Can you make money from a mill ?

[Chuck White]

I bought my mill used 2 yrs ago and have made enough to pay it off!  8)

Just have to make sure to set enough aside to buy small parts, etc.   ;)

Make sure you bank enough in case you need a chunk of money all at once.

[customsawyer]

You can make money with a mill but it is like anything else you will get out of it what you put into it. A proper plan and a bunch of research now will pay off later. Don't be afraid to think out side the box when it comes to a small mill you don't have to compete with a product that is some one else makes find one that no one else makes and then you can name your own price.

[Larry]

I am locked in a bitter dispute with the Wife over me wanting to buy a Lucas / Peterson Mill.

Think I would work first on the most important part...getting a consensus from your lady.  Without it your doomed to failure.

[vahighlander]

Pay cash- it makes it a whole lot more sweet when you buy it.  I had a full-time sawing and antique barn/lumber salvage business 8 years ago and leveraged myself too much. I made money- but felt pressured all the time and a slave to my bank notes- it burned me out.  Just picked up my new WM LT40HD today and payed cash!  It felt good.....I know the mill will more than pay for itself with just my personal projects on my farm.  But the great kicker now is my upcoming mobile sawing business now feels like it will be icing on the cake.  My rules I laid out for myself:

1)  asked myself if I really loved being a sawyer- answer was yes.   Your mileage may vary- but if you don't love doing it- why get in?

2)  Pay cash for everything- don't set your self up for unnatural acts out of the gate.

3)  Dont settle for equipment you wont be happy with in a couple years- even if it means saving a little more before buying or selling something to get what you really want.

4)  Treat all your customers even better than yourself- it pays big dividends in referral business. 

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

and Welcome to the Forum Flanajb You've come to the rite place Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

Your off to a good start by starting sawmilling as a parttime operation and at about 960 pounds or $1440au  a cubic meter (425bft) Gos (green off saw) for feather edge/lapsiding or weatherboards whatever  you want to call it  ;) :D and building timbers is a pretty bloody good price  ;) :D ;D and selling direct i dont see where you could go wrong as you cold saw anything from 1 to 4 m3 a day easy depending on afew variables such as logs and howoften you have to shift the mill and what you are sawing I do over 4 m3 most days sawing on my own but i have a loader and afew other things to help make life abit easier for me  ;) ;D 8) I take it you will be starting with just the mill Mate  ???

and when you do decide to go fulltime make sure you have put aside enough cash to even out the ups and downs and keep things moving through slow weeks  ;) I started basicly fulltime with $600 dollars to my name  ;) :D ;D 8) but if i did it again id parttime it untill id saved about $10k plus in the bank account from the income from the sawmill  ;)

as has been said by Ron , Tom ,Customsawyer & Allan and afew other fulltimers all their comments ring true  ;) make a plan ittll keep the missus happy  ;D sort out a log supply remember you dont have to do huge volumes as you said you will be getting intouch with treeloppers also whack an add in the loacal paper for onsite milling and logs brought also give loggers a call and see wether they have any oversize and out of spec logs they have avalable  i reckon it wont take long to have more logs than you can handel  ;) ;D 8) but be speecific on what you will and wont take ;) it will depend on where you are located in England wether you will be dealing more with treeloppers or farmers and logging contractors  Mate  ;)

I run to the same game plan as Vahighlander asfar as sawmills go i have two Lucas's and am very happy with them both i wouldnt buy any other swinger as i reckon the eaxtra cost dosnt give any real production gains  ;) i also have two mills dad and i built and the Meadows mill which will be mostlikely put into production further down the track when i buy a patch of ground to sett it up properly  ;D asfar as equipment goes i dont owe anything on it i do carry abit of buisness dept from time to time but im working on eliminating that shortly aswell  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8)

now im mostlikely proof that this line of work can get just alittle addictive  ;) :D :D ;D 8) 8) ive been sawing since i was 13yo im also a qualified carpenter which i did for 7 years  ;) but sawmilling is what i was born to do and I wouldnt have it any other way  Mate  ;) ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8)

Regards Chris

[flanajb]

Thanks for all the valuable feedback.  Jusy have to make the decision now as the guy has come back to me with a final offer for the mill.

Just concerned about sourcing the logs, but like people have said.  if you put the effort in you are bound to find oversized timbers that just cannot be moved.