what he wants. What are things to look for when buying used? He says I can cut logs all day if I want to to see how well it works.
Basically I'm looking for you guys to tell me what to look for and maybe what a fair price might be? Thank you all.
First, I am sorry to hear about your father. I miss mine every day.
I would take the owner up on his offer to run the mill. Run it as much as you can.
Try and figure out how many hours are on the mill and then, after you run it and get a good feel for it call Cooks and ask them what it should be worth.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
Jon
X2 what Weekend_Sawyer said, both of the loss of your Dad and the mill. Call Cooks, I've talked with Mr. Cook only once but I don't think he would ever steer you wrong.
Good luck and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. Lot of good info here,
Terry
I am so sorry to hear about your Father's passing and offer my Condolences. I also admire you for wanting to keep his dreams alive.
I would encourage you to take the sawmill owner up on the offer to get your hands "dusty", but no way would I make an offer. Yes, a call to Cooks would be in order but the first price needs to come from the sawmill owner. Drag your feet and do not appear anxious.
Sorry to hear about your Father. Mine never did see the mill I bought. But he looked at the same model many times. We would go to a show and look and ask questions.
A manual mill is fine for a hobby mill,that is what I have. Just go into with both eyes open. It should saw square lumber without any,well this end/side has to be up a little bit. ::)
sorry for your loss.
here is a quote i saw " Friends like you are rare and few, I am glad you are mine "
the Mill - do what the others said, spend a day, use the mill, saw the boards, get the feel of running a manual mill.
does it come with a sharpener?
what extras does it have?
let the owner set the starting price. it may be less than you think, or more.
Compression test on the motor?
Thanks everyone for your response. I will most definitely let him come up with a price. When I talked with him a few months ago he didn't say anything about a sharpener. He did say that he was wanting a mill with more cutting capacity width wise for live edge slabbing. He said he was tired of messing with the chainsaw mill for stabbing.
When I called him today I asked about the last time i was there, if he remembered me. He did remember me only because I had said i was looking for a mill. He then said he had been trying to find my number for a while because he's found the next mill he wants to buy. He seemed kinda tickled that I had called out of the blue. I'm definitely going to drag my feet and not be anxious as he's seems to need a bigger mill soon. Thank yall again for all the help, the forum really is a great resource.
good luck
Sorry about your dad. My dad died 38 years ago and is in my thoughts and prayers every day. I bought my Cooks MP-32 manual saw right after I retired in 2001. Really pleased with the mill and the folks at Cooks. Quite a few Cooks owners on the Forum, Bob Kellog, NC diesel are near me in NC. I also bought a used Cooks Cat Claw sharpener on the Sawmill Exchange later on.
I concur with most of the above comments. Certainly get acquainted with the mill for sale and
ask the owner for a price. Cash talks in any case. Best of luck in your efforts. Keep us in the loop. Paul R.
I have had my MP32 for 14 years and am still very pleased with it. I saw for others and myself. As with any manual mill it is slow on log handling but saws as fast as any mill of comparable HP. The only maintenance I could not do on it is to regrind the crown on the wheels. Ask how the bands track on the wheel. This will indicate the need for re-crowning.
Does it have power feed and up/down? I think power feed is a great labor saver
.
I have added lots of labor saving features on my mill but where I have to work the hardest is in situations where sliding (pushing) a log or heavy cant is required. Ask the seller to put a 2000 lb log on the mill in a specific orientation and slide it back to the squaring arms without it rolling. Sometimes this is necessary to open the desired face. To me this is where the work comes in.
Best of luck sawing.
Bob
Sure am sorry to hear of your Dad, you will surely find a mill that fits your needs,
Quote from: Magicman on September 29, 2016, 03:18:44 PM
I am so sorry to hear about your Father's passing and offer my Condolences. I also admire you for wanting to keep his dreams alive.
