In my short time as a member of the Forestry Forum, I have read many stories written by dreamers - people who want a sawmill, but for some reason or another don't have one. Sometimes it's a money factor, sometimes it's just not the right time in their lives.
Well, I think everyone should have at least a chance to get what they want, so I asked the Peterson CEO's for a free Skillmill to give away....
they said YES!
So, we are running a competition for Forestry Forum Members ONLY!
The prize, a brand new Skillmill! Mill value - $3,900 USD. 8)
Before everyone gets too excited, there is one rule that we must stick to. This competition is for those who don't currently own a sawmill. We want to give you a chance to learn more about milling, to learn some of the benefits that so many others talk about here on the Forum... Petersons and the Forestry Forum are 'paying it forward'.
The competition begins with the posting of this message and entries must be posted (details to follow) by 12pm, 16 May 2007.
The winner will be drawn at the Forestry Forum Booth (#106) at Sawlex, 12pm (noon) 18 May 2007. The winner will be drawn by Jeff and Tammy (FF), and Chris and Kerris (Petersons).
It sounds too easy huh? Well there is a little something you have to do to be in to win.
1. Tell us a little about yourself. What is your background? Do you have woodchips in your blood? Have you used a sawmill before - if so, what kind and in what application?
2. Click here (http://www.skillmill.com) to take a look at the Skillmill website if you haven't already. This is the mill you may be winning. What features appeal to you the most? Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve the mill?
3. Finally, tell us what you would use it for if you won? Do you have trees on your property? Do you make furniture etc?
Post your story in this thread for all to read, and you are in the drawing.
That's it. Pretty easy really.
We are aware that some people can write long intriguing pieces, and others sum things up in a couple of sentences. We are looking for emotion rather than writing and grammar skills. Make us all laugh or cry with four sentences, and you've got as much of a chance as someone who writes four paragraphs!!
Once your stories are posted, they will be judged by the staff here at Petersons. The stories will be printed and passed around not only the ones sitting on our butts in the offices, but the guys out in the factory as well. The top 10 stories (we're hoping for hundreds!) will then be given to Jeff and Tammy, and Chris and Kerris to draw from a hat at Sawlex (anyone bringing their cowhide brimmed cowboy hat for us to borrow?). Speaking of hats, Jeff is going to throw in a Forestry Forum Cap to the winner, so you can mill in style!! Thanks Jeff :-)
So I really look forward to hearing your stories and I know everyone else here is pretty excited to be running a competition like this, so ask me if you have any questions, ask the wife to type for you (if you're a one finger typist like 'Husband' haha), get out of the shadows (if you're a lurker) and have fun telling us about you! Good luck.
P.S - If you don't win, don't worry. We will be selling the demo Skillmill from Sawlex at a discounted price.
Here's the boring stuff (that you really should read).
Terms and Conditions of entry:
1. Children 16 years and under are not permitted to enter. 2. Petersons Global Sales Ltd reserves the right to collect and use information and comments given by participants for advertising purposes. 3. Competition runs from now, until 12pm, 16 May 2007. 4. Top ten stories will be in the drawing, and one winner will be notified by mail and within this thread unless present at the draw which will be at 12pm (Noon), 18 May 2007 at Booth #106 (Forestry Forum), Sawlex, SC. 5. The prize is not redeemable for cash. 6. The winner takes the prize entirely at his/her own risk and indemnifies Petersons Global Sales Ltd or associated companies in respect of any claim for any accident, injury, or property damage that may occur in connection with the operation of this prize. 7. The winner must read the Operating and Safety Manual before using the mill for the first time. 8. The prize will be shipped to your nearest city depot for pickup, if you would like shipping to your door (home or work), that amount will be payable by you. 9. You agree to receive periodic notifications of special offers and news. 10. Competition is open to those who don't currently own a sawmill of their own. Those who work for sawmill owners, but don't own one themselves, are entitled to enter. 11. Employees and immediate family members of Petersons are not eligible to enter (BigTrev, that means you too!!). ;D
Wow..That is awesome...... ;) ;) ;)
You guy's are going above and beyond............
Thanks to everyone at Peterson...... ;D ;D ;D
Wow! :o Do I get a bonus entry for being the first eligible entry? :D
It all started about 7 years ago. I was a new stay at home dad and needed to fill the house with all sorts of useful stuff like changing tables and picture frames. Wood is very expensive off the shelf, so only small projects were affordable.
Suddenly, my neighbor started growing logs in his yard. The rate of growth was incredible. One day I drove the lawn tractor down the street for a quick introduction and a looky see. He was using funny language like "board foot" and "ring porous".
A couple of weeks later a Woodmizer showed up. I watched in awe as all that expensive lumber was pulled out of those logs. By the end of the week, my new best friend had a nice pile of wood in all sorts of flavors. I was standing close by when the bill was handed over and the check was written. "What!?!," I exclaimed, "All that wood only cost you $XXX!?!"
Well, I was on a mission now. Every chainsaw screeming in the distance was investigated. (They still are). And quite a collection of logs had started growing in my own yard. My wife started wondering what in the world was going on out there. "Don't worry, honey," I said. "I'm saving us money." ;D All I got from her was... ::)
To date, I have collected well over 12,000BF of logs and lumber from all over Knox and Blount counties.
I would have to say at least 20% of the population has been in one of my log moving parades - top speed of 15mph in some cases. My wife will not go with me on these expeditions for fear of ending up on the 6:00 news. :D
The biggest project finished so far is the complete gutting and rebuilding of the kitchen. The cabinets were built with a large silver maple from the neighbor's yard. My goal is to have every stick of furniture in the house built by me with lumber that I collected and dryed. 8)
Wifey just walked by and asked what I was up to. When I mentioned the sawmill give away, a familier ::) could be felt in the room. :D
Edit: My favorate feature of the mill is that it is electric. I live in the city limits and have neighbors relativly close by. The low noise of an electric mill seems ideal. One other great feature is the use of the Alaskan attachment. I love slabs.
I've been thinking all day since I read this thread how to handle big logs with this mill and get all 8" material. If slabs were produced with the Alaskan setup at 8" thick, these can then be stood on end and doublecut. Is that the best way? What is the widest Alaskan mill the Skillmill accepts?
I can't wait to go to the truck depot and pick up the new Skilmill. ;D (Positive thinking goes a long way, ya know. ;))
A fantastic idea - I hope that y'all receive tons of entries!
Scott
WHOW smiley_eek_dropjaw this is incredible, pretty safe to say that this will be the HOT topic for the next couple of months, great way to learn a little bit about those that enter 8) 8) the only down side is I'm not eligible :'( oh well I'll get over it and I will enjoy reading the entries.
Dangit. I haven't even taken delivery of my new skillmill and you're already giving 'em away!
Hey all :)
Well, it's 9.30am and I've just rolled outta bed! Yeah, a bit of a sleep in. It's a public holiday here today, it's ANZAC Day. Australia New Zealand Army Corps. We are remembering our fallen soldiers.
So while I'm watching a documentary on us during WWII, I thought I'd check in and see how this thread is progressing... so far so good!!! Metalspinner - thanks for your story, very good... and I like the wife's ::) haha. I do have to ask though, that you complete #2 of the original competition post please. All three items need to be answered for you to be in to win.
Thanks!
Hey Riles, I'm really pleased to hear that you have ordered a Skillmill, that's great.
I'm sorry that this competition has timed badly for you! When I thought of running it (on my drive home from work last week), I did think of those who had already put their orders in, or who have already received their mill. I also remembered the time a couple of years ago, when I was working in the Electrical Department of a store and saved for months to buy this cool TV. It wasn't even a week after my purchase, that I arrived to work in the morning and found out that the staff incentive that month was a free TV, yeah, the one I'd just bought! So I thought that the timing is probably going to be bad for someone whenever we run this comp. I'm really sorry that you are one of those someones! :-(
I know lots of you on the Forum are going to miss out because you already have a mill, and I'm sorry about that. At the same time though, I'm really pleased that we get to introduce someone to a way of life lots of you already know (or are about to know, like Riles). It's like me with cars (if I ever win the lottery), I'm going to buy all my close buddies a brand new car because I have a passion for cars and I want to share the feeling! haha.
I just want to say that this is fun for us. The factory guys are looking forward to playing a part in the competition, the ones in the offices are looking forward to watching the progress, and the bosses are looking forward to drawing the winner with Jeff and Tammy.
Anyhoo, I hope y'all have a really good day.
See ya!
Now HSV, while you are feeling sorry for all those who can't enter, include those who mentally fill out their "story", and while doing so, think so hard on it and then get all excited about having a mill, only to not get drawn and then just have to go out and buy one......think about them too. ;D ;D ;D
You are clever, you are. :) :) :)
Salute to your ANZAC Day. Many sacrifices of your veterans over the years, and they can be proud.
Well i will throw my hat in the ring(Not my new FF hat rings are dirty.).
Well need to add on to my house and make good strong furiture. I have been telling the wife thay i will not buy the junk from the big box store.
Just had a new addition to the family. We need to make somemore bed rooms and a toy room I cant see the floor from all the toys in there rooms.
I have trees on my place and the neighboor said that all the popular will come to me when i get a mill. Mostly maple and some oak. I think that i could make better lumber then i could buy.
Never ran a mill in my life. Seen sawmills run and watched GMMills Woodmizer run.I have started to get parts to build a band sawmill.
I dont know if i have sawdust in my blood but i have been the cind to cut firewood all day and cant to do it the next day. Love the smell of fresh saw chips if that counts.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
This is 8) 8) 8) 8)
I'll be looking forward to reading each and everyone.
Very nice of y'all to do that for the forum.
I guess that if you have a frick timber tiger sitting on new concrete piers that needs a lot of work yet to make it a sawing sawmill you can't enter ?????????????
Quotecomplete #2 of the original competition post please. All three items need to be answered for you to be in to win.
HSV,
Thanks. Got it done.
You have to say thanks to a company that goes that far. 8)
Let me first say that this is the most incredible opportunity! You guys are awesome to make someone's dream come true. I hope it's mine! Anyone that was at Sawlex 2005 and saw the far away look in Cowboy Bob's eyes as he watched the first swinger he ever saw, will know why I'm gonna try to get our name in the hat.
I've never used a sawmill before and have only watched as others operated their mill. I just can't watch without feeling the overwhelming desire to take a swing at it myself. That's when I realized that I did have sawdust in my blood. Cowboy Bob and I talked about getting a swinger all the way home from Sawlex, but the cost to get started was more than we could afford.
This baby swinger would be perfect for us to start with! We've got a generator, so we could take it wherever we want. We've got a nice truck and trailer for hauling. What makes this mill perfect is that it's the Peterson we've always wanted to own! The only way it could be improved on, is if it's in my driveway!
We would use this mill to cut lumber for ourselves around the farm, and also to earn a bit of extra money by cutting for other folks in our area.
Most folks here got started by taking baby steps, we would love the opportunity to take those baby steps with your first baby swinger!!
