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Hudson Mills

Started by woodman58, March 05, 2010, 07:30:13 AM

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woodman58

Hey Everyone,
I am looking to possibly purchase a Hudson Mill (Oscar 36). Does anyone own one and what do they think about it? Any feedback would be a great help. Thanks Woodman58
i LOVE THE SMELL OF SAW DUST IN THE MORNING.
Timberking 2200

Ironwood

I have seen many mills and run alot of them (Hudson included). I am generally unimpressed w/ Hudson. FYI.

Ironwood
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Magicman

You should be able to do a search and find previous threads on Hudson mills.  The tone of most of those threads were negative.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

beenthere

But they will still saw straight lumber. Might not be as handy as other mills, but that comes with a price too.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Magicman

I didn't mean to put down on them, as I have zero experience with them.  It was just an observation reading posts.  I'm sure that every mill has it's place in the market somewhere.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

badpenny

   I have had an Oscar 18 from Hudson for several years, and have no complaints about it. Components are readily available from local auto supply or hardware stores, and my blades come from a local blacksmith shop. All in all, I am very satisfied with the mill.
Hope and Change, my foot,  It's time for Action and Results!

Radar67

I have the Oscar 28, while it is not the workhorse of more common mills, it does cut straight lumber if it is adjusted correctly. I have seen the 36, but have no experience with it. I like mine.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

D Hagens

Quote from: Magicman on March 05, 2010, 08:21:31 AM
You should be able to do a search and find previous threads on Hudson mills.  The tone of most of those threads were negative.

I've read this too and it's a bit of a turn off for a guy that's looking for a mill. I'm sure they can't be all that bad or they wouldn't be in business.
I wonder how much of what I read online should be taken with a grain of salt?

JV

I bought an Oscar 36 back around 2002 and sawed quite a bit with it including some custom sawing.  I bought it uninformed with no one really to advise me.  This was before my finding the Forestry Forum.  It had quite a long learning curve with not much of an operator's manual to go by.  Biggest problem was blade dive.  I called Hud-son and the tech said to adjust the torque bolt on the blade to 60 lbs. instead of the 30 lbs. the manual called for.  This was some help but not a total fix.  Since I have decided that most was caused by dull blades cause by not having a debarker.  I would buy a chainsaw debarker if I use it again.  It has been sitting in a shed since 2005 after I bought a Wood-mizer LT-40 Hydraulic, no comparison.  I kept it to saw long beams over 20' because it would be cheap to extend the track.  I may turn it into a resaw once the shop is finished this summer.  It is not a Wood-mizer by any stretch of the imagination but will saw lumber with care.  I got it with Carter guides that are tedious to adjust.  The biggest thing is patience, it takes time to set up correctly and you have to be on your toes.  Set it up on a level area with 4 x 4's or 6 x 6's under the track positioned like ties.  Run a string line the length of each rail and also diagonally across the two rails and shim the 4 x's or 6's to even each rail.  This is more important than being exactly level.  The dogs and squaring pins tend to spring some, so when rotating a cant keep a close visual or use a square to check until you become comfortable with the setup.  I had planned to pour concrete piers with all-thread sticking out about 3" or 4" with nuts on each side of the rail to level it.  Past experience makes me think these mills are better suited to stationary operating over portable.  I guess this is my long-winded way of saying if you buy one, be prepared to take time to adjust and be on your toes.  These mills aren't junk but require attention more than some others to work properly.
The price would have to be very enticing before I purchased one over some other mills.
John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

taschmidretired

Quote from: D Hagens on March 05, 2010, 03:18:25 PM
Quote from: Magicman on March 05, 2010, 08:21:31 AM
You should be able to do a search and find previous threads on Hudson mills.  The tone of most of those threads were negative.

