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How did it happen?????

Started by Mr Mom, December 31, 2005, 11:07:53 PM

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Mr Mom

     How did you guys get started?? I dont have a mill yet but iam getting started to get lumber for a barn..






     Thanks Mr Mom

brdmkr

We bought 8+ acres of forested land.  About 5 acres have really nice hardwoods, mostly red oak species.  Anyway, we intended to build on the land, and I thought we might be able to get the land cleared and make a little money on a timber sale.  When I started inquiring, it seemed that most of the folks 'in-the-know' thought I would have to pay someone to actually take the trees  :o.

I also do a little wood working.  While in a home supply store, I priced some red oak  :o.  I bought a mill :D.  Of course, I did a little research first (most of it here).  I am hooked now.  That is how I got started.  In reality, I think I am still starting ;D
Lucas 618  Mahindra 4110, FEL and pallet forks, some cant hooks, and a dose of want-to

thecfarm

We bought our sawmill to saw out lumber for a working garage,a small barn,a storage building and so on.We have plenty of trees to saw.We could buy all the lumber we needed,but when we all get done buildng all you have left is what you built.Buy a sawmill,saw out boards,have buildings and a sawmill when you are done.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Sawyerfortyish

My great granfather ran an up and down saw with steam power. My granfather was a dairy farmer and was always in need of lumber to fix fence and barns altho dad hated milking cows he did see a need and always wanted a small mill for our own use. So when I got out of school we bought a circle mill that was 25yrs ago  :o. Boy how time flys when your having fun :).It wasn't long being one of only a couple mills around things took off Today I can go to the woods cut skid and truck my own timber and with the mill I have I can easily cut 10,000 ft of lumber a day. I can kiln dry it make t&g flooring or just about anything I need. Now I'm the only circle mill left. All the other guys died off and knowone wanted to take over.

Burlkraft

It happened to me and I don't have a mill yet ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

I have always had plenty of woods.....sawed some DanG beautiful logs into firewood in the past :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Then I met a guy who had a mill and my life changed forever :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Now I'm shoppin' mills and have a hard time cuttin' anything into firewood ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Why not just 1 pain free day?

maple flats

It happened by chance. I wanted to build my own sugarhouse using lumber from my trees. I cut logs and hauled them to a local part time sawyer, 6 loads in all (each filling a 7.5 x 18 trailer gross weight 7000 legally. Some were way over, just between you and me. Each load went with a sizes to cut list. The first load came back in 6 days. By the time I got to the last load it took 6 weeks AFTER he promised it would be ready, before I got it. At that point I decided to get my own mill and cut the balance myself. His finished product was wavy, and very inconsistant.  I am convinsed he was careless, his mill was a good one but he didn't maintain it. I wanted to build a house and a storage barn as well as a garage. I knew I could do better and I have. Now I won't say he was not honest but I get a lot more usable lumber from a log based on scale and he was using a band mill while I bought a swing blade (Peterson) Go figure!
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

jgoodhart

Use to either haul the logs to the sawmill or if I had a bunch of logs I would hire a truck to haul them it was a pain in the butt and waited forever to get the wood back. 1 day I came across a Popular Machanics magazine that had a picture of a home built band mill and I built one then years later I ran across this forum. Collecting parts now to build another band mill with hydraulic on it.

Mr Mom

thanks alot guys for your nice storys.




Mr Mom

Corley5

Inherited Grandpa's Corley when he passed away.  I grew up around it and logging.  Family traditions 8) 8) 8) 
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

dail_h

   Usta help an old guy some on the farm,he had an old circle rig,sawed my first line in 1968,was instantly addicted,never got over it
World Champion Wildcat Sorter,1999 2002 2004 2005
      Volume Discount At ER
Singing The Song Of Circle Again

