Sawmill

cincinnati · Post by **cincinnati** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:59 am

Anyone own a sawmill like the Woodmizer?

8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:31 am

cinci:

I've briefly considered having a Woodmizer. They start at around $6000 and they have a neat manual operation model that folds up flat against a garage wall.

In the Upper Peninsula, my brother and I have had numerous trees, downed in storms and removed for house construction, cut into 8' logs and then bandsawn into boards. We have a friend in Rapid River who has a Woodmizer, and for a modest fee he cuts boards to our specifications. This tool does a great job. The boards are flat and the edges are true. At present, I have about 2000 board feet of white pine drying in the loft of my workshop.

This Spring, when I get back up there, I know where there is a nice poplar tree that was downed in a storm last summer. We can get salvage permits from the National Forest, so I may have more boards to dry. My friend with the Woodmizer had some medical problems last year but hopes to be able to work this year.

Bottom line - look for someone who already has a Woodmizer before going out and buying one.

dcottrill · Post by **dcottrill** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:13 am

They are a nice tool, but I have over tools that always seem to take the front seat to the Woodmizer.

For me, It comes down to where do you want to begin your wood working experience/adventure?

I have come to the conclusion that I will let someone else find the trees, cut them down, drag them to the sawmill, mill the lumber, and dry it. I might dry the lumber if the price is right.

For me I have decided that wood working is my hobby and I don't have time to drag in the raw material. It is faster to have the wood ready for joining and planing.

The woodmizer is a wonderful machine and I've watched many of demonstrations. It appears to be well engineered and well built. Two qualities that get my attention. Our local Boy Scout Council has one that they use to harvest wood from the camp and then build structures around the camp. It works well.

Good Luck,

Dan

cincinnati · Post by **cincinnati** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:47 am

No question it would be much cheaper to buy from a mill owner. I have talked to one owner and he sells Walnut for like 0.45bf.
My brother and I kinda got the bug because we know of a person that has logs to mill. He has had a hard time getting a mill operator to come out. One did show up but there equipment was in such bad shape he had to give up and go home. Looked as no maintenance had been done ever.
My brother works with a guy that is in the firewood business. He has contacts with tree trimmers that drop off logs at his place just to get rid of them.So I think I may have a source for logs.
This would be mostly for hobby use but also gain a little cash on the side from woodworkers like yourself. My brother and myself work outdoors in our day jobs so we are use to that type of work.
I was thinking one could do well making turning squares and bowl blanks ?????
think one could offer a good deal to woodworkers and turn a good buck in the process. They seem to be extra expensive around here.
We look at the expense of the mill as no differant than one may buy a car to race on the weekend or the like.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:49 pm

Like 8Iowa said these thing start around $6000.

Can I make a suggestion? The next time you driving around out in the country side and you see a saw mill stop in a talk to the owner. My wife's step father owns about 5 acres of pine. He has worked out a deal with the his lumber yard owner to come pick up the logs, cut them into boards and bring the board back. I think they do a fifty fifty split on the wood. In any case when he needs wood he cuts down a tree, saws it into about 20 foot long sections and calls this guy. The lumber guy comes out and asks him how much wood he needs, takes the log and few days later the needed lumber is three ready to be used.

I know of other guys that have similar deals, the lumber yard gets some wood to sell and the tree owner gets some lumber to build with. Works for them.

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:11 pm

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JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:20 pm

judaspre1982 wrote:It would seem there is no shortage of downed trees in some areas of the country due to the recent ice storms. A machine like that would be a perfect solution to put some of these trees to good use. There were many large hardwood trees lost to the weather. Last year my brothers next door neighbor had a Black Walnut tree come down and the people that came to harvest the tree took the wood as payment for their services. I wonder who made out best in the deal---the homeowner or the tree service owner?----Dave

THE tree service owner if it was any size at all and assuming it had no hazards to the mill operator(metallic objects embeded).

baysidebob · Post by **baysidebob** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:31 pm

judaspre1982 wrote:It would seem there is no shortage of downed trees in some areas of the country due to the recent ice storms. A machine like that would be a perfect solution to put some of these trees to good use. There were many large hardwood trees lost to the weather. Last year my brothers next door neighbor had a Black Walnut tree come down and the people that came to harvest the tree took the wood as payment for their services. I wonder who made out best in the deal---the homeowner or the tree service owner?----Dave

Dave, as long as the job was done according to pre agreement then they both came out equal. If property owner was left with mess to cleanup then maybe not so good on his part. I always feel if I make a deal and we are both happy when work is done, then it was a good deal for all.

Bayside Bob, Calif.

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:08 pm

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Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:11 pm

My neighbor just had a junk tree (earpod tree) that split and came down in four pieces, it was huge! Cost him $1000 to remove that tree and another $1000 to remove a second one. The trunk main trunk was about 4 foot in diameter but not more than 10 feet long. The four branch trunks were probably 2 ft in diameter and 20-30 feet long. They had 6 guys, a 200 horse desiel chipper, double axle dual wheel dump trailer to haul the wood chips(took 4 loads), an excavator, a large Bobcat skid loader. So you figure from there whether your buddy got a good deal or not.

35-40 years ago back in Ohio after a flood 4 huge walnut or chestnut logs washed up in my buddies back yard. He spend about a month trying to find an owner with no success. Called a lumber company they came and hoisted the trunks out of his yard, they had to drag them probably a couple hundred feet then lifted them 20-30 feet to road level. They did the whole job, fixed everything so no one could tell they were ever there and still paid him some money.
They said these four trunks would produce a huge amount of veneer.