Best bandmill under $3000

[arky217]

I have several years experience with a chainsaw mill (Logosol),
but I sold it several years ago. (Don't want to go that route again)

I want to buy an inexpensive band mill, but my budget is limited
to $3000 tops.

This would be used just for personal use with logs no larger than
20" dia. by 8' long.

I am leaning toward the Hudson 'Sawyer' at $2449 ($2549 with shipping)
It takes a 21" by 9' log; has a 7hp manual start gas engine.
Comes with a 3 year warranty (6 years on the shafts and bearings)

(Yes, I know that I could get quite a better mill if I doubled the price, but $3000
 is all I can spend)

So, would this be a good choice or is there a better band mill out there
for under $3000 ?

[Woodpecker52]

Check out Frontier, woodland mills, You need at least 14hp.

[Old Greenhorn]

Welcome. It would help a lot if you filled out your profile. Knowing where you are will affect the advice you are offered. For instance, if you were near me, I would offer to have you come play with my Hud-Son.

[backwoodsdave]

I personally like the looks of the woodland mills  in that price range, I've been looking at them and they seem to be a good built mill for the money, just something about the Hudson that doesn't do it for me but that's my personal opinion only.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Don't overlook a good used mill too. If properly maintained you may find a lot more mill for the money that way, Sponsor "Sawmill Exchange" on this site is a good place to check. Good luck.

[arky217]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm also looking at the Woodland Mills HM122.
With the 9.5 hp Kohler engine, it's priced at $2499
plus $300 shipping for a total of $2799.

Seems to have some advantages over the Hudson:

It will cut a 22" by 10' log.
9.5 hp vs 7 hp on the Hudson.
Seems to have steel base instead of aluminum (not sure)
and has 12 leveling legs.

What would you choose between these two,
the Hudson Sawyer or the Woodland Mills HM122 ?

[Magicman]

Woodland Mills has established a very good reputation here on the Forestry Forum.

[Nebraska]

Stretch your budget  a little farther 4300 will get you into an EZ Boardwalk Jr. They are pretty bullet proof. Made in Missouri.

[backwoodsdave]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm also looking at the Woodland Mills HM122.
With the 9.5 hp Kohler engine, it's priced at $2499
plus $300 shipping for a total of $2799.

Seems to have some advantages over the Hudson:

It will cut a 22" by 10' log.
9.5 hp vs 7 hp on the Hudson.
Seems to have steel base instead of aluminum (not sure)
and has 12 leveling legs.

What would you choose between these two,
the Hudson Sawyer or the Woodland Mills HM122 ?

I’d go with the woodland myself, just looks like a sturdier well built mill,  i like the way you raise and lower the head also, looks more user friendly to me imho, the throttle activated lube system and metal rails with leveling feet are very nice things to have also.

[1countryboy]

look at Norwood s other brand

much bigger hp. https://www.frontiersawmills.com/en_us/os27-0013g-13-hp-420cc-briggs-recoil-start

just 3297 and a lot more mill

[ladylake]

Stretch your budget  a little farther 4300 will get you into an EZ Boardwalk Jr. They are pretty bullet proof. Made in Missouri.

Plus it looks like they  have roller guides which I think controls the blade better than the sandwich type.  Steve

[arky217]

OK, I'm trying to up my budget a little bit; I did a little tree scouting
and I do have some trees 24"+.
So I am now looking at the Woodland Mills HM126 vs the Frontier OS27.
They are both priced at $3300.

The HM126 comes standard with adj. blade guide and auto lube features
whereas the OS27 does not offer adj. guide and the auto lube is optional.

What think ye comparing these two mills ?

And is there another mill that would be a better value at this price range ?

[Patrick NC]

Look at the Timbery m100.  If I remember correctly I got mine with a 5 foot bed extension for about $3800. Will cut 26" x 16 ft. Sold by WM and comes with WM customer support. 

[tamarackman]

These are just my two cents and may not even be applicable as I purchased the OS23 from frontier.

Keep in mind that I only have 11 hours (I added an hour meter) on my sawmill. I am generally not happy with my purchase. Perhaps the OS27 is better engineered.

