iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Small Lumber Business

Started by JPAC, December 31, 2016, 03:19:14 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

JPAC

I have been seriously considering starting up a small lumber business to do for fun on the side.
I currently have a chainsaw mill and absolutely love making boards and working with the wood.

I have done a lot of research and from requests by people my chainsaw mill is not efficient enough to keep up with orders

I have been looking into a band sawmill with either hydraulics or no hydraulics (but with the ability to put them on later. I am still a strapping young lad I can do some manual labor.)

My question is between three companies. Reading review about the Woodmeizer, Timber King, and Norwood I have heard a lot of good reviews all the way to ugly reviews.

Does anyone have a preference and why? I would be great to hear from people who have experience
Also if anyone has any suggestions on how to upgrade to a small business setting without going bankrupt i would love to hear about those ideas as well.

Thanks for the help
Jake

flyboy16101

 Welcome to the Forum Jake. I am in the process of transitioning into the lumber business from custom sawing myself. Biggest benefit to starting with custom sawing is no inventory to move so you don't have that hanging over your head. It would help to know where your located. I started out helping my great uncle with his custom sawing in high school so I had some what of an idea where to start. He is a Woodmizer guy through and through so that's naturally who I went with when I got enough money to buy my own. I can only a test to woodmizer as I have never been exposed to any of the other manufacturers. He has an Lt15 a good mill for the money but he works it to hard and himself also for the amount of lumber he produces and it is also takes a little while to set up and you are bending over a lot to pick up boards and slabs. I went with the Lt28 due to the quicker set up and tear down time and that all the boards will be at waist height or higher. At the moment I am looking at upgrading to the Lt35 Hydraulic but depending on your financial situation I would probably stick with Lt15 or 28 until you got a stable client base. The nice thing about Woodmizer is that if and when you decide to upgrade they seem to hold there value very well. Also the customer service is unlike any company I have ever dealt with before. You might want to check out Wallee's Milling Thread on here to see how he developed his bussiness. Good luck with the decision
Wood-mizer Lt35, International 504 w/ loader, Hough HA Payloader, Stihl Ms290, Ms660, LogRite Cant Hook

wesdor

Welcome to the forum JPAC.  I suggest you fill out your profile so people know the area where you live.  After that you should seek out some local sawyers and volunteer to be an off bearer - you will learn a lot about sawing in general and their machine specifically.  Before I purchased my sawmill I worked with several different brands before making a purchase.  Making a wise choice to me means seeing how different mills work.  If you are trying to maximize production hydraulics are a must.

Check out the sponsors on the left. 

Good luck on making a choice that fits your budget and purpose. 

Magicman

There is much more to the "lumber" business than sawing logs.  Where will your log supply come from?  I would seriously investigate your targeted lumber market to determine the current availability and prices.  What if that market tanks, do you have an alternative or backup plan?  Log/lumber handling and transporting has to be addressed.  Availability of dependable helper(s)?
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Decked

My neighbor bought a new lt35 last March..ran it 6 weeks and traded in on a new lt40.  He can really saw logs with that thing!

redprospector

My grandpa told me that if you can't afford to pay for it up front, you can't afford it. That's good advice to keep from going bankrupt. But little risk brings little reward. Only you can decide how deep you want to get.
Getting into the lumber business requires a lot of support equipment. From trucks & trailers, to forklifts, to drying facilities, to buildings to store inventory, probably a planer, and a straight line rip, maybe a molder. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, if your logger, or trucker doesn't have a self loader, you'll need something to unload log trucks efficiently.
So it's up to you how deep you want to get. But if you decide to get very deep, bankruptcy is a very real possibility if you don't keep your ducks in a row.
As far as which sawmill is the best...that's like a Ford Chevy Dodge thing.
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