Skytramp

I needed to build a house and My Dad wanted a workshop.  My uncle had an old circle mill in pieces, the carrage was intact, the rest was just the metal works.  My uncle sawed some timbers for us to set the mill on.  When we got the mill in working order,  We decided to cut a few ties to pay the expenses, at that time 7X9 8ft were $6.00 and 6X8 were $4.00  A 17 ft switchtie was $17.00 ;  My dad was working in a garage and I was working for a brick layer.  We cut a load of ties and sold the lumber locally for .25 a bdft and made more money from that load of ties than we had ever made working for someone else.  We Had 240 acres of ozark land that was loaded with timber and the rest is history.  I gotta tell ya, we didn't have any extra money so we skidded with an old VAC Case tractor with tricycle front end, some hairy stories there, used chain dogs because the tractor didn't have a lift.  Bought an old 53 ford 2 ton flatbed truck for $250.00 and went to work.  We didn't have a log loader for years, we would roll the logs up poles with cant hooks.  We would slide the ties up a one rail horse to load them.  You haven't lived untill you load a dozen 17 ft switch ties by hand and then topped out with 8 footers.  We would load that old truck so heavy that we would have to put blocks between the rear axel and the frame to keep the tires from rubbing on the bed.  The brakes were so bad that you couldn't stop it in a half mile.  The tie yard, (Moss American) owned by Kerr McGhee  Was behind the Mammoth spring, and down hill.  Many a time I couldn't slow down enough to make the turn so I would go through town, turn around and turn in uphill.  Really makes you appreciate air brakes today.  My son was with me once on a crooked road with a load of logs and we met a car.  He wasn't much for words so he just said uun- oooh
Pretty much said it all.  I don't know how we made it with out gettin killed, just didn't think much about it.  Just took it slow and hoped for the best.  Now I know that God had something better for me to do.
Happy New Year
SkyTramp;
Growing old is inevetable, Growing up is optional

Bibbyman

For us,  it was an old story often told.  Told so often I put it on our web site.


Here is the link --> How we got started in the mess we're in how  8)

The only update is that I took early retirement from my job in the summer of '05 and we're both full time at the mill.  We've also added onto our sawshed again.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

ellmoe

    I had  a customer from up north. He told me that there was a curse up there, "may you inherit a sawmill". ;D Well that wasn't my case, but I sometimes think (in the early years in particular) that I must of offended God and he cursed me directly! :D

   Actually, I have always been fasinated with anything wood. As a boy I used to hang out around new houses being constructed, built the usual forts, took woodshop, etc. . It seems like I saw ads for woodmizers my wholelife, and they always looked interesting. Fate placed me managing a large ranch that had alot of underutilized timber. Thay had an old peckerwood mill, an 0Frick circle mill. That was the first mill I had ever seen. We started that mill into full production, wore it out (maybe a month's running ;) ), and put in a new Cooper skragg/ gang mill combo. After leaving the ranch and starting a consulting business, a mill hired me to assist in sales. I wound up running that mill for three years. Alas, they had two young sons, and I could see the hand-writing on the wall. I bought the ranch's mill,( then shut-down) and operated in place for two years. I think the recession started the day I signed the papers! That was a tough couple of years. We only produced fence pickets (small logs) and mulch. I learned that people don't buy mulch or fences when they are worried about their jobs! About the time the recession ended, a welder burnt half my mill down (curse continues!). I bought aother old mill site and moved my now 1/2 a mill there. We've been here 14 years now, and have gone through many changes. Our log supply has changed dramatically because of government land purchases and increasing urbanization. I must be on better terms with God now though, he pretty much leaves me alone ! :)

Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

crtreedude

My wife has always dreamed of living in a Latin American country to work on her Spanish. After about 20 years, I figured it was time to make the dream happen. So I started researching businesses in the tropics.

I have always loved wood and nature - so decided to get into plantations, reforestation and lumber (and perhaps furniture) so we started a company in Costa Rica.

I thought it would take about 12 years before we moved here - try two!

I also expected to start cutting trees in about 8 years (6 if I was REALLY lucky) - it looks like 5 1/2 years now. We are only about 3 years away from our first thinnings and so are building up the sawing side. Besides, every time we buy a new place, there is a lot of trees that have to be harvested because they are not suitable for what we are doing.  Might as well make some lumber while we are at it.

So, how did I end up here anyway?

dutchman

Started with a friend from work, he needed someone to cut trees and haul logs.
For a year we worked at a circle mile, he sawed I was off bearer,learned about sawing.
Got myself a used bandmill and started sawing part time,really enjoy it.
Now I own to much equipment to stop.