Win or lose, THANK YOU for the opportunity that you are giving to someone!!
Hey everyone!
;D
Things are looking good on this thread!
Thanks for all of your kind words. It's a pleasure to do this for the FF. You have all been very kind and helpful to this company from the get go. It's great to have the support from your side of the world! :)
I just want to respond to a couple of posts real quick.
beenthere: ;D Thanks. I don't think I've been called clever since the last finger painting I took home to mum. Also, thanks for the Salute. My Grandad lost his twin brother at El Alamein, he's buried there. My Grandad always wanted to make it over to visit his grave, but he was too busy taking care of us bratty kids. I'm planning to make it over there on his behalf sometime. Too many good guys, so many bad wars.
metalspinner: You certainly could do what you suggest to get 8" stock (if the Alaskan cuts 8" deep - I'm thinking it goes up to 12"?). Of course you'd need some type of clamp or EZ Dogs to hold the slab while you take it down to 8" with the Skillmill, but I'm sure it could be done. The widest Alaskan frame the Skillmill takes is 48". Thanks for your post :-)
Don_Papenburg: We really want to focus on people that don't already own a sawmill, sorry Don, but this is one rule we really have to stick to.
Mr Mom: I'm wondering if you could please answer #2 of the original post about the competition so we can submit your story as an entry? Thanks :)
Thanks to the people who have entered so far, your stories are really good! We're looking forward to reading more.
Well, I'd better get back to it, have a good evening :)
This is neat. 8) I have been around loggers and logging a good portion of my life. I am presently in sales at a OPE dealership and am passionate about the saws and logging equipment. The other salesman sometimes gets annoyed with me :D :D
I have never run a mill but love the smell of fresh cut wood. I came to this site looking for a forestry/logging chat, got interested in the discussions on mills and just kinda stuck around. At one time in the distant past, I worked in a mill on the green chain. I have watched band mill and swing mill demonstrations and was impressed with the swinger's speed
I like the look of the Skillmill, light and portable which is important to me. At the moment, I don't have a spot for a stationary setup. I assume it runs on 240VAC. Is that 60Hz or 50Hz like Europe? Are the blades a common size here?
I would use it primarily to cut beetle killed pine which unfortunately is abundant here. I want to build a fishing camp/hiding place with rustic furniture. If I can retire in a couple of years, it will get a lot of use, I just might have to upgrade at that point. ;D
I just watched the video again, somehow missed the part about plugging into household current the first time. ;D
Hey this is cool. My wife does not own a sawmill can she enter! :D
Just give your mill to your wife! ;D
background--worked in factory till retired--repaired cars after work--and have built many things that are constructed of iron--certified welder-----have had woodburner for years--so ya--lots of chips in my blood!!! have never used a sawmill---but would like one---have plenty of trees i want to turn to lumber on my property--------------------features--i like that you wont be breathing the fumes off a engine--and i have a generator!! doesnt look like it needs any improvement--but then have never run one!!! but have gotten literature on plenty----being retired---cost is prohibitive---i would use it to make all sorts of projects that have been in my head for a while--including sawing some large cottonwoods for sheating on the roof!!! priced good 3/4 ply lately????????? i dont make furniture--but would like to make some rustic type furniture that ive seen on diff websites----- thanks for the oppurtunity to enter the contest---oly
Wow this is great 8)
Ya I am max sawdust never seen any sawdust ::) I could sell my mill if I win :-*
OK OK I can not get away with saying I do not own a mill.
What a great opportunity for those that want a mill but do not have one.
Come on, lets see hear the stories. :P
I could write a book on when I got the sawmill bug, and how bad I wanted one, and how pleased I am with having one :D
max
Get writting all you want to bee's ;)
My wife and I were living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in 2003, had just bought a house, and had just moved in and unpacked our last box when we surprisingly got a phone call from the headmaster of Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ). He offered the two of us jobs at CAJ to begin in August of that year.
I was a Human Resources Manager for the federal government and my wife was an ESL (English as a Second Language) Teacher at a community college. We were earning good salaries and had just bought a house. It would be foolish to give all of that up for low salaries in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
God dealt with us mightily at that moment. We struggled with many things for the longest 24 hours of our lives. God brought to mind one passage of His Word in particular:
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God."
(1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
We defied the wisdom of men by quitting our jobs, selling our house, giving away or selling virtually everything we owned, and moved to Japan. I am now a teacher at this school for missionary kids in Tokyo. I teach woodworking to middle and high school children.
From my earliest days, I have always loved tools. However, until my current job, I had never done any serious woodworking. When I found out I was going to be teaching woodworking, I totally immersed myself in learning all aspects of the trade. It was during that time of immersion that I found the Forestry Forum and, through the Forestry Forum, that I learned about Peterson sawmills.
I have never owned a sawmill. Last year, I helped the school buy a Husqvarna 3120 chainsaw and had a friend of mine build an Alaskan sawmill attachment for it. I have occasionally used this mill setup to cut some lumber for my classes to use. It has been functional, but it is exhausting work.
I have not seen a Skillmill in person, but I have read everything on the Skillmill website as well as watched the available videos. I love the Peterson swingmills, especially their portability and having the capability for one person to setup, operate, and take-down the swingers. The one thing I like the most about the Skillmill is the ability to cut at numerous angles.
I have three recommendations for improvement of the Skillmill. First, I recommend that you develop and offer extensions to the tracks to facilitate cutting longer logs. Second, I recommend that you offer the chainsaw, Alaskan mill, and necessary hardware as an option for the Skillmill purchaser. Some of us would rather buy the whole package at one place rather than dealing with multiple companies. Lastly, I recommend that you offer an optional handle extension for taller sawyers. The sawyer in the photographs and videos on the website is often being forced to stoop over as he gets to the last cuts on a log. It would be good for the handle extension to have a ratcheting pivot mechanism that would allow the sawyer to select different handle angles to adapt for different size logs and different heights from the ground which may result from using different size log bunks.
My wife and I are moving back to the U.S. in June. We are looking forward to seeing more of our children and grandchildren. We were concerned for a time about what I could do about finding a job. No one in America is interested in hiring a 50 year old guy, are they? We prayed for an opportunity to continue in fulltime Christian service.
God heard our prayer and has answered. We are going to live and work at LUC (Lives Under Construction) Boys Ranch [www.lucboys.org]. The ranch is a Christian organization established to offer a last chance to troubled boys. We hope to be able to make a difference in the lives of these boys and show them the love of Jesus Christ. Many of them have never known true love in their entire lives. But for the intervention of the staff at LUC Boys Ranch, many of these young men were headed for prison.
If I were to win a Skillmill, I would use it at the ranch to cut lumber for the construction of buildings there and for projects that the boys make during their vocational/technical training. I hope that I can also improve on my own woodworking skills by making furniture as I teach the boys what I know. The ranch has over 350 acres of property much of which is forested.
Thank you to everyone at Petersons for offering such marvelous products, for continuing to listen not only to customers but also to potential customers, and for offering this opportunity to a lucky contest winner.
Jim
Background - work for Baker Products for 11 years now.I have always wanted a mill but could never find way to be able to afford one.I have used mills at our plant for testing for customers.I ran one once that the guy was going to cut stone.Yes...a real rock. We used a special diamond encrusted band blade that was really tough.The rocks were huge.Probably 24" wide x 60" or so long and 18" or so thick.He wanted to make 3" thick slabs I think. It actually surprised me as well as it cut.
I looked at the Skillmill website and could see really nothing that I would do to improve or change it.What I like the most is that I could haul it out to the fallen tree in the woods and cut it up right there and not have a mess to clean up in the lot.Nor would I have to find a way to get the log to the mill when I can take the mill to the log.
My wifes grandpa has alot of land with nice cedar trees and some old dead fall trees from storms.I would like to have a mill to use for my woodworking hobby.I have alot of woodworking tools and a small mill of this caliber would be great for me to save on lumber costs when I get the chance to build things.
If I win you save on the freight and just have one of the guys from Baker Products haul it home to me.
Thanks for this great chance to win a great mill.
Adam
I would like to say is that a eletric motor is good but i dont have a generator. That is a added cost to the mill.
A gas motor is more of a good thing for me.
Not that i am complaining.
I did watch the video and i didnt know that a nice small mill like this was around.
I hope this is what you want.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Hey all :) This is looking really good!!!
There are some great stories coming through, really excellent. Thanks to all who have entered so far.
Mr Mom, that's exactly what we want, honesty. Thanks for that, you're entered!
Well, it's the weekend here now, I'm hoping all goes well for everyone attending the demo in WI and that the weather holds out!
I will be checking into this thread over the weekend in case anyone has any questions.
Happy Posting!!! :)
Here's my entry. My writing has certainly never won me anything before but hope springs eternal.
I come from a long family history of working in the trees and mills in the NC mountains. A lot of my family was fed from the lumber industry. They did it for other reasons as well, I had a great uncle that went to work in a timber camp up in the hills to avoid a certain young lady looking for him. The last mill in the family was a square mill my father and grandfather set up to sell squares to the furniture plants.
About 1 ½ years ago I started looking at sawmills and found the Forestry Forum and this really got me to considering the possibilities. At a family dinner I mentioned that I would like to have a small mill and the whole family started making plans for it. My mother has a lathe and wants me to cut turning blanks. My sister is doing intarsia and thinks I should cut a lot of wood for her projects. (she has already taken over my planner) My dad does carpentry and some wood working and is always looking for good/special lumber. We also started a tradition of drawing names and making handmade gifts for Christmas, so every fall there are usually two or three of us looking for lumber. I gave my dad some copies of Sawmill and Woodlot magazine. He has gone through and picked out his choices in mills. So if I ever get a Skillmill it will really be a family mill with me being the caretaker for the rest of the clan.
We have plenty of trees to cut. I have a total of about 35 acres of mostly hardwood with another 25 or so among the rest of the family. I've got about 6-7 logs right now I could saw if I had the equipment. Our biggest concern will be where to set up the mill first.
For me it's hard to justify a sawmill, maybe I'm just cheap. I don't like to spend money I don't have and with two sons headed to college in a few years it's hard to divert that much money for a hobby. If I look at making it more than a hobby I worry that right now I will lose time that I should be spending with the boys.
When the Skillmill was introduced last year I added it near the top of my list of things I would like to have. I have been waiting to hear from some other owners and I had planned to see one in operation at Sawlex this spring.
I hesitate to make too many comments on a mill I haven't seen in person. Peterson seems to have done a great job designing a system for hobbyist like myself. The multiple angles of cut is a great feature. I can see where that would be great for taking the corners off of the turning blocks. I do wonder how you hold profiled pieces in place to make that last cut or two. One thing that I would like to check out is the stability of the saw carriage, when you watch the video, at the beginning of one of the cuts it looks likes the carriage skews or wobbles slightly.
I had considered building my only swing mill. A general question about swing mills I have wonder about is the rails. Having the track rails fixed and raising and lowering the saw on the carriage might be more convenient, maybe I'm missing something.
