Anyone ever use a HM 126 Portable Sawmill ?

[Shaggy]

I'm new to the forum and I'll give some info about what I want to do. I want a cheap sawmill as I only have 5 acres and 2 of them are in hardwood, the other is farmland but I want to make it all pasture/farmland. So I was thinking I'd make a barn and new flooring for my house... Hence a sawmill BUT I don't want to spend $20K for a woodmizer like my neighbor did after "Katrena" I only want to saw up my trees n then sell the sawmill but after looking @ some I think the Woodland Mills HM 126 Portable Sawmill is the best CHEAP sawmill... Any input of a cheap starter sawmill that I can use for cutting up enough hardwood to make a few projects n then sell it would be appreciated. Especially if you have a HM 126... I think its better $$$ than a Woodmizer LT-10 or LT-15, Baker wood buddy, Norwood LM29 or even the SMG Champion Little 9.5 (though it is close in price and value. Now the TimberKing 1220 and Cooks MP-32 booth look better on paper BUT I could get 2 HM 126's for the price of them... I will be adding a 6' section to the HM 126 so it could cut 16' logs as I'll need that for the barns Cypress board n baton...

[beenthere]

I'd suggest giving the neighbor some business and get your logs sawn there. No need to invest money in the sawmill that way, and the neighbor and you both will be better off. ;)

Do you have the equipment to make the flooring for your house?

[Shaggy]

I'd suggest giving the neighbor some business and get your logs sawn there. No need to invest money in the sawmill that way, and the neighbor and you both will be better off. ;)

Do you have the equipment to make the flooring for your house?

You don't know my neighbor, I asked em already but he wants 50% of the wood AND I KNOW HE'LL get the best 50% n give me the knotty crappy worm eaten part... He's the type that will have to be screwed into the ground when he dies....

Dad is manager @ local millworks, so I'll send em 1x6 to 2x6 poplar, red oak, white oak, silver maple, cherry and other hardwoods in my lot n make tongue and groove, and molding from baseboard to crown. They even said they would be interested in buying dried hardwood for cabinets... Thats good cause I hate poplar's

[Ianab]

As a part time "hobby" mill the little Woodland should do fine. As long as you realise the limitations and are realistic about what it can do, it will get the job done.

Small band mills are not rocket science. Lots of folks, and companies, build them. Get the basics right, and keep them tuned and they will saw.

If you don't totally trust your neighbour, then the option of getting him to saw is not so good. One way around the "he takes all the good stuff" is to make 2 piles of logs, roughly equal. Let him choose which pile is his, because you set up the piles, it doesn't matter which one he chooses, they are similar. He gets all the boards from his pile, you get all the boards from yours. The good, the bad AND the ugly.  :D

I suspect that if you do buy a mill, you may not wish to sell it after the job is done. Because the Woodland is pretty cheap it's an option to put it in the shed, with a liberal layer of oil, and pull it out again in 6 months when you have some more logs. Once you have sawmill, logs tend to "find" you.

Ian

[schakey]

Just my 2 cents(not worth that much  ;D),if you are interested in milling your own trees go for the Woodland.Once bitten by the sawdust bug
yow will keep the mill.As far as your neighbor goes,I would not give him any business.Good luck and keep us posted.

[Andy White]

Shaggy
I got my HM126 to support my woodworking hobby. I was buying red oak and cherry boards for a project
at a ridiculous price for rough sawn, solar dried lumber!  After getting the mill, came the handling equipment, and storage shed, and now the kiln. This has been a very enjoyable experience. Have never thought of not needing this equipment again. The uses will come, the longer you work with your equipment. I now have to make time to do my woodworking projects!  Jump in, you will see!    Good Luck.     Andy

[Magicman]

Hello Shaggy, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  Since you had Katrina damage you must be a kinda neighbor??

[Shaggy]

Hello Shaggy, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  Since you had Katrina damage you must be a kinda neighbor??

O here in South Mississippi (you know that "LAND MASS BETWEEN NEW ORLEANS -N- MOBILE) lol we ALL helped each other out after Katrina, I had a water oak that was over 9' diameter land on top of my 3/4 ton 4x4 truck and it threw the power pole next to the house over 100 feet.... I used my S-10 to pick up loads of ice n deliver it to needy neighbors (elderly n such). Those who had heavy equipment used it to clear the roads n help neighbors who had trees on or danger close to falling on houses... I destroyed a homlite n sears chainsaws after the storm... My neighbor that got that woodmizer said he had lost (according to the government) 7 million in longleaf pines on his place... I was worried n asked if he would loose the farm, he said o its ok I sold over 5 million in wood n the government is giving us a 7 million dollar tax break for our losses... I never felt bad for him again after that :  They ain't bad ppl, he just puts $ over EVERYTHING else, where I'd turn down a $100K job if it meant spending less time w/ my family

[Magicman]

Avoiding folks like that is a good practice.

I made many trips working in the Moss Point and Pascagoula area helping re-sheetrock homes.