I have a bad back - should I even consider buying a mill someday??

[Warbird]

Hey guys.  I dream of owning a sawmill someday but I have lower back issues.  Crouching, bending, or slouching for long periods of time hurt me bad.  I can lift okay but have to be very careful.  Standing in one spot for long periods also kills my lower back.

So what do you think?  Should I give up the dream of having one someday?  If not, then what sort mill would you recommend that is easiest on a guy's back?

I'd only own the mill for my own use, hobbyist stuff, and helping out friends.  Doubt I'd ever go commercial with it but ya never know.  Interested in your opinions.  Thanks.

[Skip]

Dont even think about it . 

[red oaks lumber]

you can own one just don't use it! 2 things you need strong, your back and well your back.

[TreeWinder]

Only you can say,  but many of us have very bad backs and still work the mills, I'm one of them.  I'm surr you have good days and bads, work it the good  days,.  Would not be surprise to see a person in a wheelchair running a mill.

Follow your passion.   Good luck to you.

[beenthere]

I used to have lower back problems.
Did two things... push ups, (25 a day), and changed how I stood upright so the spine was straighter in that lower back area.

Now, if I feel some lower back pain (tightness), I do 5 pushups and it is gone. Has worked for me for 35 years now (but still remember how painful it was).

[laffs]

it is hard on your back thats for sure. i went with full hydraulic and have some support equipment also and its still hard on my back. but if your going to do it as a hobby maybe you could get some buddies to help out and work at your own pace.

slow and steady

Brent

[WH_Conley]

I have had back trouble for years, have to think things out how to protect it. Hydraulic mill LT40 and a helper. The last couple of weekends I have been helping a young neighbor boy set up and learn to use his new LT 10. I would not attempt to use it by myself.

[POSTONLT40HD]

I had a back problem. And then one day my brand new, shiny orange Woodmizer LT40 HD G28 showed up and BAM.....I was healed, healed I tell ya!

True story.

[Jeff]

 Follow your heart. You can find ways to work within your abilities.

[Sixacresand]

I just had major back surgury last August.  I bought a Woodmizer LT10 three months later.  I have to pace myself and use my tractor, winches to move/lift things .  One thing, my mill is stationary and on the ground.  I plan to raise the mill a couple of feet off ground to reduce  bending.  The summer heat, flies and ticks concern me more than my back.  So, I say go for it and get a mill.  

[bull]

Broken back @ 17 osteo and rhumutoid  arthritis bad legs, still running my mill go for it !!

[fred in montana]

Probably best not to risk it.

[Knute]

Some type of back support may be helpful. I always wear a wide leather weight belt around my lower back while sawing and doing any heavy lifting.

[tyb525]

I'd say do it if it's your dream, nobody says you gotta be a production mill! Take it slow and use things other than your back to do the heavy work.

[cypresskayaksllc]

Ive had two broken backs and I can run a hydraulic mill. Never tried a manual so I dont know about that. My back tells me when breakfast lunch and dinner is.

[sigidi]

Warbird, here in Aus, I'm a university qualified Exercise Physiologist, pretty name but basically means I know stuff about the body, muscles bones exercise that kind of stuff. Majority of back issues can be greatly reduces or even negated all together by better control of abdominal wall muscles. Not so much making them rock hard, but switching them 'on' all the time, we tend to forget about them and more often than not it is abs not switched on which allows the lower back to roll into a much greater curve, this in turn loads up the lower back greatly and also means the weight bearing aspect of the spinal column is compromised. Go see a personal trainer/physio/exercise physiologist get some coaching on 'bracing' practice this until you do it as 2nd nature, you may find your back issues will almost all but disappear once your abs are doing their job properly.

I'd tend toward a swing mill ( I know I'm biased ) but you said standing for periods is a no go situation for you, with a swing mill you are doing light exercise (walking) most the day, when the board is to be tailed it is an edged board so you're not having to pick up a slab that needs resawing. I have a fairly serious leg injury and the walking back and forward has done wonders for me over the years - even now my right leg is still much smaller than my left, but it gets me through milling 5 days a week or more

[Ron Wenrich]

We're pretty automated, so there isn't a whole lot of handling things.  The biggest problem seems to be moving heavy slabs and boards.  Rollers probably could be used to move that stuff around, and some of the mills have a drag back feature that helps with much of the pulling. 