I'm planning on being at Sawlex with my boys, dad and maybe my sister. I will be glad to pick up the Skillmill there to save you fine folks the shipping charges.
YEA BOY I got to toss my hat into the ring too ! (sorry I don't have any cow skinned cowboy hat or else I would let ya pull my name out of it ;) :) ) BUT I'll sure toss in my greasy old dust covered ball cap in there (I'm sure no one will pick that thing up or get close enough to pull out anyone else's name fer sure ;) lol
More about me other than having a worn out hat on my head (mainly to cover the graying hair now a days)
I been looking at making lumber out of trees for a good long while. I was looking & asking questions locally for many years and spoke to a lot of people on other forums until I found a good bunch of people who knew their behinds from a knot hole here on Forestry Forum!. I joined back in September '05 and have been reading on & off as time permitted. I even went to visit a few FF members. BBTOM in particular, has taught me a LOT as I have stopped at his place 4 or 5 times now I think. I got to watch him cut and helped tail/unload, and rip saw for him a bit. I actually asked a lot of silly questions while I watched him run his LT40HD. I'm sure I got in his way a bunch and cost him a good poke in the eye with a stick when he was showing me some ins and outs of making Maple Syrup. (Sorry again Tom :-[.)
I have been to a few places and talked to many sawmill owner's. So far all of them have been band mills, but I love the way the swingers move so much so that I've TRIED ( I repeat TRIED) to buy 3 of them in the last year or so on Evil Bay >:( only to get out bid by SNIPERS at the last seconds of the auction! :( I even clicked to PAY once only to received an outbid notice instead of the YOU WON notice I was expecting :( These were used units as I'm working too many hours and have had too many setbacks in the last few years to be able to afford a nice new mill like the one offered (even if it is the demo model I would be ecstatic!)
Anyhow back to ME I just turned 40 so I still got a few good years left in me, (don't ask my woman if there are any left as she thinks I past my prime at least that many years ago :) ) I've been into any and everything having to do with Wood, Cars, Metal and or Electricity. I am the youngest in my family so I had benefits of mom being used to plenty of problems (me & my older brother were her biggest from an early age ::) we hunted, fished, ran a muck and basically spent more time outside than inside from the time we could walk until well EVER. Both of us still work around each other a lot despite his picking on me every chance he got when we were kids... But as we got older he got into cars and so did I. I painted my first car by the time I was 14, (actually HIS car) and went into Auto Body Painting & repair in high school. By that time I knew how to paint better than the instructor @ my school. I got pretty board with that by my 2nd year of it in Vocational Tech School I had gotten great grades (mostly A's the last 2 years I only missed one day (wrecked my brothers car going to school! OOPS :o ) and decided to Join the Military. Just to get away from him so he couldn't kill me. :D
So into US Air Force I went. I got some more great schooling on Hydraulics & Flight systems and all that good stuff. I was in active duty during the first gulf war and spent 9 months working 12 hr shifts without a day off... later the AF transfered me from Kansas into the high desert where there weren't any trees so when my reenlistment date came I got out. I came back to Ohio and have been here ever since.
I worked as an Industrial Equipment Designer & Fabricator. I welded, wired & Installed all sorts of Industrial Equipment. So I'm sure I'll be changing something eventually on the mill if I was luckily enough to win it.! I'm still the way I was when growing up, fix it yourself, make it faster/better, hot rodder type person. Making small changes to personalize you're tools is usually faster & safer than starting from scratch.
Anyhow, I ended up buying my property 6 years ago. I have 26 acres of trees (some was open so I planted 5000 + trees, 2000 sugar maples, 2000 white pine and 1000 Spruce all in one year 2004.) I also planted a LOT of Black Walnut, Oaks and Fruit Tree over the years. While working at building the equipment I was looking at a way to build my own mill. Unfortunately our shop basically ended up closing as no shops/companies were buying NEW equipment. I lost the job I loved doing after 10 years for this reason.
I'm now working in a factory as most jobs in my area have dried up really bad in the last 5 years. (So many Industrial Plants have closed around my area that being able to BUILD something wasn't keeping my bills paid.) I spent 2 of the last 5 years looking for work and so has my woman, who lost her job last year. She was laid off over a year and has had to take a temporary job simply to help pay the bills that the high gas prices in our area and low number of jobs. We started building our House/Home on the farm back in 2001 but with the poor job market and high prices we have not been able to finish it. It has been empty and un-finished for 4 years now. :( That is one of the reasons I need a good mill.
I have plenty of Lumber in the Log form but no way to cut it, I (this winter) downed 10+ larger maples and Elms to turn that into flooring that will be used in our home. I say downed but much of these were heavily damaged back in the big ice storm that we had a few years ago. My place (like BBTOMS) had a one two punch with lots of ice, heavy rain and high winds. This was the case 3 or 4 times in the last couple years so what was (when I bought my place) a Beautiful old growth woods is now a ruin of tree branches uprooted trees and outright blow downs. While I'm sure I'll be able to eventually get these logs into someone to be milled it would be so much easier to mill them right in the yard. I need to make a lot of flooring, shelves, all of the trim and kitchen counter tops. I know of a few places that would turn my boards into these but if I got started with a good mill I might be able to swing getting a nice molder/planner eventually as well. I'm hoping to get my down stairs concrete poured this year (been trying for 4 years now) prices have almost doubled for it so I'm stuck attempting to find small odd jobs in the spare time to save & pay for items as I'm just not a person to BUY something I can't afford... I don't use my plastic unless I HAVE to have something (recently both cars were down and I had to buy brake lines and fix one only to find the steering parts are all shot.) I got the other car running which had a broken/stuck transmission cable on it. I think it will last a little longer but the cable linkage damaged the tranny pretty bad as it was slipping In & Out of gear when driving it home.
While I've never MILLED a board out of a log I've been there and helped do it while learning something new. I've worked with my hands one way or the other since I was a kid & don't think I will ever STOP for anything other than old age and or the end of all good things. I built a lot of items from scratch and loved pretty much every one of them (baring that dang Air Hockey Table I built in junior high shop class!) :o It gave me some scaring (emotionally that is lol) not to mention a lot of black-n-blue fingers from the pucks flying up into you're hands when playing it! ::) :D
Well now that I went & got all LONG winded I better just say I'll surely put one of those nice skill mills to work for a good long time if I get 1/2 (or 1/10th) a chance ;)
Mark M
Good luck everyone, I enjoy your stories and I know a new mill will be as enjoyable as productive and an asset to your lives as mine has been to me. HSV, thanks for the investment in other folks, it wont go unreturned.
Donnie
I started in the woods while still in school in the early 80s cutting bug pines during the sourthern pine beatle epidemic. I ran on federal contracts cutting in national forest all i had to do was lay them down inside the line. After a couple of years i went to construction and built myself a job in quality assurance. Stayed there for thirteen yrs. and finished being raised by my wife and three girls.
About ten yrs ago my dad passed away from complications due to cancer. Me and mom have always had a special relationship and she was already living with us. Mom had a stroke at the same time that dad died (i will always believe he was calling her) she was not able to go to the services and didnt wake up till after they were over. The kids were on ther own so me and lilya got a little place on twenty acres about half hard wood pine mix and remodled it to fit moms needs. She lived there with us untill last year, her health degraded to a point were we could no longer give her the care she needed so i put her in a local nursing home. That was the first time that i couldnt care for moms needs and it got me down till the house burnt then i was so happy that mom wasnt there
About that Skillmill i havent seen one up close but it looks like a nice outfit. I would encourage the extentions some times a fellow just need 16' 2x8s or a half dozen 18' 6x10s. Does the planer blade fit it. Im guessing that a jig and adaptors that would allow a 70cc or so chain saw power head to be the power supply when away from a outlet is still in the planning stages. A 13500 rpm 5 hp loud oil dripping chain saw power head might give its own set of problems but it sure would be handy if made to work.
I have plans to get a mill to build my house and every thing in it, though my furniture so far could be called rustic at best. Right now im cutting beams with a chainsaw mill ( hope that dont exclude me) and that Skillmill would be just the thing to cut all these 3x5 purlins i need. Even the 6x10 and 6x6 beams and post i have left would benfit. I could cut the 1x and 2xs off the sides and leave the boxed hearts for the timbers, not to mention all the 1xs that i need to deck the roof.
The only time i have been around a mill was after the house burnt and i call a recomended sawyer out with his lt28 to cut red oak 1xs and pine 2xs for paneling and trust. My first contact with this forum was to check on him. I had never heard of stacking framing lumber on edge to dry, as it turns out he was steering me right. This forum has a lot of good information but can add to you too i saw a fellows beautiful end grain cutting boards on here and thought that would make nice flooring. I have learned other things here too how too spell lutefisk and build a solar kiln and my northern bretherns misconception of grits. For those who dont know one is worth the time and trouble to make right and the other is a regional dare that should be avoided and never eaten.
Mr Mom, I think a gas engine would be too heavy and awkward on this design and would add too the cost.
Sawguy21...I just thought if they put a motor on it the same size as the electric but gas.
Just a thought,just a thought. Never said that my ideas were good.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
well I better get my name in the hat for this draw!
Background... Well, I grew up on my grandfathers old farm, not an active farm at the time but my neighbours was, so I spent alot of time over there learning how to do stuff. Unfortunately I learned how to smoke, swear and drink beer too but you gotta take the bad with the good ;) .I am glad I did as now I seem to fall into the "Jack of all trades" category, and I owe alot of that from growing up on a farm. I quit smoking about 10 years later and cant afford beer anymore. The swearing now, well we will talk about that another time....
So with that being said I basically worked at labour jobs when I was younger, working on a Beansprout / Cattle farm for many years. We did alot of construction while I was there, building outbuildings and a barn, renovations to the house and just general farm maintenance. My boss at the time and I took a 2 week farm welding course and that started me on the road to metalworking.
After I left that job I went to work for a large company that made wood products. They are currently known as Marwood Ltd. It was a pressure treating facility that made outdoor wood products such as decking, handrails, ballusters, lattice, stair treads, risers, 4x4 and 6x6 posts and treated dimensional lumber...among many other products. The first job I worked at was making fence components, pickets and such. I built fence panels for a while until I got offered a job installing autoglass for ALOT more money. Well that stint didnt last long and I returned to Marwood. While I was gone they had built a plant for making ballusters for the most part, along with some handrail and some fence pickets. I started there operating a 6 head Diehl moulder that made ballusters...alot of ballusters. I cant remember the numbers but we put out thousands a shift. From there I moved into the grinding room and did moulder/plant maintenance. To this day, it has been about 8 years, I can remember every inch of that production line.
This job inspired me to work with milling lumber, in all aspects from milling logs to moulding lumber, to making wood products. I always loved working on the machinery and coming up with new ideas on the line to make it work better,safer, more efficient. At this point I had taken the urge to build my own portable bandsaw mill. Having lots of sources from work for parts it was working out good. But after a few years I left that job and carried on. The mill however was still in progress.