I've read this too and it's a bit of a turn off for a guy that's looking for a mill. I'm sure they can't be all that bad or they wouldn't be in business.
I wonder how much of what I read online should be taken with a grain of salt?
I know I really should leave this one alone, but being the nonconforming knothead that I have always strived to be, I can't.
What is the point of an OPEN forum if you cannot use the information given. Who would want to seek out the generally unbias opinions of people who use products day and day out, if thought they were only getting the positive responses and "no lo contendre" to anything construed as negative.
Anyone in bussiness advertising is going to only accentuate the positive, that is a no brainer. That is why  someone would  want to go to a forum and try to see beyond what all the positive advertising is saying (or not saying). Ofcourse the forum can be used in an abusive way and that is why it is monitored.  If I saw an article about a product that I was interested in and it was negative, I would let the company respond to it before I decided one way or the other.
The other error in thinking is saying because a bussiness has success, they must be producing a fine product. They may very well be producing a fine product, but in this day and age there is no garuantee to that. I know of many highly marketed products that are not near what they claim to be, I also know of some very good products, made with their consumer in mind, that have gone out of business.




"Until I had turned Thirty Five, the longest I had ever stayed in one place was my Mother's womb."

"Beware of the man that shoots his arrow first, and then paints a bulls eye around it after."

Busy Beaver Lumber

When I think of a Hudson sawmill, I am reminded of the old saying "You get what you pay for". Yes they do cut wood. Yes they are relatively inexpensive.  Yes you can get parts for them at a local hardware store. All of those are positive issues. But look beyond that at the total buying and ownership experience. They will not hold their value as well as the name brand mills. They are not built as well as other mills. With only one location, they will only be able to provide minimal support and more than likely never offer coast to coast on site service.

When you read about them on the various forums you find some people that like them and think they are a decent saw for the money and others that strongly dislike them regardless how much they cost. I have run one and did not care for it myself. It felt and looked pretty flimsy. It did cut straight boards, but you had to move slowly with it down the log.

I would strongly suggest you buy an LT-10 or LT-15 woodmizer mill before you drop money down on a hudson. With the recent price breaks they are offering, they are hard to beat on value for the dollar. I myself will be picking up a new LT-10 on the 20th of this month. It is the second woodmizer I have owned and I would not buy any other brand. I buy this knowing that when I mention that I have a woodmizer mill, people know that a have a quality mill, rather than having to defend my choice of purchase time and time again against mixed product reviews.
Woodmizer LT-10 10hp
Epilog Mini 18 Laser Engraver with rotary axis
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6 x 10 dump trailer
Grizzly 15in Spiral Cut Surface Planer
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Jet 10-20 Drum Sander
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Save a tree...eat a beaver!

sigidi

Sounds interesting, especially with the line of thought "they must be ok, they are still selling mills"

We recently had a mill maker here in Aus who has become very silent if not gone under (I'm not saying the same for Hudson) but when I first saw their mill operate (at our very first sawmill showdown - similar but in no way a rival to your Shootout) I couldn't believe they sold mills, but each show he'd sell... Anyway interesting to hear the amount of setting up the mill needs and then read the website claims of it's portability...

As mentioned a supplier/manufacturer has a duty to 'sell their product' or their jobs are not viable, but a forum is a good place to gather extra info - not make a final judgment on, but gather more info.

I remember back to the first day I saw a Lucas, almost 10 years ago - I didn't even know about portable sawmills, but I came home and said to Wifey "I'm gonna get one of those -they are so cool!" I bought my mill without touching one although I did spend a lot of time here on the Forestry Forum learning all I could about milling before buying a mill.
Always willing to help - Allan

sdunston

Hudson has some good products in there line, And like I have always said all mills saw, some are a little less work to get better results from.I have a LT28 but would still love to have an old stationary circle mill ???
Sam
WM LT28, American fordge 18x8 planer,Orange and white chainsaws, NH TC33, IHT6 dozer, IH-H tractor and alot of other stuff that keeps me agravated trying to keep running

Whitman

Hi all   I am one of the poor people who own a Hudson. Not that I did not have the money to buy what ever I wanted , but that I bought JUST what I needed. My Hudson has never failed to saw the best lumber. It was I that made it to thick or too Thin. No blade dip or dive. Bed as long as needed to cut beams or short enought  for a picket fence . No paying customer or give away has ever complained. Look around the right one is out there, not all soot every need Just like a woman. whitman

sigidi

Hey Whitman,

you are right, more often it isn't the mill that does a bad job; its most likely the things 'forgotten' or not done by the operator which causes the bad job ;)
Always willing to help - Allan

VT-Woodchuck

Last year, I spent a lot of time researching bandsaw sawmills. I looked at everything from kits (Linn) to Thomas (built in town next to where my son lives). I eventually settled on the LT15. At this year's VT Farm Show Woodmizer had several machines and Hudson was there with some of there's. After looking closely at the material used in the construction of both machines, I am glad I bought the WM.

