Sawing Full Time

[WV Sawmiller]

Red,

  I can see the LT70 but why the edger? He is sawing mobile and that would require another prime mover to haul it and hiring another helper to run it.

[Bruno of NH]

Rasie your prices
Spend time with your son
I'm a father and I didn't spend enough time with my daughter and I got no call on father's day.
When I think about it it hurts but I'm the only one to blame

[hacknchop]

Been following this thread with great interest and my suggestion to you is simple stay in control , your in a good place right now take advantage of it keep learning, don't outdrive your headlights so to speak ,take your time so you can see clearly which way to go,this is your first season buying a bigger mill does'nt make you a better sawyer, learn your trade, remember there are career sawyers and there are retired tinkerers with enough money to buy a mill . I learnt more custom sawmilling on the road because of the diversity of interest my customers had and filling there needs provided a variety of sawmill work and eventually i found what i preferred and concentrated on that.Just some advice ,we all wish nothing but success for you .

[Southside]

Look around and see what folks want and can't find. Portable sawing is obviously one, but you can only add so much value to your time as you have discovered.

I found a niche, or more like it found me. I do some portable work, but honestly mostly because I see the lumber again many times for further value adding. 

There is a multiple of value in selling niche lumber over just sawing it for someone. I am not talking high end walnut or massive KD slabs, I am taking about the same very nice Long Leaf you are sawing right now.  Customers are returning to real wood, siding, flooring, etc. I am not saying go out and buy a kiln and moulder on day one, but I bet you could find someone to contract with and by controlling the product to the end come out way ahead as a result. 

[Ianab]

Adding a kiln to your operation might make sense, because it mostly "works" without you being there. 

Sure you have to load. monitor, unload it. But the rest of the time it's quietly sitting there, humming away, making you money. 

A moulder can certainly make money, but you have to actually operate that, and you can't be doing something else while you are running. So the mill sits idle while you run other machinery. Now if you have help, and can have both machines running that's different.

But expanding like that is a whole other can of worms. Like Southside says, contracting that work out might be an option. You are still offering the "logs -> KD flooring" service.

[TimGA]

All super great advice here, only thing I can add is get a few days rest before making any decisions. Clear your head, if you have someone to talk to bounce ideas off them. If you don't talk out loud while you are thinking that helps me a lot, hope this helps. Take the rest the work will still be there.
                            Tim

[Southside]

If you don't talk out loud while you are thinking

Just don't do that in front of others.....sure get strange looks, at least I do.  :D  I have learned to pretend I am on the phone with an ear bud they can't see - then scoot quickly!!   ;D

[Crossroads]

First off, I'm happy for you and your success! I don't really have any great advice you, other than to say good job taking the day off to spend with your son. I would think the advice about raising your prices would be good as long as you do it incrementally. Keep up the good work 

[Deese]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to offer your advice. Haven't been on here in a while. To say that I am covered up with work is an understatement. This is definitely a learning process...I have made the mistake of putting too many "irons in the fire" (old saying) but am figuring things out. I'm doing great work, and I am excellent with people. Word has really got out and I literally must leave my phone in the truck while working. If only I could quickly do all of the work I have scheduled...But I've learned that I'll never "catch up". Just need to continue to find ways to be more efficient. A kiln is in the near future. Can't live without it. 

[alan gage]

If only I could quickly do all of the work I have scheduled...But I've learned that I'll never "catch up"

That's great you're doing so well. It sounds like you could stand to raise your prices. Running yourself into the ground doesn't bode well for the business's future. Raising prices should eliminate some of the customers so you can do less work and make the same amount of money. Or find some good people to work for you that allows you to do more work in less time. Or just tell people they'll have to wait and cut back on your hours.

Burnout is real and happens to many people.

Alan

[WV Sawmiller]

Deese,

   Congratulations on your success to date. A quick question or two - why must a kiln be in the future? Who is going to run it and where will you find the time? Will a kiln add proportionately more money to your processing than just using that extra time and equipment doing more customer sawing? Are you figuring on selling lumber or will you KD it for your customers. War Eagle.

[Peter Drouin]

Did you put the lumber on the trailer? and are you sawing by the BF?

[Deese]

I do not desire to stay on the road doing portable sawing. It is perfectly fine right now because I am still learning and building my customer base. The portable jobs are getting out of hand and I am struggling to find that smooth transition. A kiln is an absolute must have. Building longterm repeat customers is a crucial task and I am doing very well with that, in my opinion. I do excellent work and make friends wherever I go. It's just my nature. Currenty, I am doing a combination of portable sawing and custom sawing jobs at home. I am also still in the firewood business, been doing that for many years. I'll have over 100 truckloads split, stacked and dried ready for delivery this winter. I am a worker. I am a salesman. I don't sit around watching TV in the evenings. I work. I left a job many only dream of to saw timber. I am wide slam open sawing 12-18hrs/day at home and on the road and am learning and loving every minute of it. The last job I quoted .40/bf and ended up loading the trailer by my DanG self and the customer decided to pay me .60/bf. Those  are the people/customers I am after. Hard work does pay off and I am still, and always be busting it and scratching for more. Then when I'm an old man, my boy will have the choice to take it over or sell it. Won't matter to me as long as he's happy. 