After alot of research online :P and of course, that cashflow problem I decided to make the mill into a chainsaw mill, purchased a brand new Husky 3120 and got things up and running. It worked pretty good, didnt get all the bugs out of it before I decided to sell it as my family and I were in the plans to move. :-[ I was moving to a duplex where I would have zero space for the mill, and away from anyone that I knew, to get logs from ect. I posted it for sale on the forum here and pretty much sold the mill and the chainsaw within weeks. I still had the urge for a mill but was not feasable at the time. So we moved for my wife's job, a nurse, so I followed and just started looking for work. I found a job at Craig Manufacturing, as maintenance / welder. I have worked there for 3 years now and man could I ever build a nice mill here!! I now own my own place where I could have a little mill but with 2 kids now and some different intrests taking up spare time, building a mill would take be about 28 years. If I was to win the lottery, after a new truck and fifthwheel camper, and a long trip, a mill would be one of my next purchases. I would get one because I would love to build a post and beam style home with lots of woodwork.
Anyways, enough rambling about me... ;)
The skillmill.. in my limited research on this nice little mill, I give it a thumbs up for sure. It is simple, portable, easy to use, and would be pretty quiet with the electric motor. I have always liked how these types of mills worked. The only thing I could see that would make it better would be a chair and beverage cooler attachment on it!
It is what it is, a simple, affordable, portable mill so you cant expect all the bells and whistles. I guess I wont be so long winded talking about the mill as I was about myself...
If I was to win the mill, which I have my doubts because I never win anything, :'( .... I would have lots of projects for it. We just recently bought our house and allready want to expand. Having the mill and now knowing some friends with woodlots, I could make an addition affordable. We both like wood so there would also be some renovations to the current house inside. I would likely also do some custom sawing for people, a good little sideline for some extra income. I also have some friends back home that would likely want to borrow it and that would be no problem as I borrowed their stuff lots...got to love the barter system!
So there, I have not ever in my life filled out such a long entry ballot for a draw! Good luck to eveyone else entering for this draw! If your like me you will need it!!!
Quote from: Mr Mom on April 28, 2007, 12:01:32 PM
Sawguy21...I just thought if they put a motor on it the same size as the electric but gas.
Just a thought,just a thought. Never said that my ideas were good.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Trouble is, a gas motor needs to be about three times the hp, that is you would need a 15 hp gas to replace a 5 hp electric, to produce the same torque. Their electric is also direct drive which would not be practical with a gas job, a clutch would be required
is it possible to enter on behalf of another?? If so I'd like to enter the fine woodworking program at Red Rocks Community College here in CO. I held a demo there over the weekend and was amazed by not only the turnout, but also by the passion displayed by both students and staff. Everyone was so jazzed in fact, that only about half of the logs I brought got sawed up, I spent too much time runnin my mouth and not enough runnin my mill. I really think this is a great idea, and salute Peterson for it, but I think the mill would do more good in a setting where a whole group of dedicated individuals can benifit, rather than just one or two.
Hey there urbanlumberinc,
We don't have a problem with you entering on behalf of the Red Rocks Community College so long as a representative from the College agrees with the Terms and Conditions of the competition.
So tell us a little more about the College and its Fine Woodworking Program, complete #'s 2&3 of the entry, ask a rep. of the College to contact me at lrobinson@petersonsawmills.com before the competition closes (May 16), and we will pass your story around with the others and it may make it to the hat at Sawlex. :)
Thanks.
Hey everyone, we're loving your stories, keep 'em coming!!
I started out as a Park Ranger (TREES) in Ohio, then to Sequoia National park (BIG TREES) then US fish & Wildlife Officer (TREES) then changed course and followed my Love (TREES) to a custom cabinet apprenticeship outside Wash DC. Eleven years ago moved here to Wisconsin (TREES). I stared Graber Woodworking LLC www.graberwoodworking.com (shameless advertising). I found myself aquiring logs and having them cut for my business, then building a DH kiln to dry the lumber. Now I have them cut (no mill, shameless pandering) twice a year or so and dry for use in my pieces bearing tribute to....(TREES). No other profession offers such complete satisfaction than being able to start the chaisaw and ultimately end up with oohhhs and aahhhs from the client's of the finished piece.
I have operated (limited) bandmills and a, dare I say it,,,,, Lucas mill, but after seeing the Peterson make short work of that Monster redwood saturday in Madison, I'm very impressed! after investigating the Skillmill I find it a great match for me and my business. Cutting standard boards and slabs (I use both) from 24-30" logs which I'm always on the lookout for, and my kiln only takes 12.5'....PERFECT! My only improvement to the Skillmill would be to strap it to the forks of a skidloader of your choice to make moving logs and lumber more efficient ;D I do, love the electric power!,low noise, & emissions.
The Skillmill would be used in my business to make the (TREE) journey complete! I liken this contest to "lottery fantasy" come on guys you know what I mean. You buy the ticket the day of the drawing and fantasize all day long about what you could do with all that loot. But now I have a full 16 days of fantasy left :D :D :D :D Thanks for the opportunity! Dean
The mini-mill I built for my 359 Husky probably disqualifies me but I am going to enter anyway because I like talking about myself ;D and I really like talking about anything to do with wood.
I got my first taste of sprucegum when I was 7 years old, we moved to a small mixed farm in the Rocky foothills and lived the good life.
That was 50 years ago. I have had 1/2 dozen careers since in driving, carpentry,equipment operating, welding. Through them all I have always turned to woodworking at home to relax and satisfy my creative urges. I have built all the furniture we could not afford to buy as well as priceless(useless ;) ) keepsakes for friends and family.
The Skillmill caught my eye as soon as it hit the market because it will do everything I need and its inexpensive, portable, and easy to maintain. In your video I noticed the sawdust was blowing back onto the log. I would like a 45 or 90 degree elbow to deflect it off to one side or the other. My mitersaw has a friction fit plastic elbow that I can point in any direction with a light twist.
In '05 I bought 160 acres of woodland, just for firewood and a recreational getaway I thought. Now I need a woodshed, I need a storage shed, I need a camp kitchen, I need a bunkhouse, I NEED A MILL!
Thanks for letting me play :D 8) :D
My hat says LOGHEAD so I had better throw it in and give it a try. ;D
My love of wood and working outdoors started when in highschool, shop class was the only place I felt really at home and in my element weather it was wood shop or hot metals before I could graduate I started working with a few friends
on a project to build and recondition an old belsaw mill, add a big ole desiel and a gang edger and we were taking diseased elm from the twin cities of MN. and turning out 10,000 bdft a day of 6x8 cants for a pallet factory.
There were aprox 100 truck loads a day that came to this site to be burned and we saved what we could!
Then I went into percision machining (cnc milling) for the next 11 yrs.
At the end of this time I built a log home and it was a very hard project for a 25 yr old and I said I would never do that again but after another 14 years of feeling locked in a block building with no windows I had to try something elce so I bought a peice of land on the Crow Wing chain of lakes and started building my company Crow Wing Tile (kitchen and bath remodeling) along the way I ran into my mentor and started another hand scribed jack pine cabin and found the work and the characters along the way very rewarding.
Note THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE NOT PLANNED!! 8) 8)
The Skillmill would be great for me it looks light and easy to use and electric too this would be an asset to the cabin and shop for all the custom window trim and gable end wavy boards I still need to create. not to mention the sign material for the chainsaw art (bears and benches) and yes there are trees on the property I just finished pressure washing all the railing material I cut last fall for the loft and stairs.
Hope to start looking for the decking for the upstairs loft next month it would be great to be able to mill it myself instead of paying that guy with the orange mill like I did for the inside black cherry loft floor cut from my back yard. :o
Will be setting in my old reconditioned rocking chair next to the red elm slab table with solid brass turned legs, oh and I will leave the diamond willow lamp on for ya all . ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
If I won This would be a hobby mill for me. Due to artheritis I can't acomplish much in a day. During my 68 yearsI have worked in the woods and construction local low paying jobs, I have always thought that logs were not bringing much for either the landowner or jhe jober. Seems that a mill to make value added would be the to go. After trying to cob up a couple of old circlemills. I gave up. Just not enough time to work a job to make a living and do all of the rest to. The last twenty years of my working life was spent at a factory. I have dreamed of building a band mill but the money is not there.
I have a few acres of woods that I could make a little lumber and fire wood from the slabs and be happy. The electric part would be nice as when my knees give out I could just hit the switch and be done and start up would not intail a gas can and the maintanance of a gas engine.
Junkyard
My dad's parents immigrated from Finland and settled in the old saw milling town of Pequaming. My Grandfather worked as a Mill Wright at the Ford saw mill there.
In my dad's senior year in school and for about a year and a half after graduation, up to the time he went into the Army air corps during WWII, my dad was a band setter and filer at the Pequaming mill. So something about mills must have rubbed off on me because I have always been interested in milling but have never had time to own and operate one of my own.
Before I had started my own business, which by the way gave me quite a bit of opportunity to repair and build larger sawmill equipment I ran a chip plant for a saw mill owner, and if somebody didn't show up for work, I would have to work the GREEN CHAIN for a few hours or a full day. I have always said that all kids should spend a summer on the green chain and we parents wouldn't have to tell them how easy they have it!
Having owned a machining and fab shop for 28 years, I like to think I know quality. I was impressed with the Peterson swing mill I saw at the expo in Sault Canada last year. The quality and fit of the components and welds was something I had mentioned to the other FF guys that I was there with.
I really like the fact that the Skill Mill is electric, not only for noise reasons, but for maintenance reasons.
I would LOVE to own the skill mill for theseother reasons too:
Thou I have worked around mills, loading and off loading, I have never ran a mill of any kind. I would like to learn how to get the most out of every log!
When I need some milling done, I have a guy about a ½ mile away with a wood miser. I usually take my backhoe with forks to pick up what was milled and by the time I'm half way home I have a 100bf or more on the ground and have the road blocked while I am picking it all back up.Of cource, nobody comes by until I almost finished picking up my mess! My wife always tells everybody that I play pick-up-sticks with lumber and not tooth picks.
Lastly, I have a lot of ash on my property, and with the encroachment of the Emerald Ash Borer I am going to be needing to cut and mill these trees or lose them.
They won't go to waste, as I like working with ASH in the wood shop.
Nailhead
Mr. Mom
The motor rotated from 0 to 90 degrees and every 5 degrees inbetween. I don't think the gas motor would run being tilted on it's side like that would it?
For nearly twenty years I've been working for the same company servicing copiers. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I'm pretty good at it. Unfortunately, because for the last dozen or so years my heart has been somewhere else. I first became interested in portable sawmills in the early 90's when I happened on one in southern Illinois at a gas station. "What the heck is that thing?!" Over the years I've requested info from nearly every manufacturer in the business. Some of whom are now out of business. Probably due in part to my wasting their advertising budget.