Rancher

I have an Oscar36 and bought it for several reasons. Yeah, the price was right but also the availability. I had to go less than 100 miles for it. I was buying it for my own use on the ranch. We all know how that goes. Pretty soon there is this buddy or that neighbor that could use some cut...word travels fast. I have a friend with his LT70 here for a while. Nice, fast machine. At the end of the day sure he had more done than I did but the boards were still  boards. Most any problems I have are because of me,not the mill. Would I do it again if I could do it over again? Probably so. If it makes me wrong in some people's eyes for settling on a lesser mill, so be it. This Hudson has met my needs and that is what matters the most. IMHO
If you're honest you don't have to trust your memory.

beenthere

Rancher
Good read, and well said. You get the job done, and have some coin to spend on something else.

And in the end, boards are boards.  :)   Right you are.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

rockman

 I have a cousin that has a Hudson mill, not sure what size it is. I know it is a basic no frills mill, and they use the heck out of it and it saws good lumber.
I really can't tell you much about specific mills, but I can tell you what I've learned about machinery in general over the last 30 years. The name brand don't make that much difference with the "Global" market, what matters ALOT is knowing the proper way to operate the machine, keeping it maintained and adjusted. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Kevin
kioti ck-20 loader backhoe, box blade, disk, log arch
Husqvarna 455 rancher
Lincoln Ranger 10,000 welder

vadimo

Hello,

i owner the Oscar 228. When i do sawing first times, i think want sold the maschine. But when i resetup the machine - setup good wedge, blade parallel with track,  blade tension, after every blade change tension screw change, straight track, change belt to crowned i think, it is good machine. It is farmer, no bussines machine. Performance is low. I have good result with HSS steel (bimetal) blades with 9 angle. Look into my gallery. (Sorry for me poor english).

beenthere

vadimo
You did just fine with the english. Good to hear about your experience with the Oscar. Hope to hear more about your sawing.  8)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Onthesauk

Vasdimo, your English is just fine!

Good to see you posting here.  Would be interested to hear about where you are at and how you happened to get an Oscar all the way over there.
John Deere 3038E
Sukuki LT-F500

Don't attribute irritating behavior to malevolence when mere stupidity will suffice as an explanation.

vadimo

Hi boys,

my story about Oscar is short. Previous my bussines has been with old metals, aluminium, cuprum, etc. But i it do with small range. Cca when crisis come in USA i buy more stainless and then price go rapidly down. The price is formed on Stock exange.
Sawmilling has been like "my dream" and from last money i buy Oscar. On internet i watch more videos on Youtube and find Hud Son. Good price but far for me. I emailing with management and i wanted transfer the mill from US to EU bay with any spedition company. And then i find web link for dealers in EU! The mill is sell also in UK. Then i buy it in UK with bank transfer  and then any small company from my country deliver it to me. 1 kg = 1 €.

I from EU, from Slovak Republik, previous Czechoslovakia. Easten block, Soviet domination go down in 1989 and in 1993 Czecholovakia split do Czech and Slovak republik. Irony is, in 2004 we both enter in Europen Union and in 2008 to Shengen ( Shengen is contract for no borders, free people move trought EU ).
Links here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia
http://www.slovakia.travel

Thanks for compliment. I in school dont learn english, but german. And in enough read in english and have 1-2 books howto learn english. Of course, electronic dictonary is my frend :-)

southpaw

Wecome to FF Vadimo, doing very well with English and nice looking lumber too.  8) 8) Thanks for sharing story and pics. Loren

trapper

vadimo  you do fine with english.  I and I would be willing to bet 99 percent of the forum members could not do that well with your language.  Knowing what happens in other parts of the world helps keep this forum interesting.
Marv
stihl ms241cm ms261cm  echo 310 400 suzuki  log arch made by stepson several logrite tools woodmizer LT30

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