Help I Bought A WoodMizer LT15

[Southside]

I don't mean to be the Debbie Downer here but do you have a market for that lumber?  Pine is horrible right now, has been for quite a while, add to that the market excess in your area because of the storm, the fact it has been down for a while and it's about to get warm, and the simple storm stress damage you have a product that is really hard to get rid of.  The oak is a little better prospect by itself, but again storm damaged trees tend to reveal a lot of issues once they hit a mill deck.  I get what you are trying to do, and having lost around 100 maples in the same storm that are still in an area that is way to wet to even think about going into, I understand the frustration.  Sometimes you can easily throw good money after bad due to an emotional reaction.  Just asking if you have a way to recover some of the additional effort and treasure you are about to put into this endeavor.    

[Hyrb]

Thanks a LOT for the help and advice.  This is an awesome forum!

I'm pretty sure I'll be keeping the mill.  Even if I lose most of the downed pine I can save much of the oak and other hardwood.  It will take time but I can buck most of them into 12 -16 ft logs and lay it out on railroad ties or limbs off the ground.

Y'all are right in the beetles already working on the pines.  It's a mess.  One of the main reasons I got the wood chipper and will be using the chips to cover most of the ground where we will be building by the creek.  

Much of the logs will go towards building our retirement property there in the next couple of years.  There is little to NO market here right now.  There are thousands of acres in as bad or worse shape than mine.  Essentially a swath of land about 100 miles wide and a few hundred long, from the Gulf Coast to Albany in SW GA.

My timber is not nearly as good as a lot that is down, there are 100 plus year old pines and oaks all over the place and my land was last cut over about 25 years ago except for a lot of the older hardwood.  The sawyers and timber companies can write their own tickets here.  None I know now will pick any off the ground.

Setting up the mill other than as a portable one will be a challenge, my biggest issue is security as We still live an hour away from this property.  I guess I could set it up over by our camp area.  It's a little heavy to run away with.

After I pick up the mill I'm sure I'll be back!