Wmivey

My first experience with a mobile saw mill was an old Woodmizer, one of the first built, that my neighbor has. Totally manual, of course. A friend sawed up several logs for me with an LT 40 hydraulic. Good machine, but then he moved to the mountains and there goes my steady go to guy. My wonderful wife allowed me to by an LT 35 hydraulic. After using two different manual machines and the the hydraulic, production and capability go up a tremendous amount with the hydraulic machine. I now have an LT 40 super with accuset. It took a couple of months to make friends with the new system, and for a while I wanted my 35 back. Now, no way. This thing really makes sizing up logs go fast. It takes a bit of time to sort it all out, but once you do, you don't want to go back. The extra production and less strain on the back, etc. pays for itself. It's a part time thing for me, but I paid for the mill in less than a year. If I worked it all the time, and didn't give away so much to friends and all, it wouldn't take long to pay for it with lumber. I believe the price difference for each mill is offset in additional production. Woodmizer has been great to me. Prompt service and good advice. I'm now pondering an LT 50. The smaller, 35, does tow a bit easier, and that's my concern in going even heavier. I do about 50% of my sawing on customer sites.

ScottCC

If it is for a side I would do what no one else does and then be the best at that, it keeps it from being a bidding war.  And if it were to always be a side buy what works best as a one man show.  It also seems that making it a fixed mill makes it easier to work at night after work.  You would need a suitable truck and trailer in the end anyways for transporting, trailer is just an individual tool.
Necessity is the mother of invention.  Poverty is its big brother.  WM mp100, WM eg100, WM sp4000 chip extractor,  WM 260 molder on order ,WM electric  lt15 wide with extra track, 71 Oliver allterrain forklift, 26' flat bed trailer, road legal log arch, homemade kiln, AutoCAD lt15

killamplanes

I'm with mm, get everything you need to support the mill first, source of logs, a way to handle them, and a market profitable to sell to. Then insert the mill. I did years ago and it served me well (still does). But a gun is useless without a bullet and a target.
jd440 skidder, western star w/grapple,tk B-20 hyd, electric, stihl660,and 2X661. and other support Equipment, pallet manufacturing line

Puffergas

Maybe perfect the chain saw mill for extremely specialized stuff.

If that doesn't work I would start by buying a really Large Lumber Business.. 😉
Jeff
Somewhere 20 miles south of Lake Erie.

GEHL 5624 skid steer, Trojan 114, Timberjack 225D, D&L SB1020 mill, Steiger Bearcat II

wesdor

Hope I'm not out of line, but OP hasn't posted again since starting this thread. I sometimes wonder if questions like this are meant to start wars.  Thankfully that is not the case here.  All responses (here and most other topics) are well thought out and polite. 

Jus wondering if some new member posters are for real or maybe people wanting to get others riled up? 

If admins think this is inappropriate please delete

JPAC

Thank you all for the comments that you have left for me.

I apologize for the delay in responding, I have been busying finishing up duty with the United States Coast Guard and have had some time today to read all of your comments.

I found everything very insightful and they have all pointed me in the right direction for making a business plan as well as other things to consider.

Thank you again for your assistance and patience

longtime lurker

What are the three main species of log you have available?
What kind of volume of log is available?
What size bracket would 80% of the logs fall into, based on small end diameter: 10- 20", 20-30", 30"+?

Those three questions there are the ones that determine what equipment you should be looking at. (There are more options then thin band portable sawmills, which may be better suited to your needs depending on the resource.)

If you wish to expand without going bankrupt, a big part of it is getting equipment that is suited to the task at hand.
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

JPAC

#longtime lurker

Thank you for your response.
Below are the answers to your questions

What are the three main species of log you have available?
     "White Pine, Ash, Oak"

What kind of volume of log is available?
     "It depends. I usually get the logs from landscapers and arborists that take down trees and haul them away (So it can vary). I also am in an area that trees are always coming down on the side of the road and I can pick them up free of charge.

What size bracket would 80% of the logs fall into, based on small end diameter: 10- 20", 20-30", 30"+?
     "As for the size bracket I could say between 15"-30" nothing in my area would really exceed 30 inches. There are a few trees that come that big and it might be nice to plan for them but may not be a necessity right now."


You mentioned some other options, could you expand on this?

Thank You Sponsors!