Some of the issues I have with my OS23:

• I have the base engine (B&S). The exhaust shield bracket broke. I think the metal they used was cheese cracker grade. I'm running without it.
• The paint quality isn't very good. Some of peeling has already started and some parts were not completely covered. It's almost like they were too lazy to walk around the parts or turn the parts to spray them from the other side.
• Shipping crate was half destroyed when I got it leaving some pretty heavy gouges in the paint.
• They failed to include the guide blocks. In their defense, they shipped the replacements very quickly.
• The rails the adjustable guide block head slides in was screwed in crooked as one of the hole wasn't tapped correctly. The factory worker screwed in the fastener anyways pushing away the rail and in the process, bent it.
• The water jug sitting atop the saw head isn't really made for my sawmill. The bolt holes line up but the inserts are too shallow for the hardware they sent.
• I received an assortment of bolts, washers, and nuts. Too few of some, way too many of other.
• Probably the most annoying thing about the mill is that the saw head clogs up with sawdust after only a few passes. They positioned the chute at a weird angle. This prevents a good portion of the sawdust from exiting. It literally takes 3 or 4 cuts for the middle portion between the band wheels to fill up. A few more passes and the whole thing is clogged up.
• And finally, the instructions are not good - at all. They keep referencing bags of parts, mostly bolts and nuts by numbers but the numbers on the bags do not match. The instructions also reference parts that have been changed. Some pages show what I assume is an older revision of a part while other pages reference a new revision.

After contacting Frontier about the instructions, I was told that the last step in the instructions shows the correct sawmill with the correct parts (yay?) so it doesn't matter that the previous steps are incorrect.  

On the positive side, other than the goofy sawdust chute and the incorrectly tapped hole, the sawhead is well engineered and the people on the phone are nice.

*Edit: I forgot to add that the Frontier comes with adjustable feet while they other brands that I researched did not. The adjustable feet make leveling the sawmill so much easier.

[frazman]

Woodland Mill have made upgrades on all the 2020 models. Well worth looking at.

[jpdawg]

I got my woodland mills hm126 back in November and love it.
 I did get some extras like a track extension, 14hp motor and a pack of blades.  It was right around 4100 if I remember correctly. Was actually going to go with the hm122 however I always read on here that a bigger motor will help cut easier.
I also was in your position where my budget only allowed so much but after 6 months or so I was able to save some extra and sell some stuff in the woodshop that I didn't use all that often to get what I wanted to start out on.  Good luck on your decision.

[Hoopty5.0]

If you're handy, you could consider building one. I'm about $2k into mine, but I had some metal donated. You could still be under budget.
Kits - Linn Lumber Sawmills

Another thing to keep in mind is that even though a mill is advertised at handling a 24" log, it will very rarely be a log that maintains that diameter all the way and doesnt have some sort of bend in it. Don't let max diameter difference between an inch or two distract you too much. You're going to have a hard time cutting logs on the upper side of the limit with knobs, bends, and crooks.

the other lesson learned is the sawmill is the easy part. Do you have equipment to handle 20"+ logs?

[Medieval]

After all my looking and comparing I went with the Woodland Mills HM126. I called the order in on Monday and was told it would ship in 2-3 days. Planned on a few days in transit from the far north. I got a call today to tell me it would be in my driveway on Friday. That's a fast turn around. I am looking forward to being able to unpack and assemble my mill on Saturday. I hope whatever you decide to buy that you share what you think. I did go with the 14 HP motor because I plan to cut a lot of green hedge and hardwoods.

[dogbo2013]

You will be glad you went with the 14hp motor. A friend told me to buy the biggest motor offered when I bought my mill and I am glad that I listened. I have been running the Woodland Mills HM130 for 2 years now and have cut several thousand BF. It is a solid mill and is simple to run and work on.

[thecfarm]

You will like sawing.
You will need a cantdog or a peavey from Logrite.   They are a sponsor on the left. Nice people to deal with!!!

[Nebraska]

That mill was what I was going to order before I chose mine. I think you will like it very well and it will serve you a long time.  Getting the mill is the fun part now comes the where is this stuff I'm producing going to be stacked part.  Try some different blades but with hedge I think you'll want a 4° blade. Enjoy it.

[Medieval]

 

 

[Medieval]

I love my new Woodand Mills HM126-14. It came in a little over $3k but I wanted the upgrade in house power. 

 

[Brad_bb]

I'd rather see you wait an extra year and do side work to double your budget.  That way you can get an LT15 which will have a bigger HP engine (very important factor in a sawmill- more power), and it will have good resale value.

[RichTired]

What Brad_bb said x2!