The most intriguing sawmill to me is the Peterson swinger. Ever since I saw the article in Sawmill & Woodlot Magazine where the WPF won first in the $10K and under division of the sawmill shootout. Even beat most of the hydraulic bandmills in the other classes! It's been a while since a Peterson has been under $10K...
Until now!!!
I won't go into a sad story (though there is one) as to why I've never been able to buy or build a mill, other than to say the needs of my family have priority. But I will tell you about my love for making sawdust.
It all started in 1965 with the first cry of a bouncing baby boy at St. Mary's Hospital. The doctor spanked my little behind, put drops in my eyes, and reached for a tongue depressor...that first taste of wood began a love affair that would last a lifetime...okay, maybe I should fast forward a little ...
In 2002 I came up with a plan. I bought a used 16" planer on eBay and drove behind the Cheddar Curtain into Wisconsin to get it. Then I bought three pallet loads of kiln dried appalachian hardwood cutoffs from a sawmill in southern Kentucky (again on eBay). The cutoffs ran from 18 to 48 inches long and 3 to 12 inches wide, unsurfaced, cut on a circular rig. These were trimmed from lumber for export (China maybe?). I rented a 24 foot straight truck to drive it back to Illinois. I came home with 400 to 500 bd ft each of 4/4 red oak, 4/4 white oak, 5/4 ash, and also some 4/4 hard maple cutoffs I bought while at the sawmill.
Once my garage was set up I got to work planing the maple cutoffs. I was into the second board when the end of the head (aluminum) twisted off. I spent more time than I wanted being a planer technician or waiting for parts as the goofy thing twisted the ends off two more heads before I figured out what the problem was.
Eventually I managed that winter to plane half of the wood, trim it clear on my tablesaw, and sell the boards in packs on eBay. To my amazement, the best money was for the boards with the most character. Including a bookmatched pair of red oak crotchwood, bark inclusions and all. Hmmmm... My eBay sales paid for the planer, the cutoffs, and the trip in the truck. The last of the wood I sold unplaned in 2006, again on eBay.
The most awesome part of the whole "wood thing" for me is the discovery. The quilt figure you find in the maple. The fleck of the quartersawn oak. The old barn board you stick in the planer that turns out to be American Chestnut...and not a wormhole in it! Resawing black walnut into veneer... really short veneer, since your neighbor converted his tree into firewood lengths before you could stop him.
Wood. I love the smell of it. I love the sight of it. I love the feel of it. When I walk through the woods with my family, I see logs and lumber where I used to see trees. I even love to blow sawdust out of my nose at the end of the day. It simply doesn't get better than that.
"What would I find if I opened the log myself?"
That is the haunting question of a long-suffering sawyer wannabe...
I asked my wife to chime in and here's what she had to say...
"When Joel told me about this opportunity, I knew that I just had to put my two cents in. Joel and I have been married for almost 12 years. This sawmill thing drives me nuts! (Along with a FEW other things). He has always had the wood bug. After 12 years, I still don't understand it and realize I have no control over it. So, I must accept it. So, I tell him after competing with the books and the forums and the tinkering all these years, "Honey, go ahead and buy a sawmill." And he says to me, "I need to do it debt-free." God's been working on that with us and now he decides to apply it!!!! I think that he's read everything there is to read on wood, and sawing, and making stuff, and whatever else goes through your wood heads. I'm ready for him just to do it. So, I'll be praying that this debt-free plan might involve a FREE sawmill and maybe at the next step, I'll gain a little better understanding of what you all think. And you all say that women are complicated! HUMPH!!!!"
She's been very, very patient. A sawmill widow to a guy who doesn't even own one.
I am now doing handyman work part-time. I think that custom wood offerings would be very useful as I build my business and my reputation with the midterm goal of becoming self-employed.
My longterm goal is to be Birky from Timbergreen. Forty or more acres of woods, installing homegrown, homesawn, homedried, homemoulded flooring in guess what? Homes. All the while improving my timberstand by taking the worst trees first. How cool is that?
By the way, I believe I may have been one of the first to see the U.S. Skillmill website. In fact I feel like I was an active participant in the Skillmill website rollout. (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=20145.0)
Again I apologize for any time pressure I put on the web team!
Peterson is awesome. The Skillmill is awesome. The only improvement I could suggest is to make it free. But you beat me to it, didn't you!
I still have the original videotape I requested from Peterson many years ago. It's the one where the original deep jungle mill was still chainsaw driven...before the ATS. Was I supposed to send that tape back? I hope I didn't damage the advertising budget...
Thanks Peterson and FF!
P.S. My wife says I'm very photogenic.
Wow, this is an absolutley wonderful opportunity. I have been looking at a mill for about 12 months but the realization that this was even possible here has led to its own set of problems. First, I live in a place where there is no timber culture. The nearest real stand of native woodland is 40 miles away, and about twice that to anyplace any real logging was ever done. I literally have never known anyone with a mill until recently. I farmed for 7 years after college and did a lot of sawing for firewood, and have always been truly annoyed that the majority of trees that are taken down in this part of the country are simply pushed into a pile and burned after a couple of years to clear farmland.
I made a friend in ND after I left the farm to work as a biologist from Iowa who had some experiance with real trees, and he taught me a lot about possibilities. We cut a lot of wod to feed my fireplace and he would talk about real oak or hickory instead of siberian elm and cottonwood. Last year I got a job to bring me back to SD, and built a home last summer. My goal now is to set myself up so that I can build my deck , fences, and a barn in the next year with trees that would have been simply discarded and burned by other. I am extremely intriqued by the skillmill, and was within 1 inch of ordering one, but stumbled upon a way to test drive a small band mill for a couple of weeks. Still trying to decide which way I should go. I have access to a lot of big trees, and it seems in some ways that bringing the mill to the tree would be a great deal. The electric also makes sense to me, and the swingmill would really cut the dimensional stuff I need. I started a thread here looking for input and still am stewing.
As is fairly common my wife thinks I am crazy, mainly because of the 6 inch scar that bisects my scalp frm a chainsaw accident 10 years ago. Lucky to be alive, but I just have never seemed to be able to keep the saw out of my hands. I have done all the finish work on my home, and wish like crazy that I could have cut my trim and assorteds.
If I were to recieve this mill it would be coming into a place where literally noone that I can find owns a mill within 60 miles, many huge cottonwoods exist (that is what I am going to use for a lot of my stuff) and the chainsaw is the height of wood handling. A lot of these trees are starting to see removal for conversion back to farmland, (they were planted for erosion control after the thirties) and this year for the first time I watched a feller come in and take truckloads of cottonwood out to be hauled 200 miles for milling into pallets. I think folks here are going to be very interested once I get a mill, and I am giessing this will turn into a bit of a side business as well.
No matter what, this is just plain the best deal I have seen in a long time. A heap of thanks to you boys from down under.
It sounds too easy huh? Well there is a little something you have to do to be in to win.
1. Tell us a little about yourself. What is your background? Do you have woodchips in your blood? Have you used a sawmill before - if so, what kind and in what application?
I am a Civil Engineer that is building my own house right now and I have always loved working with wood, although I never have done it professionally. I want a sawmill, but haven't been able to bring myself to buy one yet. I am looking for that perfect deal to come along...this one seems like a really good one!
2. Click here to take a look at the Skillmill website if you haven't already. This is the mill you may be winning. What features appeal to you the most? Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve the mill?
I like the one man capabilities as well as the capability to make interesting cuts. I would like to be able to cut larger beams perhaps on occassion.
3. Finally, tell us what you would use it for if you won? Do you have trees on your property? Do you make furniture etc?
I would use it to cut dimensional lumber from trees on our own property to and leave it set up in an open air shed for lumber just around the farm and house.
Ok I'll bite.
I've been a termite, ;D, I mean carpenter for the last 17 years. So I guess that would qualify me as having chips on my blood. Been a volunteer firefighter for 18 years now too. Never ran a real sawmill before, but I used to cut up small logs on a bandsaw. At least until the day I almost cut my thumb off and my other half put a stop to that. Docs sewwed it back on and it works fine now.
What's nice about the Skillmill is it is small, quiet (no annoyed neighbors, well at least not about the sawmill noise. The log pile might be a different story.), its easily transportable, and I might be able to get the wife run it while I kick back in the lawn chair and have a few cold ones. :D Don't think i could offer any improvements since I never ran one.
Most likely I would use it to make things for the wife. Maybe I could build her the dining room table she always wanted. Maybe build some furniture. I would definintely use it to "dispose" of the trees I have to cut off the roadways as a firefighter at 3 a.m. Just a couple of weeks ago we had to cut up a beautiful cherry that was blown down. It was about 26" in dia. and had about 20' without a branch. It's now sitting in my backyard drying for winter to heat my house. It was almost enough to make me cry. And if all else fails I'm sure I could "dispose" of those pesky yard trees that eveyone wants to get rid of.
Hi everyone,
great to hear from you all. There are so many cool and very different stories flowing in. I'm pleased everyone is keen on sharing a little about yourselves and your lives in and around wood.
I'm sitting in my office at the factory. It's relatively warm outside today (and it's coming up to wintertime!) so the boys are out there playing with (testing) mills and the chainsaws are roaring! Sounds great out there. Can't wait 'till August when I do a couple of shows in NY State, it's great to get out and talk to folks and cut some wood.
Keep your entries coming in, there's only 9 days of the competition left!
Good luck ;D
WELL, WELL, WELL. There is a God!!! Just found out about this forum and registered to help find some answers to some questions and possible leads for some suppliers. Low and behold you are not only a source of information but the minute I sign on you guys dangle a free mill in front of my nose!!! Anyway this sounds fun so let me tell you my story.
Once upon a time,..... In a land far, far away....... better known as Gods country (The U.P.)....... Where you can hunt and fish while burl shopping, "I had a dream". Build furniture and they will come!!!! So I set my mind to that goal 17 years ago, although it has always been my life's dream.
My great grandfather, and grandfather were carpenters, and I remember the days when my grandfather would throw me a hammer and nail and tell me to pound it through a 2 x 4 at the age of 4. Believe it or not I didn't even smash a finger. But just one year later I gracefully sliced my thumb off for the first time on a table saw, with NO supervision from any adults. Well at least I had the sense to show my mother my masterpiece, by squirting blood down the back of her dress as she stood at the sink washing the dishes. While in complete panic, both of my parents managed to grab my thumb on the way out the back door as we broke the land speed record to the hospital. Good news, I still have it to go along with the other 3 fingers on my hand but that's another story!!!
My passion with wood has carried me through the past 48 years to where I am at today. I have an education in furniture design from Central Michigan University where I also played football, Go Chippewas!!! I own a Mom and Pop Cabinet/furniture shop and love my life!!! When I started doing this as a business I scrimped and scrounged for anything I could get my hands on to build furniture with. This included green wood, which makes the most beautiful furniture you have ever seen!! The only problem is it lasts about 30/60 days before all hell breaks loose, thus starting the life of the ever needed "repetitive experience building" technique. It does make you more skilled, I guarantee it!!!!
