Woodmizer or Timber King

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I am a new member here.  I previously posted stating that I am considering buying a band blade portable mill.  I have never owned a portable mill before so the task of deciding which brand to buy can get pretty daunting.  I have received and read all the literature from Woodmizer, Timber King and Norwood.  My early inclinations are to lean toward either Woodmizer or Timber King.  I feel they both make good products, not to say that Norwood does not, just an early leaning. 

Just as with any product an owner of a certain brand tends to think the brand he owns is better.  Chevrolet owners will generally tell you Chevy's are best and likewise Ford owners.  So here's my request; will guys who may have owned both brands or at least used both brands give me your opinions.  I am particularly interested in your opinions of the four post system vs. the cantilever system.  Even if you have only owned or used one of the brands but have a strong feeling about that product either positive or negative, please jump in. 

I am guessing this subject has been discussed many times on this forum, but since I am new, I would be interested in doing it once more.

[Bibbyman]

If you've only had the manufacture's information to go on I could see where you could be conflicted as to what basic design is best.

Let me say this....  Good lumber can be made with either design.  It depends on how well you keep your mill adjusted and maintained and how much attention to detail you put into sawing.

Wood-Mizer and TimberKing are both good companies and will give you good support – some will even say excellent support.  Both have been in business a long time and will remain in the sawmill business for a good bit longer.

Having said that,  I see advantages in the cantilever head design.  1) it allows you to load and saw odd shaped or oversized logs easier because you don't have a post on the right side to deal with.  2) for a given performance/size mill, the Wood-Mizer is more "nimble" to move and set up. 3) I'll leave room for others to add to the list.

A mill is a big investment – especially a bigger hydraulic model.  It'd pay to go try out each.  Also ask each company to give you a list of owners you can go and interview. 

Attending a forestry show would help too but I've not found TimberKing at too many shows.  If you check out the "Shows and Places to Meet" section,  you'll find a number of opportunities to go to these forestry shows some where within a day's drive.

[MikeH]

  The woodmizer head is very floppy or loose when you hit somthing which keeps you from breaking things at the same time it is super accurate and can shave off a 1/16th board. I  Love mine!!!

[SAW MILLER]

   I had a four post mill and now own a Woodmizer and the Mizer is a lot simpler to set up.I have had it for 18 months and have never even readjusted the alignment since I left the factory and it will saw true when leveled by eyeball.
    The other thing that I looked at real close was resale value.WM holds their value better than any mill I have seen.I  have never regretted buying a Wood Mizer.

[TexasTimbers]

Woodmizer.

[Kelvin]

Howdy,
If i were in your shoes i'd think about getting used equipment.  Its mostly deprciated, so if you decide to resell it, you should get what you've got into it if you keep it up.  There are a lot on Sawmill exchange and even ebay has quite a few.  You often get a bunch of stuff with them too, and all the little extras add up.  Plus they usually will show you how to run them, and tricks of the trade. 
Woodmizer is kinda like Honda.  They hold their value much longer than all the rest.  It will be true for you to if you buy one, especially used that you should be able to get out of it without to much loss.
For new small ones i really liked the Norwood and there are a bunch of guys on here with them.  Same goes with all the small mills probably.  I just liked their system, the round tube head system, and get as big an engine as you can afford, 20 hp honda would be great!  These are also found used out there.
Good luck and happy hunting.
find a local with each of the mills you are thinking about and watch them run.  You will see the differences immediatelly.  don't listen to manufactures about why their design is better.  Both work just fine, i have a woodmizer and the canti head is great.  No problems there,
KP

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome TNhobbyfarmer!

I think you have hit upon an important difference between the mills, the cantilevered head. I run a '94 Woodmizer with 3040 hours on it, and the cantilevered head has never given any trouble. The Woodmizer head runs on a single steal tube which I believe resists torsional loading better than a twin rail system. As for accuracy, I tell people not to expect a 1/16th over or under on beams, becuase it won't be there, unless you tell me you want it. This is of course only part of the picture, you will have to see which machine fits your needs the best.


Dave

[Handy Andy]

  Hi Guys, I bought a mill because it was so hard to find someone close by that did
a good job of sawing.  The woodmizer guy didn't keep up his mill, and did a crummy
job, probably not the mizers fault, he also sawed on the 1" scale instead of 4/4 and
was really hard to clean up lumber at 3/4", hauled some lumber to a guy with a B20
timberking, but was about 50 miles, he did a much better job of sawing, he did
tell me his mill wouldn't track until he had v belt grooves cut in the band wheels.  My
little Cook's mill tracks perfectly, haven't had to adjust it yet, and it was used some
when I got it. It is just a manual feed mill, but cuts very well until the blade is pretty
dull.

[Cedarman]

On our first WM LT30 manual bought in 83 we sawed 90% 8' material. Small cedar logs. We ran the head back and forth like crazy. Result was a flattening of the rail over about 9 or 10'.  This didn't matter when sawing short stuff, but would cause a rise in the first 3 or 4 feet and the last 3 or 4 feet when sawing 16' stuff. Solution was to grind the rail flat to match the flat spots created by wear.  Worked great after that on long stuff. This is one thing to watch for on older mills. Our new LT30SuperHDE with 9500 hours does not have the flat spots even though we still saw mostly 8' logs.  I think the rollers are much better or the rail is much tougher. The old mill had greasable rollers that were subject to freezing and scoot along the rail. The new sealed rollers never seem to freeze.

Just something to watch for on older mills, but easily correctible. Never ran a 4 poster so don't know if they could have this type problem.

[OneWithWood]

I agree that the best thing for you to do is to get a list of owners from the manufacturers and go do some visiting.  Most people will be happy to demo their mill and some may even let you take a turn at the controls.  After a few visits you should know which mill will work best for you and your situation.

[LeeB]

Well, I got one of each. I have a TK 1200 manual mill and an LT40 super. I liked the TK real well and was pleased with it bu tnow that I have the hydraulics and all te other goodies with the WM I have to put my money on the WM. Set up is easyer with the WM but it is also a lot more sophisticated machine. It makes sawing easyer but there is more to using it than the little manual mill. I like the cantilever head,but never had much trouble with the four post. Only problem I had with the four post is that it had a tendency to want to jump track on the off side when the head was raised over about 19 inches. I would imagine the bigger TK's are a little beefyer and don't have this problem. Like every one else said, you really need to try both if you can and make your choice from there. LeeB