Info on Oscar mills

[TGofWNY]

Does anyone have any info/ posatives/negatives on Oscar mills? They seem to be less expensive than others - but I know that ,usually, YGWYPF.  thanks- Tom

[Furby]

Well you already know my answer then! ;)

[bhub]

I have a hudson Oscar 30 with  16 hp
Nice little machine for the money. It can produce some nice lumber with a smooth clean cut--- plenty of power much better than the 10hp. It can produce a nicer cut than my buddies lt15, but it is not a woodmizer. real quality differences.  I would not want to move mine around and reset. My buddy throws his lt15 on a trailer and moves it around. Mine would not hold up as well. Especially the track. But as I am set up I can cut some nice lumber. I have about 5000bf of walnut and cherry nice wide slabs 28"x10ft x2"
The real work is moving those slabs. But after 2 years I am ready to start building lots of tables. I cut for myself and have some great lumber. Some beautiful spalted maple as well 24"x 10 ft slabs. If you can get the lumber and manuver it on the mill the hudson can be a real help. Its a matter of what you want to do and how much you want to put into it.  I would not make the mistake of thinking I was buying a commercial mill and be able to compete. The hudson does what it does for a good price. if you know what to expect and have a back, or the cash to manuver!!** a lot can be done with a hudson.

[thecfarm]

Have you used the search?I put in oscar and came up with 4 pages.That will give you busy for a while.

[TGofWNY]

I'm finding that this forum beats any "google" search. - real people with real experiences. Thanks so far. Tom

[sjh]

I have a oscar 36. I have had it almost 2 yrs. Cut tons of wood. The only thing I do not like is there giudes. They are aluminum and bend easy. Other than that it is a good mill. There is a shop in Darien Center that sells them if you want to look at them.

[TblRxDave]

I have an Oscar28/8hp which suits my capabilities very well. In the last two years I've cut close to 4400bf of SYP for my barn/garage/workshop. Most of my logs need to be lees than a 1000lbs for my little Kabota 4wd to lift. That means my logs rarely get get larger than 18"dia. As far as the O28 is concerned it has done well. Personaly I think Hudson assumes alot when they wrote the manual esp. with rail set up, band wheel alignment, calabration of the head, and maintenance. Concentric circles with the drive belt and blade is not the best design for changing the drive belt. I'd prefer a seperate drive wheel and belt so belt changing is easier. This way you don"t have to remove the pillow blocks in order to change the drive belt. Depth of cut has to be dbl. checked by other means. The scale is approximate and less than accurate for consistant lumber thickness. I could nit-pick more but that would only reflect more about my perfectionism that the pro's and con's of the O28. Major learning curve but well worth it. I've got a log on the mill waiting to be sliced up for more siding. Remember this is a manual sawmill YGWYPF.

[thecfarm]

Tom,when we say search we all mean the search on the top of this page,not a search that will take you out of the Foresty Forum.Go to the top of the page and click on to search put in oscar and you will get 4 pages of Forestry Forum input.

TblRxdave,welcome to the forum.Glad you could add something for a first post.

[arj]

I`ve had my oscar 36 since 1999 and have cut over 100,000 bd.ft. Had too
replace the idler wheel shaft twice, once under warranty. Replaced normal
comsumable parts,belts, guides changed from carter to hudson, replaced the
guide shoes once. Added more log stops and dogs. Not needed but more convenent
when cutting short logs. No matter where the log lands on the deck there is at least
two dogs. My mill is stationary, but could be moved, the track would be no problem but the head would be very heavy with out the help of a loader, or several strong
backs. No it`s not a WM but it cost less, cut a bigger dia. log. The manual is`nt the
greatest. The lumber it cuts is as good as any cut on any mill reguardless of price.
I guess you do get what you pay for.  I no complants it works great for me.

[TGofWNY]

Gotcha TheCFarm, and thanks everyone. - Tom

[Dan_Shade]

I had an Oscar 28, i had a few very minor issues with it, the biggest one was one of the eye bolts that holds the sawhead up by the cables cracked and bent causing the sawhead to jam, after I figured out what was wrong, a trip to the hardware store fixed it right up.

The biggest issue with it is the already mentioned pain to change the belts.  It would also be nice if it were constructed of heavier tubing, mine would get a "shimmy" which was agrivating.  also the 4/4 scale is a little scant.

the hudson is good for what I consider barn and fence lumber, it's a bit trickier to cut really consistant lumber with it, but at the end of the day, a sawmill is a sawmill, not a planer.

[Russ]

If you want to check one out I'm in Western Ma. I have a Oscar 36" with 20hp Vangard 20ft track and electric power feed .My mill has carter guides and they seem fine. Its not bad but really its just a toy.  I really have to work hard to get out a 1000 bf. I wish I got a bigger sawmill.

[Rancher]

I have had my Oscar 36 for almost 4 years. Having a friend with his LT70 here for the past year is like comparing apples to oranges. After all is said and done boards are boards. One thing though, I don't have the payments to make.

[abatol]

amen, no payments is always nice