Well without trying to give you my life history in this entry as there will be plenty of time for that, let me say that I do not own a mill and would really like to win this one as it would allow me to cut down on my expenses, and make use of a stack of logs that I have been sitting on for the past several years. In the past I have paid others to saw up my logs for me. These ones are well spalted by now and would look great made into some fine furniture for my home. And, if I win, I will donate a beautiful spalted piece of fine furniture to help continue the great forestry forum with another possible give away or fund raiser.
I have been commissioned by many customers to build one of a kind pieces. I have also designed a line of bent lamination Birdseye maple bedroom furniture that has been featured in the Construction Association of Michigan (CAM) Magazine and homes all over the US and even as far as Ireland and Germany. I would love to build a one of a kind for you guys to continue this type of giveaway or to assist in fund raising for a party as you guys seem to enjoy this type of relaxation according to what I have read in the forum. Thanks for this opportunity and good luck to everyone who enters.
egreet
Howdy!
HSV-
This is an awesome opportunity and I'd like to thank you for making it possible. I'm sure someone will be very happy.
I'm one of those lurkers you mentioned and I would like to enter but before I do, does a CSM count as a sawmill in this contest?
Thanks
whats a csm?
Opps, forgot. Howdy! :D
Custom sawing machine. ;)
My Turn,
We bought property for a Sugar Bush 25 years ago. We cleared the land for the Sugar Shack and wondered what we were going to do with the EWP we had cut down, simple, lets get someone to mill it for us. Well it so happened that everyone we called was to busy to come and get our logs so we loaded them on a boat trailer and hauled them to the mill. That was the start of sawdust in my blood. the mill was a family run mill so we would get to hang out a little to see our logs turn into lumber. 5 years later the hydro came thru and clear cut the right of way on our property leaving us with another load of logs to deal with. this time we found a old gentlemen with a portable mill, not a band mill, diesel, belt driven powered from the back of his truck, with the mill on a portable trailer. Quite the operation. We milled over 5000 bdf that day. The blood is getting thicker now. Well 5 years ago I bought the logs for my log cabin and started building. One dream is almost complete the buiding of the log cabin.
The next dream is to have a sawmill. I am close, I have spent the last 2 years researching, reading, searching the want adds, then along comes the Skillmill. I have visited this web site dozens of time looking for more info, I even find the Canadian distributer. I have to pass his shop on my way for a family vacation, perfect, I arrange to stop in and see this mill in operation. The day we are to leave on vacation I break my heal, on the couch for 6 weeks. no mill this year. I even visit the farm show on crutches to see the Skillmill, but no demo was set up. Last week I get an e-mail from Peterson, that the Canadian Distributor will be in Kenora Ontario with a demo setup so I can see it run. Would have been nice but it is a 24hr drive to Kenora from here.
I believe it is the closest to what I need. Portable, one man operation, if needed, no need to try and move the logs by myself to the mill. I hope to see it in operation in June at the Bancroft show.
With the Skillmill I can make my trim for the log cabin. The next project is a cabin\shop at my cottage out of 6x8s, cut from the sugar bush and the blowdowns from last years tornado. The T&G can be cut right on the Skillmill with new siding cut at the same time for my cottage.
Good luck to all in the this contest.
A salute to the folks at Peterson and FF, Great stories also (I can't enter, I have a mill)
Russ
Hi all,
aggiewoodbutchr: sorry it's taken me so long to reply.
If CSM does in fact stand for Custom Sawing Machine, I'm guessing that means that it was made to saw logs? If that's the case, then I'm thinking it's pretty much a sawmill so I'm afraid that no, you can't enter. But, it's great to see you come out of the woodwork ;)
Well, we're down to 1 week to go. So for everyone who was thinking of entering, go ahead and do it. Everyone here is thoroughly enjoying your posts so far, and we can't wait to take a quiet hour or so next Wednesday and read over them all.
Thanks everyone :)
CSM- Chain Saw Mill
CSM - Can't Saw Much
CSM - Coulda Sold Mine
CSM - Can't Stop Mumbling ;D ;D
Wow, this is a really nice thing you've got going!
I'm relatively new to the forum, but had the chance to meet JeffB and DanG along side Woodbowl and others a little while back ;D
Well, I'm a full time bladesmith working in the old norse traditions, and try to do as much as I can from scratch... Making knives/swords/tools with as many traditional methods as I can, making steel from dirt, to now making a shop in the traditional Norwegian grindverksbygg construction, using mostly tools that I've made myself, from cant hooks to chisels to handsaws and gantry cranes ;D Haven't used a bonafide mill before, but I did get to see DanG use his, which was awe inspiring in comparison to the jig I made for my little MS290 ;) I'm really just getting into woodworking, but like all other things, I'm throwing myself into it with both feet!
I'm diggin' that skillmill, I like that it's so versitile, especially that it will do shiplaps, as I'm hoping to build a viking style ship based on one of the boats from the gotsgad find, and as much siding as I can. The one man operation is fantastic, the fact that it's electric is good in my book, I would imagine lots less noise, and the fact that one can sharpen the blade yourself is to me a HUGE advantage. Add all that to the fact that I wouldn't have to beat myself up with that little chainsaw and you've got one heck of a package 8)
Good golly, I don't know if I can think of all the stuff I'd use that thing for. Like I said, building my new shop, I'm getting into traditional joinery and furniture making, the wife and I plan on building a house here on the property we bought last year(a year ago on the 16th), I've been into boat building, and the viking ship is next on the list after the skin on frame kayaks I've already got started(I think It would be neat to make some of those with self milled lumber, too). I think one of the coolest things I would do with it is to make lot's of old timey machines, like the capstan, and a tilt hammer, and any sort of machinery that you can think of that can be made from wood. I really like using ancient technology, keeping that part of our past alive. One of the most appealing things to me is the reuse old, well loved trees, and the fact that they will still be useful, instead of simply being burnt in a pile or worse, being sent to the landfill.
Thanks for the outstanding opportunity!
Jesse Frank
Firstly we would like to let you know we are writing on behalf of our Dad, who wistfully mentioned to us that there was an awesome competition being held for a sawmill, knowing our Dad and believing he deserves a prize (for being the best Dad amongst other things) we've opted to enter for him. We must apologise for the delay in getting this in, if Dad was aware of it, we would have had to have it in by 6.15am on the day of opening!! :)
Dad was born in Middleborough, UK where the only tree you'd find was when someone was throwing their shoe rack at you or something you hung your cups on, he left at 16 to join the merchant navy and see the world, and through various adventures he met our mother and eventually settled in Beautiful New Zealand, a land full of native and introduced forestry with his young family. sail_smiley
He has since retired to sunny Northland on 50 acres of tea tree, macrocarpa, torara, cabbage, wattle and the dreaded GORSE tree filled land, with paddocks full of this insidious weed (gorse) he has been hard at work clearing his land manually and has developed tennis elbow from the over use of his machete, until he was blessed with a "STIHL brush cutter" and a very small but eager beaver chainsaw, both of which he has put to great use almost daily, he has recently formed a friendship with another tree cutting hobbyist who to Dad's long lustful interest has a PETERSON sawmill with slabber, from the first time our Dad set his eyes on this amazing machine in action it stopped him in his tracks ............. literally he was driving down a country road one day and spotted three men working with their "Peterson" he just had to stop there and then and made his way over to the milling action and was there for at least 2 hours, probing for the answers to all his questions, so you could just imagine his joy when he discovered his new found friend obtained one of these mill, They have a combined age of 128 and the mill takes a lot of time for these geriatrics to set up, after they have finally managed to get it ready the day is over, and they have to hope to start milling the following day. As you can envision it is a full commitment by both men to get out and start this process.
There are lots of large logs scattered all over Dad's land, but these are hard to get to with his mate's mill, Dad reckons this skill mill would be ideal for these places. fly_smiley
We recently drove 3 hours one-way to another township to watch a mill demonstration and Dad drooled all over this piece of, in Dad words "Bloody Great Machine", he now spends many hours a night on the Forestry Forum website picking up tips and advice on how the maintain the equipment he currently owns.
Our Dad is one of the most deserving and workaholic people we know, I can promise you this mill will live a hardworking and much loved life, with our very own Foreman of the North.
Please make an old mans dreams come true! smiley_old_guy
P.S I'm getting married soon, and I've got a perfect spot for a macrocarpa table!!
About me: I've been into trees as a hobby and a profession for the last 45+ years, and never owned a sawmill (but have operated and tailed on everything from large circle mills to small chain-saw mills). I love the smell of fresh-sawn wood from logs. I even had the golden opportunity to help with the big redwood log sawing extravaganza in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. I have about 20 acres of mature hardwoods that include walnut, white oak, white ash, basswood, soft maple, and have planted about 6,000 trees over the past 40 years of ownership. It's getting about time to turn some of these trees into lumber, instead of only firewood. This firewood pile includes a few good size (not the highest quality) white oak that could make some fine oak lumber, or fence posts, or dimension. That log end is 20" diam.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Firewood_ff.JPG)
About the Skillmill website: I've watched the video several times and the portability and set-up time are very intriguing, and fit some interests I have in milling some of my own timber. The more I think on it, the more I believe I would want to saw out lumber larger than 4 inches, say at least 6", so that would be a suggested improvement for me (or I just need to get the larger Peterson mill ;D). I do like the electric motor, as I would then have the perfect reason to finally buy the generator set for other uses, and for back-up to house electrical power.
About winning? I would buy the gen set right off, go logging and bring in some higher quality logs from my timber stand (improvement practices, for sure), and start sawing boards and dimension. Probably cut some of my red and white pine planted in 1965, and start a new shed to house the new toys and a solar drying kiln right away. Time would tell if I then would want to cut wider stock, and decided to upgrade to a larger swing mill, like the ATS.
I wish good luck to all who have submitted their stories and wish the winner the most fun of all.
Hi everyone!
Well, a new week has already started here in New Zealand. It's supposed to be Autumn (Fall), but the weather is warm and sunny, we're hoping it continues this way.
There are only three days remaining in the competition, so those who haven't already, get your stories coming in! We have already started the judging process for those who have entered, I'll tell you how it's happening:
Each staff member gets two randomly selected stories. That person judges their two stories only, rates them from 1-10 based not on spelling and grammar, but on personality and emotion.
We will then find the 10 highest ranked stories and will send those through to Chris(Husband) and Kerris(Wife) who along with Tammy and Jeff B. will draw the winner at the Forestry Forum site this coming Friday May 18 at Noon. Make sure you're there for the draw :) I can't be :(
I'll tell you now, the guys are pretty impressed, one of our Fitters in the factory has already rated one entry a 10 8) Before you ask, no way, I'm not saying who!
Let's close the competition at 6pm EST Wednesday. I will post the 10 finalists shortly thereafter.