I've had back problems off and on for a number of years.  I've had sciatica so bad that I could barely walk.  Chiropractors didn't help all that much.  I finally ran across a website run by one of those therapy type guys in Canada.  He has lots of stuff to support his techniques.  I ended up laying on a tennis ball and put against some pressure points.  Sciatica was relieved in a matter of minutes and was gone within a few days.  Hasn't come back.  His theory is that back pain is a muscle problem in 90% of the cases.  It worked for me.

[Warbird]

Thanks for all of the excellent info and opinions guys.  I am in very good shape, excepting my back.  My back problems are brought on by scoliosis in the lower lumbar.  I have two 33 degree bends with 2 compacted vertebrae and arthritis developing in that area.  You can't tell it by looking at me and only a trained person would notice my gait is off a bit.  I wear a shoe lift in one shoe and it helps reduce much of the pressure from standing.  Even so, just standing really gets me.

That's pretty much my story.  A couple of buddies and I have been talking about sawmills for a couple of years now.  I love the big old circular saw mills but will likely never operate one.  Heck, I've never even seen an operating mill in person.

Being a new dad, I can't afford a mill right this moment anyway.  It's just a dream but it's a big dream.  Trying to figure out what I want to work toward.  On a side note, I really appreciate reading this board.  You guys are great.  Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[Brucer]

I have had back problems in the past -- mostly in the lower back, mostly from lifting too much. First time was when I was 30. I have been able to carry on production sawing, first with a manual mill, later with a hydraulic mill.

I've got smarter with age and I know how much I can handle without risking my back. That's my secret -- I listen to those little warning voices and if something looks to heavy, I don't lift it. Since I'm handling timbers, some of them over 1000 pounds, I use rollers and gravity a lot. The front-end loader doesn't hurt.

One thing that has helped me a lot is good abs and good posture. That comes from doing 15,000 crunches a year (OK, so I'm a little weird ).

There are options if standing around causes you pain. I read an article a few years ago about a sawyer running a mill from a wheelchair. Wood-Mizer has a seat option on some of their mills (Magicman has one). Other manufacturers might as well. When you're just sawing for yourself, you can take frequent "back breaks". Mind you, I've noticed a lot of us seem to overlook aches and pains when the sawdust is flying and everything is going good .

If you have a chance, try one out. You'd certainly be welcome to run my mill if you ever made it this far south. I'm sure a lot of FF members would say the same.

[captain_crunch]

Go in pards with your buddys good sawyer don't need strong back just a sharp mind. Sawyer makes or breaks opperations My back should be shot from Logging and Rodeo but still going (mind might not be as good)
Brian

[backwoods sawyer]

Rollers, lots of rollers, saves picking the wood up carring it, power rollers will save on on pulling as well, a remote mill or a mill with a seat can minimize standing.

[Old Hilly]

When I moved out to the country there were lots of mills around here and I got friendly with a couple of the owners. One thing that they both told me time and time again was "Don't carry timber, slide it!". When I watched the process of getting a log from the log-yard and turning it into sawn timber "scantlings" I noticed that there was no real carrying of the timber. Heavy flitches were moved on trolleys to the saw bench, then on a trolley to take the weight as the flitch went through the saw. There was a similat trolley on the "out" end of the saw bench that would support the heavy section of timber while the sawn piece was flipped over to the docking bench. From the docker it went down a slide to the yardman who slid the piece to whichever stack it was needed in. The yardman did the most walking but carried very little weight, all the timber just slid along until it got to the stack it was suposed to be in.
When my neighbour and I get our bandmill finished and start cutting Paulownia, the shed will be set up the same way.....Minimal lifting but lots of sliding on either rollers or slippery plastic stuff.
Oh yeah, have had a crook back for 40 years, just had to work out how to make life less complicated. One of my old "Leading Hands" in the gang that I worked in for a while used to say...."Always have one lazy bloke in your gang because he will work out the easiest way to do something".
I still rekon old "Jacko" was pretty well "spot-on"!
Good luck with your mill. Just think "lazy".
Dennis.

[bandmiller2]

You want to saw smart,when ever their is an operation that stresses your back stop and figure a way to negate it.As mentioned heavy slabs are A prime suspect make two slab cuts insted of one,lift one end at a time and let them slide down an incline.Very important to have your mill elivated so your not bending over.Rather than a new manual mill find a used hydraulic,let the oil do the heavy lifting. Frank C.