thurlow

Have always needed lumber on the farm; tenant houses, corrals and barns to keep repaired; new barns and corrals to construct, etc.  Only two commercial mills in the county (1950s-70s);  one was a big operation......for our part of the world; they didn't particularly want to sell a few hundred bdft at the time.  The other was a "shirt-tail/family" operation with 8 or 10 employees.  They would sell or custom saw any amount, but were known for underestimating the time it would get your lumber sawn.....might be 6 weeks later than promised.  A fellow about 15 miles away and kinda in the family (married to my Dad's 1st cousin) bought an M-14 to saw lumber for his son's new house.  He sawed a little "on the halves", so we carried a couple of farm trailer loads to get sawed.  This guy had a small farm, drove a school bus, was pastor of a SMALL pencostal church, never seemed to really push or get in a hurry.  Had one old farm tractor to pull the mill;  logs were just dumped on the ground and man-handled up some ramps to the mill.  VERY LABOR INTENSIVE!  We helped saw those 2 loads and asked him about sawing some used utility poles, which he refused to do.  (Don't blame him, I wouldn't have either, for someone else.  My Dad was in his mid-60s and not interested in buying a mill, so I ordered one myownself.  Didn't have the money ($4500?????) to pay for it and the bank's interest rates were out of sight.  Foley-Belsaw financed it at a rate about 1/3 of what the banks were getting.  It was delivered, we got it set up (first thing we sawed was lumber for a shed for it) and were good-to-go.  Noticed for several months that their payment schedule didn't jive with my figures, but was in the middle of making a crop and didn't think much about it.  Finally got around to calling; they put me through to the finance guy, I explained, he got very agitated, said, "We haven't had rates like you're quoting for 20 years."  He finally dug out my application and sure  enough, it was something like 4% interest.  He hum/hawed around and said I'll call you back.   Well........they used to run an ad in the back of all the farming or sports magazines and the one I had sent in had the old rate.  They honored it, but weren't very happy about it.  I've probably sawed as much utility pole/creosote stuff as other lumber.  It's a known carcinogenic and I've tried to be careful, but at one time, I had a pretty much inexhaustible supply and it made great trailer flooring/corner fence posts/corral fencing/cattle guard and bridge planks, etc.  After I figured out that the bits had to be kept sharp and square, it's been trouble free.............
Here's to us and those like us; DanG few of us left!

Mr Mom

     Wow ....Just from reading everyones storys i think that i should get a bigger mill than what
i planned on getting.
     bibbyman--- You have as much wood in your yard as the mills around here do and they are
not a mom and pop setup. I read your story i hope that i dont get that big.
     It seems to me that once a person gets a mill it snowballs on them.

SAW MILLER

When I was a kid we used to play on the old frick mill that my granddad used to saw out the three houses on the home place.The mill had trees groing up thru it by then but it always fasinated me that grandpa had done that. So...when I bought my own hillside I had to buy an old frick and try to do the same.Then I latter built a bandsaw mill and sawed a few years on it and just recently bought a Woodmizer LT 40 and sarted custom sawing on the side.There is some lumber in my house from all three mills. :) :)
LT 40 woodmizer..Massey ferg.240 walker gyp and a canthook

Sprucegum

Nothing has happened yet - honest.

I put a fireplace in my house a few years back and started to look for firewood. I didn't like the price offered so I started looking for a place to cut my own. I stumbled on a cheap 1/4 section of bush so I bought it. Cleared a spot to camp while I cut wood and realized I need an outhouse, woodshed etc. So I biult a little chainsaw mill and cut a few slabs. After 30 years of welding I could build a band mill pretty easy but the ones one the left here are so pretty....

But nothing has happened yet - honest   :D  ;)

Part_Timer

I had a bad truck wreck about 4 years ago.  I wasn't able to get around very well for about a year so I took what little insurance money I got and bought a planer and tablesaw. I figured woodworking would be relaxing and less stress on my leg and hip.   The pine at the box stores was pathetic and I could not afford to make mistakes with their hard wood.  I started to buy lumber off of a sawmill in southern Indiana.  Soon I had about half the cost of a small mill in lumber so I bought an LT15 and it snowballed from there.  Now I don't have the time to woodwork but man is the milling fun.  I'd love to do it full time but for now part time will have to do.  But someday.................................
Peterson 8" ATS.
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Tony

   Was sitting in a very straight sweetgum a few years ago during deer season on
family property.And as usual not much was going on, got to thinking, wish there was a market for sweetgum.
   Few years later I helped a friend clear some trees in his yard so he gave them to me, started looking for someone to mill them. The sawyer got to talking about
crossties, so  I asked what trees they would take , well sweetgum was one of the
preferred trees. I started talking to the tie buyers and family, plus a big scare at the real job down at the plant and the rest is sawdust.
   Just don't order your mill in July because it will be delivered in August and in MS
that is not a very good time to want to learn and mill alot of ties and lumber :o

                                         Tony 8)
TK1600, John Deere 4600 W\frontendloader, Woodmaster718 planer\moulder, Stihl MS461 Stihl 036 & 021 & Echo CS-370
"You cannot invade the mainland United States.  There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."  Adm. Isoroku Yamamotto ( Japanese

OneWithWood

One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Frickman

I grew up around logging, sawmills, and farming. The folks have been running circle mills off and on for at least a hundred years. Growing up I thought everybody had a Frick mill in their back yard, like I did. I wouldn't do real well working in an office or at a factory, so I saw wood. It keeps me busy and out of trouble.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

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