Get your entries in quick. It's getting very exciting!!! :o ;D
What a cool contest. Here is my entry
I didn't come from a milling or timber family. I was brought into this world by a hard work man that spent his life digging coal then working in the steel mill . We were raised in a pretty rural area but a postage stamp was our piece of property, out of all the farms and woods around us. What a great place to grow up creeks to jump in ,fields to run in and woods to get lost in. My playground was the neighbors land we didn't have to buy it or build it. I was happy being in the outdoors. High school years I spent longing for what we didn't do. I wanted to raise cattle, horses and farm. Since we didn't have the land I found ways to make this happen for me. I spent every free moment of time I could working with people that had animals and picked their brains and got my hands dirty. I showed cows at the county fairs ,groomed draft horses that pulled the hitches. Milked cows and plowed and planted.
High school was over and I needed to find a college so I went to forestry school. It was their that I caught the sawdust bug. First I spent a year in a Timber harvesting class, then on to my true forestry classes. Then into Tree care classes. I spent 3 years at a 2 year school looking to make myself a well rounded person in the world of trees. I became pretty skilled at tree climbing and timber cutting and that's where my focus stayed.
Fast forward a few years I landed a job at the same college I went to school at. I now spend my days working with the same type of kid I was. I teach Timber harvesting/tree care. Inside of that we have a small mill a Lt15 that the students get to use and learn to read the outside of a log. We took them full circle a few years ago from standing trees to building a new office.
This is were I caught the sawmill bug. I love nothing more to roll a log onto the mill . Then to see all the neat and beautiful grain patterns that come out.
A few years ago I found the chainsaw carving world . I dove head long into that It has now became my second job.
Now that I'm married and looking to settle into a place of my own. My wife and I raise a few horses and dogs. So now I need a mill more than ever. The project list is building and the money like most is always short.
But the projects could be accomplished with a mill. A House , horse barn and sheds, fence and rustic furniture.
We don't own wooded property. But I have an endless supply , of what we call urban logs. Logs from tree removals and lot clearance. Yes Yes they have some problems some rot , hardware and such. But I hate to see these logs go to waste. They will make great lumber on the skillmill. Siding ,trim and an construction lumber. Plus I can add my slabbing setup and make the slabs I need for the carvings.
Thanks
Dale Hatfield
Well here goes nothing, or my entry into the contest.
1. Tell us a little about yourself. What is your background? Do you have woodchips in your blood? Have you used a sawmill before - if so, what kind and in what application?
Well, I started out cutting 50+ cords of firewood a year during high school to pay for my truck, and I thought that all the large logs that I was turning into firewood would be better used if I turned them into lumber. I was also using the money from the firewood sales to buy lumber for woodworking projects. I bought a Logosol Timber Jig to try out, and realized that I was not utilizing my time efficiently- if I figured in my hourly rate, I was paying 2-3 times the cost compared to buying the same board from the store. When I was deployed to Iraq, I saved up and was going to purchase a mill when I got home, but the wife changed my mind and we used that money as a down payment on a house, and I didn't want to get a loan for a hobby item. I went to visit Larry Kopas and ran his bandmill a little bit, and that made me want a mill even more- still looking at the money situation. I also went and visited Paul W. (woodsteach) who has a Brand X mill, and realized that for most of what I wanted to cut, a swing mill would be ideal.
2. Click here to take a look at the Skillmill website if you haven't already. This is the mill you may be winning. What features appeal to you the most? Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve the mill?
I have been drooling over this mill since it was introduced. I like the fact that it is an electric mill, as I have a generator that can power it, and in town the neighbors wouldn't complain as much about the noise. I also like the infinite angle adjustment for making tapered posts for remodeling work. A suggestion for improving the mill would be to have extensions available to cut a 16' board with the mill.
3. Finally, tell us what you would use it for if you won? Do you have trees on your property? Do you make furniture etc?
If I won this mill, I would use it to build my wife's horse barn, her horse fence, and my daughter's playhouse. I also would use it to redo our hay trailers with better decking than 2x treated SYP. I think that 8/4" Hedge would be a lot longer lasting deck. Although I don't have any trees that could be turned into lumber on my small yard, my family has over 50 acres of timber ground, and the farmers in my area are always wanting to gain more ground. I have rescued many LARGE cottonwood logs from a dozer pile in the past few years- anywhere from 30" dia to 60" dia logs. I would love to be able to turn those logs into lumber for myself, instead of the local pallet mill picking them up and turning them into pallets. In my full time job, I build everything from small retirement and recognition plaques to shipping crates to custom cabinets. I would love to turn some of the trees that are pushed into burn piles into lumber that is then turned into long lasting furniture or awards.
Thanks,
Charles Wist
Well to tell about myself is something I am not the best at but the opportunity is one I can't turn down. I am currently waiting for the State of Michigan to let me konw that they need a new attorney to practice law. I went to law school and have taken the bar and waiting for the results of that. To get to the bar was the 3 years of law school which is where I was introduced to the idea and desire to own and operate a sawmill. I don't remember exactly how it came to pass my finding the forestry forum but once found I visited often as a lurker and then joined. After joining and reading ....and reading ...and reading i pretty much fell in love with the Peterson style of sawmill. The reading also included watching the videos on their website and sending away for the demo video.
Apart from lawschool and reading the forum I was in the first few years of my marriage and my wife who thinks this is a slightly odd obsession has been very supportive. I have one helper already who is two and a half who wants to help carry every heavy thing Daddy carries. He hasn't quite figured out that when you help to carry you are supposed to make it easier by lifting not heavier by pulling down but the smile on his face makes it difficult to tell him he is doing it wrong. My next helper on all projects is on the way and should be here some time in the first of august. My wife is definitely hoping sooner but whenever God says its time is fine with us.
My wife apart from thinking this an odd obsession made it possible for me to see my first sawmill in operation. Friends of her parents run a circle saw over by Lake Michigan and the owner had a bandsawmill that he cut a couple logs on to show me what it was like. after being at his operation and feeling the fresh cut lumber it is hard to not desire to do it yourself. could say the addiction fully took hold that day from what was just a recreational approach of my reading on the forum.
The last thing to maybe talk about is my name on this forum. at the time I registered both careers were very appealing and I come to realize that you can do both just one is full time and the other is part time. waiting on the state and waiting on the drawing puts both of the careers up in the air but the drawing comes before the state so maybe I will have to change my name to sawyer_lawyer
I will be moving back to a city environment after a year in the country because of a job opportunity with a friend of mine. The desire to own a sawmill has not diminished but the ease of owning it is greatly increased with the ability to tear it down to the components like The Skill Mill
the attachment or option I like the best about the saw is the angles of adjustment that are available. I have some friends who could use rough cut siding for some of the homes they are building.
The one idea and I couldn't tell from the vidoe or the photos would be a cord holder so that it would be above the track and not pulling on its connection at the motor. I feel silly writing this because I am sure it has been thought of but I didn't notice it and it would be safer to not pull on the electrical connections.
my use for the mill would be as I had said helping friends who would need rough cut siding first of all. After that i will probably become a good friend of the city where I am going and try to get as many logs from them as possible. I would cut wood for my own use or for people I know who might use the wood themselves. nothing set in stone for sure but I have made a couple of pieces of furniture for my wife and I and I can see new projects in the future if I make my own boards.
Since I will be moving shortly and my wife is pregnant I won't be allowed to go anywhere for the drawing. if you have to be present to win that is not something I can do.
I think this is a great contest and wish all the applicants the best
Good luck all
Ok here is my enter. When i saw a little kid I helped my Grandpa to brings cows to pasture. My grandparents keep the cows until I was 5, they couldn't keep them anymore nor could my parents at that time. My love for country life grew since then, I also studied in an agricultural school to follow my passion and i applied for a job in this field since I finished the studies but without success. I worked as mason, in a agricultural office and my current job as maintenance man, it is difficult to find a job that will last more than 6 months, my current job will end by mid September, so it is nearly impossible to find a financing an equipment like a sawmill. As I used to do during summer holiday from school, when I have not a job I pass my day working in day parents ex farm, where we do our garden and raise some chicken and rabbits, we cut our firewood as well. I have ever enjoied working with wood,especially the smell of fresh sawn wood, so I early started to pestering on my dad to let me use the chainsaw when I was 13 (only under his control and only to bucking small log), so there I got sawdust in my blood.I always thought ththat there will be better things to do with wood other than firewood. I didn't konw that could exist small portable mill until I came across the Forestry Forum. I thought that sawmill could be only big circle or big band mill. Since then I hoped to own a small mill to be self employed and an income all year long and possible all life long. In my mind I have a lot of project where a sawmill will be a useful tool: a new chicken barn, new fences for my gardenan outdoor gazebo a cover for my small tractor and I lerned something custom cutting and value added products.
I think that I couldn't improve the Skillmill anymore, I am sure that is a good product reading the pages on the FF dedicated to Peterson sawmills.
The electric 220 V engine is a big plus to me, because I don't have 380 V nor a generatorn and it doesn't deserve the maintenance os a gas or diesel engine.
Thanks
Davide
The suspense is killing me! smiley_crying
GO TO THERE GALLERY AND CLICK ON THE HEAD UNIT AND LOOK AT THE SCENERY AROUND WHERE HE IS SETTING UP!!!!!!!MAN WHAT A PLACE TO SET UP FOR MILLING
Hi everyone! :)
Well, I'm sorry. The competition has closed. The entries are in and have been judged. By tomorrow morning (NZ time) we will have 10 top scoring finalists... should I post their names before we draw the final winner out of the cap?
Watch this space...
Just because this competition is over doesn't mean the stories need to end. I know everyone who has seen this thread has really enjoyed it, so keep it up.
For those at Sawlex, remember to get to the Forestry Forum booth at 12 noon, 18 May for the drawing of the winner. Whether you are at Sawlex or not, if your story is drawn, you are the winner! The Skillmill up for grabs is brand new, so it will be shipped to the winner, we will sort it all out from our end. Don't worry, we have plenty of stock on the ground in the USA, so the wait will be minimal.
;D
timcosby: Yes, the scenery is fantastic. The location is about 15 mins drive from our factory in Rotorua (http://www.rotoruanz.com/home.asp), New Zealand. The lake in the background is Lake Rotorua (http://www.rotoruanz.com/activities/lakes/lake_rotorua.htm), it has an island in the middle, Mokoia Island. Far in the distance, you may be able to see Mount Tarawera (http://www.anheizen.com/), a dormant volcano which spat it's last lava in 1886 and buried townships in the area. Rotorua is surrounded by trees, including Kaingaroa Forest (http://www.metla.fi/archive/forest/1995/10/msg00240.html) a privately owned 188000ha forest. If you're nice to me, I might be able to work out a deal on accommodation if you come here on vacation ;D
I'd sure like to see the finalists names!