I would encourage you to take the sawmill owner up on the offer to get your hands "dusty", but no way would I make an offer. Yes, a call to Cooks would be in order but the first price needs to come from the sawmill owner. Drag your feet and do not appear anxious.
There is an old saying - He who puts out the first number loses.
MM's statement - "Drag your feet and do not appear anxious" This is an important attitude to have especially when purchasing a high ticket item.
Welcome and wishing you the best.
Gerald
Sorry to hear about your father's passing. I lost my Dad when I was 13 from melanoma. He was only 38 years old. So I can relate. Best of luck to you on your journey living out his and your dreams.
Well I went and talked to him, really easy going country fellow. 24 foot cut with electric up and down. 10 years old 25 hp motor. Cooks says it worth around 6500. He wanted 6000. Ham hogged around and scratched my head a few times and got him down to 5000 cash if I help him put the axle on it... cut 2 logs everything works. Cuts nice straight and flat. Also come with somewhere on the neighborhood of 50 blades come with it.and a third dog and clamp. Whatcha think? Seems right to me.
Quote from: Florida boy on September 30, 2016, 06:22:34 PM
...
Seems right to me.
That there is the bottom line. If you feel it's a fair deal and so does the seller, then get cracking on those axles!
Sounds fair to me, but Im not the guy shelling out the cash. If Cooks says its worth $6500, and youre getting it for $5,000 with at least $1,000 worth of blades, I think youre ahead of the game. Good luck with it, Im sure youre going to love it. A word of advice, prep your work areas properly. Get a good slab pile area set, a good finished pile area with plenty of stickers. take the time between cuts to lay out stickers in prep for the next new piece, it saves you a lot of time and effort in the long run. Post photos when you can!
I would already had it loaded up, paid for and almost home. Sounds like a good deal to me. Just my two cents.
Go for it! 8)
Bob
It would be hard to build one for that...
Great deal!
Welcome to the FF,
Sorry to hear of the loss of you Father, its never easy to lose a parent.
Looks like you scored a dandy mill, Cooks is a great FF sponsor and
from all I've read here they make great equipment.
Of-course we'll need to pictures
best
Dan
Well, I was hoping to hear of a young man from Fl. sawing lumber by now. Hope all goes good for you which ever your decision. ;D
Florida boy Have you seen this thread on sawmill mods
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,7789.msg1397352/topicseen.html#msg1397352
Well mill is in the yard ! Not setup yet. Didn't have time today, had family engagements. But first thing after church me an the bro in law are going to set it up. One thing I did notice was the electric up an down motor was a little finicky so may need rewound.
Maybe you guys could give some tips or threads on setup? Also I need a good plan for work flow around the mill? Going to take pictures of all of it. Took us a while to get it off the concrete forms he had it on. And get all the levelers un stuck. This is a long trailer! 32' tongue to toe.
Congratulations on the new to you mill. 8) Take lots of pictures too. ;D
You. Are going to have. So much fun.
8)
Your Dad knew his stuff...That's a great mill to have. You take care of it and it will definitely take care of you.
BTW Bob...congrats on the great article about you in the latest Cooks catalog. Oh, and when you need to slide that log into the stops, wax your bunks first. You'd be shocked at how easy those big logs slide over a waxed surface.
Cut my first log toothpick 16'with a little sweep. 8" cypress half rotted.... made a few stickers. And changed my first blade, and hit first metal... a screw I put on the end of the log to hold a flag when trailering. Go figure. Setup bed dead flat with string and six foot level. Set it a quarter inch low on the squaring arm side so that maybe a log would roll that way.
Sound like some folks are having a little bit of fun/learning!!! :D
How about a picture or two when you get a chance.
Terry
I'm on my smart phone and haven't quite figured out how to post pics. I think I put a few in my gallery last night though.
Don't know about them phones,but there might be a link you copy to put into a post. Play around with it,Preview is your friend. Keep trying until you get it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/40874/20161001_202124.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1475447170)