 

[Southside]

Deese - what kind of band you using to cut those logs with the chains in them?  :D

[Deese]

Deese - what kind of band you using to cut those logs with the chains in them?  :D

This current job has whooped my tail and I ain't even joking. Finishing in the AM before customer picks this last load up to TAKE TO A KILN. 3rd load he has taken TO A KILN. I'm an idiot for not already having one. I could have paid for 1/3 of the kiln just on this job. Perfect explanation of why Deese Custom Sawmilling will have a kiln before 2020. Go big or go home. I learned that from someone on here...I am just crazy enough to actually bring my dream to life. You can rest when you die. 

[Deese]

Southside, I need to borrow your skidder 

[Deese]

    Congrats!  You've made a decision.  Now make it be right!

Nomad I still remember our conversation and think of this almost every single day. Just so you know...

[Southside]

Southside, I need to borrow your skidder  

Disconnect is on the passenger side by the front wheel, she is full of fuel. 

[Ianab]

I'm an idiot for not already having one. I could have paid for 1/3 of the kiln just on this job.

Advantage of adding a kiln, it can be sitting there with a load of wood, quietly earning money for you, while you are out doing other work. You don't have to be there operating it all the time. 

Other machinery you might invest in, you have to operate, and that means less time for the milling, so you may not really get any extra income. Of course you have some time spent loading and unloading, but the rest of the week it can basically be left to do it's thing. 

[OffGrid973]

Kiln with no power can also build a mold pile quickly..there are also many concerns with selling "kiln dried" wood vs "air dried" when it comes to sticklers on furniture making or custom interior jobs, so be careful what you wish for.

If too busy raise prices and reduce the "touch" points where possible.  Each time a piece is moved you should be adding a total cost to it.

Keep up the good work, love to see people succeed regardless of their size of operation.

[Deese]

Part of what makes all of this fun is the fact that I started from scratch. Daddy didn't hand me a check to get started, I started by getting a $5k loan from my local bank and bought the EZ JR sawmill. Great machine by the way. I've now got my LT40SHDD51, new skidsteer, and my old 3/4 ton pickup. Truck and mill is paid off. I've got a LONG way to go but there's a thrill building my dream piece by piece. It means more when you've got to scratch and claw to earn it. I also take all of y'alls advice to heart and it means a lot knowing there are others out there that enjoy this type of work.  Finishing this job this morning and moving to another location. Have a great day folks. Thanks again.

 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Deese are you doing these portable jobs alone or with customer helpers?

[Deese]

This past one was just me. But the board foot fee was twice my normal rate. The one I have scheduled for Saturday-Sunday will have customer paid help. 

[YellowHammer]

Have them bring the logs to you and use your equipment, since you charge by the bdft, the faster and more efficient you are, the more you make.  That's what I did and it's amazing how fast you can saw at home with all the equipment.

Get a 4,000 bdft kiln and charge for both the kiln drying and the air drying because lots of folks don't want the wood to just sit in their yard, they much prefer to keep it at "Uncle Bob's" storage and pay a monthly fee. 

Then get a decent planer, and charge 50 cents per bdft to plane the wood.   Mine does 400 bdft per hour, or $200 per hour.  Not bad for mindless work.  

Lots of money to be had and the customers want and will pay to have it done.  

[moodnacreek]

Have them bring the logs to you and use your equipment, since you charge by the bdft, the faster and more efficient you are, the more you make.  That's what I did and it's amazing how fast you can saw at home with all the equipment.

Get a 4,000 bdft kiln and charge for both the kiln drying and the air drying because lots of folks don't want the wood to just sit in their yard, they much prefer to keep it at "Uncle Bob's" storage and pay a monthly fee.

Then get a decent planer, and charge 50 cents per bdft to plane the wood.   Mine does 400 bdft per hour, or $200 per hour.  Not bad for mindless work.  

Lots of money to be had and the customers want and will pay to have it done.  
   
Wow, all this I tried years ago with no luck at all. Rotted piles of lumber that no one came back for. Planing and cutting to length, what a loss that was. Taking down payments was another mistake. They never come back and even if they do they want something different now.  Nowadays I only saw my logs and own everything in the yard most times and am doing better than ever this way. I must of had a bad approach.