[Norm]

Sigidi has some very good advice, my back was so bad I thought I'd never be without pain but aerobic exercise with 10 minutes of abs work really helps. Start slow and over months time work your way up to that 10 minutes. I also walk weather permitting 2 miles a day and during the winter when I can't really feel the difference.

A hydraulic mill with roller boards and some help you'll be fine. Jay will be a great offbearer and you never know maybe April will like helping. 

[SwampDonkey]

I have a touch of muscle pain in the lower back at times, it's definitely not in the bone. It is best dealt with (in my case) by exercise and movement. A good walk does wonders if I'm a little sore.

[Chuck White]

I would suggest a hydraulic mill, an operators seat & a minimum of 1 helper!

It doesn't take brawn to operate a sawmill, but you would need it if you did the bull-work on the other side!

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Warbird

I have had two spinal fusions with metal plates and three other disks operated on in my neck and upper back due to two major automobile accidents, one where I got tail ended 30 years ago by a tractor trailer and one 6 years ago when I got tail ended by a bus. In addition to the spinal surgeries, I have also had 2 shoulder surgeries to my left shoulder and only have about 30% use of my left arm and about 25% use of my left hand. About twice a week, my left hand will cramp up so bad that I can not move my fingers or straighten them out. When it happens, it is incredibly painful and feels like someone stabbed me in the hand with a knife, and then gave the blade a twist for good measure.

Ok, that is the bad news. The good news is I own and operate a LT-10 and absolutely love the mill and truly enjoy using it. Like many have said, I have gotten creative over the years in finding ways to lift and move heavier loads using other pieces of equipment and techniques.

In addition to this, my wife and I own a firewood bundling business and this year we are under contract already to deliver over 25,000 bundles of wood. By coincidence, we are just starting to bundle for the 2011 season tomorrow morning and hope to do 500 bundles tomorrow. 500 bundles is basically equivalent to 3 cords of wood. It is a lot of lifting and bending, but to tell you the truth, although I can feel a bit sore on any given day that we bundle or deliver the wood, in general I find that I feel better and have more overall flexibility in my entire body during the 8 months a year that we bundle and cut wood versus the 4 months that we do not, and I can not wait to get back to doing it in the spring. I also find that it helps to decrease the number of times my left hand cramps up. If I bundle for 4 or 5 days in a row, the first day the hand will give me some problems, but then the other 3 or 4 days are usually pretty much pain and cramp free.

My 2 cents for what it is worth based on my own personal experience

[terrifictimbersllc]

What Jeff said.  If you really want one don't let your back stop you.  Probably not get a swing mill because there's more physical demand with the mill and moving the lumber.  But with my fully hydraulic band saw the main places my back hurts is jacking up the outriggers (maybe use an auxiliary car jack when needed) and carrying away the board return table.  I can mill a whole very productive day when the customers do all the heavy work.  If you're thoughtful and methodical and carry jacks and always use power or leverage options, you might not ever strain your back.  But when you get in a jam hurrying around or whatever trying to get out of some situation that's when you might drop caution and hurt yourself.  If you always remember not to strain your back then you probably wont strain your back. 

[Whitetail_Addict]

Buy a mill.  I think I can sympathize with the "bad back" like many others who have responded to this post.  I have a broken vertebrae just above my tail bone that has long since healed on its own.  I have a torn disc between L5-L4 and four herniated discs in my thoracic spine.  I have pain every minute of every day.  Often times the physical pain wears on my mood and causes mental pain because I worry about things I may soon not be able to do (I'm 33 years old).  I purchased my WoodMizer LT28 almost a year ago and absolutely love sawing.  It's a manual mill that requires a lot of physical input.     However by choosing a mill with a log deck near waist height it keeps me from having to bend over to pick up boards.  Big plus!  I have a John Deere tractor with FEL and a set of forks that does all my heavy lifting.  I can't wait for this snow to FINALLY melt so that I can get the mill up on the hill and tear into some logs.  Like you I had been eyeing sawmills for quite some time before finally taking the plunge.  Now most of my weekends and some evenings during the week are dedicated to sawing.  Do what you can to live life without regrets... even if it hurts a little along the way.

[Magicman]

I'm into my 10th year sawing and have never sawed without back trouble.  I always wear a weightlifters belt and it's shown in many posted pictures of me.
 


Helping on a mission trip.
 


What I wear.
 


It is for support and is no substitute for proper exercise and muscle warmup.

[thecfarm]

I would buy one for sure.Jay will be old enough SOMEDAY to pull slabs and boards.    Start them out young.