Should I buy a sawmill??

[drobertson]

 Are personal sawmills prohibited?  Can one do with his or her property as they wish?  Where is this going?  Why so complicated?

[thecfarm]

When it comes to water,everything changes. It's ok to fish in,but start to pull old logs out of the bottom,drive a skidder through it with about a ½ cord of wood behind it,dam or remove a dam in moving water,even drive beside water and put some mud into the water,or better yet change the flow of a stream,brook. Than see how long you will stay out of jail.  ;D

[WDH]

This thread is still going.  8)  If it helps the answer is yes you should buy a sawmill!   8)

This is like taking a poll in an Insane Asylum to ask if you are crazy  :D.

[alecs]

TheCFarm, you have it about right.  I asked the conservation offer when she was next going on vacation so I could schedule my work accordingly!   :D

But your list of infractions sounds pretty specific - do you speak from direct experience?

[thecfarm]

No I just hear alot of stories. Forgot one,cut all the trees along a water shed and cut all the trees so they fall into the water.

[Holmes]

From what I have heard here in Ma. you will get into more trouble if you put/use construction {yellow}equipment in a wet area.  If you happen to be using agricultural {green,red}equipment in a wet area, well that's part of farming.

[bandmiller2]

If you could just convince a beaver to put a water wheel in you'd be home free,those varmints do as they please,and flip their tail at conservation  commissions. Frank C.

[rl]

just one comment on mill to buy  do you want to spend time handling logs on the mill or the lumber coming off...I bought lt 40 because I wanted to be handling lumber     rl

[Jim_Rogers]

I wanted to thank all of you here on the forum that suggested that AlecS get a local portable sawmill guy to come to his property and saw up his logs for him.

That's what he did, and I wanted to thank him as well, as I was the guy who sawed up his logs.

I moved my mill there this past Sunday afternoon after it finally got free from the frozen ground here in Georgetown.

Here is a shot of his pile:



 

And:



 

After sawing the smallest one on the top of the pile, we cut the three branched fork end off the largest butt log in the pile.
We rolled that one onto the mill and cut some very nice 2"x20"x 12' planks for a conference table top he wants to make:



 

In the above picture there are some 1by 20" wide pieces on top of the two table tops.

The crotch was cut in half by a chain saw and we sawed that up last:



 



 

This crotch piece didn't have very much figure in it but some of the others were very nice. Some 28" wide.

AlecS' neighbor gave him four pine logs that we had to move from the edge of the street to the mill yard:



  



 



 

I suggested that Kevin not drive around with a log that high up again. He agreed.

We did have a bit a rain there as well:



 

I was a great job with two very nice guys helping. AlecS and Kevin his right hand man.

Thanks to all again.

Jim Rogers

[Alcranb]

Sounds like it was a great day 
What do you think Jim, another victim?  ;D

[alecs]

Well, it looks like Jim Rogers beat me to the punch on telling the outcome of the first phase of this story.  It was a real pleasure to work with you on the sawing, Jim.  Already thinking I will need more logs and then more sawing.  Rinse, lather, repeat, right?

[ladylake]

 
Looks like I'm too late for the hire a mill vote but that was my vote.  I saw for a couple different people that have circle mills but don't have time to run them and both like the thin kerf.   Steve

[drobertson]

Portable mills and a very handy tractor can do a pile of work, with a minimal footprint. glad it is working out.

[RayBell]

You know I am too old, live in the middle of town, and live in the desert side of Wa Stae, but I am obsessed with this site. Love the saw milling questions, very helpful answers, and pictures. I absolutely know nothing about this, but in my feeble mind thought Alec's made the right decision. Other than restoring the water powered mill ( sounds impractible) having somebody cut the first stack, and watching seemed the most logical to me. Sorry if I am out of line here offering opinions as a no nothing. Sure wish I were 30 yrs younger, and didn't live in the desert :D

[Magicman]

Sure wish I were 30 yrs younger.... :D 

Hello RayBell, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  Wishing that you were 30 years younger will get you nowhere.  Do what you can and keep on doing it for as long as you can.  Then do it some more.   

[RayBell]

Thank you for the welcome and philosophy Magicman. I do stay busy mostly honeydo's and WOODTURNING. I suppose that is one reason I like this site so much, our shared interest in wood, and especially the beautiful figure found inside.

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, RayBell

[James MacDonald]

RayBiil,
I have remarked to my Wife that it seems All the pictures of Sawyer's on this site look a lot like me. Old Men. I do not know if it is because we used to like working with wood but got too Old, or.... My suggestion it takes a long time to own enough equipment and save enough money to buy a saw mill.  You are Never too old to run a sawmill, if you are smart enough to pace yourself and problem solve Our Aging Body issues.  The Young Need to Conquer, the old to just Produce.
Living in the desert of Eastern Washington however might be a larger hurdle. Your neighbors still need to import wood to build, you just need to buy the trees!
I love turning wood  on my Walker Turner lathe. Best projects were a crib and cradle for my Grand Daughter.
Jimmy Mac 61 and aging nicely. Miss my ass though for holding up my blue jeans!

[RayBell]

Ha, funny comment about missing your ass to hold up your pants. Seems as if I am always trying to tighten my belt, or pulling up my jeans. Pretty awkward and sometimes emBARASSing with both arms full. Sometimes have to have the wife follow me to keep them up.

[thecfarm]

RayBell,welcome to the forum. If the wife is not around,wear suspenders. 

[drobertson]

Howdy raybell, we all pull up the jeans, and scratch the head the same, just part of a day, pretty much all day, every day ;D  and real glad for the wife who puts up with it ;D won't mention the zipper that is occasionally down :D

[RayBell]

Thanks all, and note to self- replace wife with suspenders- naw, not going to happen :D

[thechknhwk]

C'mon now not all the sawyers are 60, and my pants still stay up with just a belt.