Hang on! It's only 3 o'clock in the morning in New Zealand. 8)
I'm awake! ;D
I have finalists!!! Over 30 entries were judged by 15 individual staff members from fitters, to welders, to managers to sales guys. Thanks to all the staff here who participated in judging the entries :)
Here we go:
Finalists: (in no particular order)
Mr Mom
KGNC
joelmar10
SPIKER
limbrat
egreet
junkyard
jessefrank
Dale Hatfield
Hog Farmer[/b]
Congratulations everyone for making it to the top 10! It could be your name being drawn out of the hat at Sawlex!!! 8)
To all those who didn't get into the 10, thanks again for playing a part in this competition, it was heaps of fun, and top 10 or not, everyone's stories were awesome to read.
Next post: the winner!
WHOOO HOOO 8) I got picked, 8) (only other time I got picked for anything was at dodge ball, and I was usually LAST one picked for that ! hahaha. funny thing was I ended up winning dodgeball all the time & now I get to have that same warm fuzzy feeling all over :) )
BAMB! smiley_headscratch ok who through the dodgeball when I wasn't looking :D :o
anyhow enough playing around. Win or not I just want to say that I liked/enjoyed reading ALL of the posts above. No matter who was/is picked and or who will win it sure is a great idea for this contest and perhaps it could be a yearly thing??? Thanks to those nice people down under for making it happen and all the FF members who helped bring the idea/ideas of the giveaway to us here, as well as the help here from the FF members staff and friends! smiley_clapping
Mark M
(AKA SPIKER)
Big Congrats to all you who made that final 10. 8) 8) 8)
Please be sure to thank everyone for letting us play along. Sure was a nice dream while it lasted. :)
I'm very excited to see who our winner will be! Gonna be 10 guys out there that are gonna have trouble falling asleep tonight....just like Christmas Eve! :D
I would like to thank all that entered and all the ones that got picked to be finalist.
I would to thank Peterson for the Donation of the mill.
I would like to say that i am very shocked that i got picked and wish everyone good luck on the 18th.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Congratulations to all the finalists! 8) So you can all sleep well tonight, just know that I will be at the drawing to accept the prize on your behalf. :D
Sleep, you think there's gonna be sleep?? :D
Good luck to the other nine that got picked for the drawing. Thank you to Petersons for having this contest. I think that whoever wins should continue this thread, letting us all know and see how well the skillmill works. Also I think photos should also be supplied to Peterson's in case they can use them in their advertising if they desire. When we have a sponsor of the Forestry Forum go the extra mile like this we should let them know that it is appreciated.
I am hopeful that my name will be drawn as I sure have some uses for that mill.
I have enjoyed entering this contest, but have never won anything , maybe my luck is about to change.
Again good luck to all.
Good luck everybody!! Tammy and I are back to our room already as we are bushed from driving and set up, but we'll be rested for the morning and really ready by noon to help draw the winner.
Hogfarmer....If you win it i will have a good reason to take a drive :) :) :).
Not to be a party pooper but is there any fees or any other charges that we need to pay?? Would like to know beacuse money is kinda tight untill next week.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Well since Jeff and Tammy are involved in the drawing......... anyone wanna take bets as to wether or not my name is the one drawn from the hat ??? :D :D :D
Good luck everybody! ('cept for you Furb... :D )
BTW, if my name isn't drawn can we go 2nd name drawn, or 3rd name drawn, or whatever it takes to get it right? ;D ::)
8) 8) 8)
YEAH!
And my English teacher told me my writing would never amount to anything!
Thanks for the opportunity to be in the drawing.
If I win I will share my good fortune and will let any of the other finalizes come by and help me saw some lumber on my new Skilmill.
Wish I could be at the drawing, but I can't get there till Saturday.
Good luck to the other nine.
:)
Hey all!
I know I said that the next post would be announcing the winner, but I wanted to respond to you Mr Mom and any other finalists who may have the same question.
There are no fees to pay.
The mill will be delivered to the winner (we will finalise all their details when the time comes) at no charge.
I'm so pleased everyone is happy, even those who had entered but missed out, very gracious. Thanks.
;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/skillmill_drawing_1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/skillmill_drawing_2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/skillmill_drawing_3.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/skillmill_drawing_4.jpg)
This post has taken a couple hours to get up frpom here, I'll let the pictures do the talkin. Congrats Dale!
I saw the picture in the gallery wholla go. I was gonna anounce it but i figured you would hunt me down and beat me with a knotted plowline or sumptin. ;D
Congratulations Dale. I'm happy for ya! 8) 8) 8)
Congratulations to ya Dale.
Someday gonna meet ya in person, and look forward to what you do with that mill.
A happy Day fer sure, and thanks to Peterson for the fun time we've had with this.
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Quote from: Dale Hatfield on May 14, 2007, 10:13:30 AM
But the projects could be accomplished with a mill. A House , horse barn and sheds, fence and rustic furniture.
Get to work! 8) 8) Congratulations Dale!
Congratulations! 8)
I think your first board should be 5 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 1 inch thick(is that right size?) for the Fame wall at Forestry Forum Headquarters. 8) 8)
YAY!
Congratulations Dale!! :) 8)
I will IM you today and get some details off you. Our staff will be back in the office in a couple of days and we will take care of the finer details then.
Thank you everyone. Thanks Jeff... geez your photogenic! ;D
Good for you Dale!!! 8) 8) 8)
SWEET ! 8)
Now that I'm bak to where the connection is better I wanted to say again. CONGRATS DALE! And a big big thanks to all that entered and a very special thanks to Peterson Sawmills and all of your crew for giving such a great opportunity to my fellow Forestry Forum members. :)
Wow
This is awesome. I have bought tickets for this that and everything, and have won nothing but a few dollars on a scratch lottery ticket .
You know that we are different breed of people ,when we enter a contest to win something that involves work. Isn't it great .
Thanks to the Forestry Forum and all the people that make it happen. Thanks to Peterson for sponsoring the contest with the SKILL MILL . I cant wait to make sawdust.
Many Thanks to Peterson and The Forestry Forum.
Dale Hatfield
Congratulations Dale! 8) 8) 8)
You can change your avatar now. The old one is lookin' really tired. ;D :D
Congratulations Dale.
Go have fun with your new mill.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Quote from: Sprucegum on May 18, 2007, 04:51:12 PM
I think your first board should be 5 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 1 inch thick(is that right size?) for the Fame wall at Forestry Forum Headquarters. 8) 8)
Nope, those measurements won't work......... trust me, I KNOW! ::) :o
Congrats Dale, be looking for the pics and stories about the new mill. 8) 8) 8)
Dale, want a picture of your mill all crated up and ready to ship?? It's here....
Captain
Congradulations Dale on your new mill. Enjoy it and let us know how it performs.
Quote from: Captain on May 19, 2007, 12:07:57 AM
Dale, want a picture of your mill all crated up and ready to ship?? It's here....
Captain
Actually that would be great.
I think I need to have it shipped to the dock at work. That way it can be off loaded the truck with fork lift.
Dale
Congrats on your sawmill.What a prize to win.
Oh!! Sorry Dale, Read your entry and you didnt answer the second question... Man, that sucks. :D :D :D
You'll have to make it up after you get to run it for a while. ;D
Congradulations on the win!
Congrats Dale! ;D
Way to go Dale. I saw a skilmill at the show today. I'm sure you will be pleased.
Congratulation Dale for your new sawmill 8) 8) 8)
Congratulations Dale,
I've watched the mill in operation and must say it's like surgically dissecting a log. It will do most everything a big mill will do and more. You'll be impressed. Equally impressive is the generosity of Kerris, Chris and Layla of Peterson and Jeff and crew of "THE" Forum. You'll have the mill figured out in no time and be sawing like a pro. Good for you, keep teaching the kids (Hocking?) John Beathard
Jbeat
Yes its Hocking College. Here in a few weeks will finish my 14 year with them. Yes I been looking at the cutting tips page. as to figger how the log is sawn. Its looks like ill be able to process a ton of great quarter sawn lumber pretty easy.
8) Congrats Dale. Should compliment yer woodworking skills, immensely.
8) 8)
Dale:
congrats on the winning of the mill! Glad someone CLOSE ;) won it ;) :D Now once ya figure it out how about rentals? :D maybe one day I can make it over & see it in operation??? Not sure whereabouts ya are but Ohio is pretty big (when gas is $3.30/gallon now)
Have to start posting some pictures ASAP
MarkM
Mansfield/Jeromesville Oh.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/Dale%20Hatfield%20Wins%21_0001.jpg)
Video clip of Kerris's reading of the winning entry. :) ( 8 megabytes) (https://forestryforum.com/media/skillmill_winner.wmv)
Congratulations Dale. enjoy your new tool and do not forget the pictures.
Steve
Congratulations on your new mill, Dale. Now that we have a member with a skill mill, we're holding you to a lot of pictures and explanations on the creation of "creations". :D
It just gets better, Dale. Your SkillMill left here yesterday with UPS Freight on its way to Hocking College. PM me with an email and we can set you up with tracking information.
Captain
Well I Have been tracking the mill as it travels. It's in Columbus Ohio resting, to make the last leg of it's trip.It will be here Tomorrow. Ill let yall know when it's off loaded.
Thanks
Dale
I checked tracking to see what time to expect the mill . It might not be so rested when it gets here. Seams it was a short night. It left columbus at 3 am off to Parkersburg Wva. You ever wonder why shipping cost so much. well sometimes things dont follow a straitght line. It passed by here at 4am only to be unloaded and sent back. So in order for it to get here it has been loaded and unloaded 7 times. Some thing just make you wonder? The shipping comapny called this morning on my way to the office. Told me that they were closed on Monday that it would be here on Tues. I asked since you allready have it why wont it be here today. They didnt know that it was their yet.LOL. so its supposed to be here this afternoon.
Dale
Update
Mill was loaded into my truck at 2pm. into the garage at 6pm. It will be a few days till i get to play. Have carving work all weekend. The mill was packed very well and didnt have a scratch on it. The rails were packed in peterson sawn lumber. As i belive the shipping pallet was as well. Now to sort it all out and get it put together.
Thank You
Dale Hatfield
Dale sound like the shipping company is already breaking it in for ya :D
Mark M
SOME of the shipping pallet may have been from NZ, we've got a lot of old crates around here....but we built the crate just before it was shipped...
Captain
Hey Captain, you can start crating up mine. I'll be ready to take delivery in about 10 days. 8)
Dale and I will need to start a new thread on "How to break in a new Skillmill."
Ready to go, Riles.... :)
Captain
Hey Everyone :)
Hi Dale,
Great to hear you have received your Skillmill!!! I am glad that after all of that loading and unloading it's in tact, thanks Captain for the great re-packing skills ;D
Let me know Dale if you need any help setting the mill up, and yeah, as everyone else has said, get the photos flowing in!! 8)
Jeff B and Tammy, thanks heaps for participating in this, it was good fun. Chris and Kerris said they enjoyed meeting up with you at Sawlex, and thanks for posting the video footage for us.
And what is the latest good news on the Skillmill?
Been awhile, and we are anxious for some set-up pics and sawing pics.... ;D ;D
(no pressure there Dale :) )