I guess I'm buying a sawmill. Which one is the question

[newoodguy78]

I'll check them out, thank you. 

[jpassardi]

I agree, manually turning logs is about the best place for an injury/fatigue while milling. I made a winch driven claw turner - probably the most important upgrade I have made so far. Often that's all I use to hold the log when making a cant.

[Sedgehammer]

I agree, manually turning logs is about the best place for an injury/fatigue while milling. I made a winch driven claw turner - probably the most important upgrade I have made so far. Often that's all I use to hold the log when making a cant.

Have any pictorials

[fluidpowerpro]

I'd be interested to see what you end up getting. I'm currently looking for a mill myself with a budget that's just a bit higher. I'm still in the manual mill price range realistically.

They may not have any dealer close for Sledge, but for you I would take a look at the Oscar series from Hud-Son. They don't seem to get much mention on here, probably because they are not a sponsor. They are a stupid simple well built mill, made in New York.

I second that comment. I have owned 2 Hudson's and they have served me well. As suggested, stay with the Oscar. I do have a Homesteader. It's ok but not as sturdy as my Oscar.

[jpassardi]

As requested Sledgehammer:

[caveman]

I joined the FF many years ago hoping someone would recommend which mill to buy.  We were trying to decide between a couple of manufacturers and models.  Nobody would recommend a manufacturer, but most suggested that we select one with hydraulics.  I did not think we needed hydraulics since I had a tractor with forks to load logs.  Our situation has changed over the past 15 years.  We started with a manual mill, and we did pretty well with it.  We were younger and relatively strong.  Now we are older and DanG near decrepit.    Someone offered us enough money for it to leave and we ended up with an LT50, that has Accuset II and hydraulics.  Those two things have been game changers.  The production has gone way up, and we seldom use a canthook on the mill.  We still use canthooks to roll logs onto the log loader.

Add an edger with the setworks and hydraulics and the production will triple.  

We were not at all disappointed with our manual mill and only sold it because someone offered nearly what we paid for it 10 years prior, but hydraulics and setworks are significant. 

If you are only sawing for your own use, just about any mill will saw in a weekend what you can use in quite a while. 

[SawyerTed]

My advice is consider what the real goals are.  Buy the tool that gets you there.   It might be a temporary investment in a hydraulic mill and later move to a hobby mill.  It may mean a manual mill is just right.  

People have time, money and health to spend on major projects.  Only you can decide what proportion works.  A manual mill will take different proportions than a hydraulic mill.  

Nobody says either has to be a final and permanent decision.  Get the mill right for the end goals you have.  For me that meant a hydraulic mill, production for the time and effort involved is important.

Only you know the outcome you want and what you have to invest, time, money and health.