Age when you bought your mill

[thecfarm]

How old was you when you brought your first mill?
I think I was about 42. I waited many years for that toy.

[jackpine]

55 and had just semi-retired

[AdamT]

26. I "just had to have one".

Almost a year after I picked it up in Indy I went back for a seminar. I didn't have to tell the girl at the entrance my name at check in. She said "You must be Adam". And I said "yes, how did you know?". She said "all of our customers are much older. I just remember you".

Sorry guys...! I'll be older one day too!!

[Magicman]

I was 59 when I bought my sawmill, and today at 69 I still need adult supervision.

[thecfarm]

I will need it until the day I die.  ;D One of my friends come over and don't we act out. It feels good to be about 14 again.

[Chuck White]

Bought mine in 2008, I was 59.

If I could have swung it, I'd have had a mill back when I first retired from the Air Force!

[Bogue Chitto]

40 when I got mine.  Always wanted one since I was 15.  Used to see the adds in magazines.  Make your own lumber.  Finally broke down and bought one after hurricane Katrina.  Paid for it in 8 months with all of the downed trees. 

  

[jrkimroxie]

Bought mine 2 yrs ago at the ripe old age of 34. But most days I'd rather run my mill than ride 4-wheelers, so I think I'm an old geezer trapped in a young body. The last 2yrs I've acquired a mill, a saw shed, and a Massey Ferguson FEL, definately not a young mans toys.  smiley_old_guy

[038magnum]

52. I don't have mine yet but I talked to Marty at Pa Wood Mizer and he said it will be there Tuesday. I can't wait to see it and get trained on it. 8) 8) 8)

[west penn]

 In 1984 I was 33

   when we bought the first-- a lt30 no hydraulics. 42 when I bought the lt30hd.   I'll be 61 this year    Thank God for hydraulics!!

[hackberry jake]

I turned 25 on oct 24 and bought my mill on oct 29. I'm about to turn 27 now. I sawed a lot the first year, been kinda slow the second year, but one man can only use so much lumber. I need to start gearing up to build a house... Flooring, cabinets, trim, framing... Oh boy

[tyb525]

I turned 25 on oct 24 and bought my mill on oct 29. I'm about to turn 27 now. I sawed a lot the first year, been kinda slow the second year, but one man can only use so much lumber. I need to start gearing up to build a house... Flooring, cabinets, trim, framing... Oh boy

I hear ya there, first year or two you're sawin' everything in sight! But if you don't sell a lot of it, it piles up real quick! Dealing with all the piles of lumber made me slow down a lot.

"I have to have a use for all this lumber I'm sawing???" ;D

[kelLOGg]

Ten years ago at age 58.

[Cedarman]

29 years ago at age 35  LT 30 no bells, whistles or hydraulics. That's cause they didn't have 'em then.
Hackberry, we got the same birthday.

[WDH]

10 years ago at age 48.

[sigidi]

Almost 10 years ago at 27 - been swinging my lucas for nearly a decade 8)

[mayor]

00 Frick at 46 years old.  I helped on a Frick when I was young, offbearing and stacking and cleaning.
Then at around 28, my uncle bought a Woodmizer LT 40.......sawed with that mill quite a bit.  He sold the mill and the fellow at the farm I helped take care of bought a Norwood band mill....we put it all together and set it up and I was really impressed with the mill.......we still use it today but I wanted too get back too the old circle mills so I bought the 00 Frick and we're in the middle of restoring it and setting it up now!  I'll be 49 next month so hopefully I'll be making the sawdust fly before I'm 50!

[bandmiller2]

First circular mill in my early 30"s made everything except three headblocks and the saw itself.Machined the arbor from a large industrial blower shaft,cast collars were fire door closing weights,setworks ratchet came from a ground drive manure spreader.DanG thing worked fine. Frank C.

[wwsjr]

LT40 Manual at 57, LT40Hyd at 59, LT40 Super at 61. Hydraulics have helped as I get older.

[Riggs]

bought mine less than a year ago, just before I turned 38.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Bought my first, an LT15 in 2000 at age 62 and returned it after 2 weeks and wrestling with a 26"x10" Beech log which I couldn't tun by hand after squaring.
Then bought the mill that Chuck white now has.
in 2008 bought my retirement toy a super Hydraulic LT40 diesel loaded with all options.
Was going to hang it up in the fall when I turn 75 but have decided to keep on sawin' a while longer.

[Norm]

I'd been wanting one since the late 80's, finally bought it in 2001 at the ripe old age of 45.

[NMFP]

Bought a Homemade circular mill at 17 and sold it when I was 22.  Cut and resawed telephone poles for fencing companies.  Sawed on many different mills for about 10 years for other people and then bought a used 99 LT40SH at 27 and now just purchased an 01 Frick handset.  Will buy another LT40 or LT50 in a year or two to have another guy on the road for me.  He is currently 22. 

I have too much invested now so might as well keep going and spending money!  8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[VT-Woodchuck]

LT15 at 64. I am now 67 and will use this mill a couple of more years. I will then decide whether to upgrade or get out of milling - I'm not betting on getting done!

[OneWithWood]

Same as WDH.  10 years ago at 48.

[redbeard]

At the age of 46 I made my decision after two years of brutal agonizing over which mill to buy. Iam now 53 and have enjoyed every moment since. I get asked once in awhile why I chose a sawmill my reply is some people buy a boat, Harley or classic car and some people buy a sawmill.

  

  

 

[roger 4400]

 At 60 , last winter and I think I will use it for the next 40 years and then give it to my son... :D

[hamish]

At 36, my gift to myself myself for quitting smoking, already paid for itself in unlit smokes!

[Sixacresand]

61, two months after back surgery and 4 months before I retired.  Unlike the bass boat and fishing stuff, I use the mill almost every day except Sunday.

[Tree Feller]

I got mine at 60, just this spring. I don't know if I will ever upgrade because it does fine sawing lumber for my woodworking hobby. I am planning on getting a tractor and FEL for working on my little place and facilitating the log handling.

I'm also noticing a recurring theme here. Most of us got our mills in our golden years, probably because we could finally afford one then. It's the same with my woodworking tools and shop. Too bad I couldn't afford that stuff when I were still young and full of pith and vinegar. It would probably have kept me out of a lot of trouble.   :D

[Delawhere Jack]

Age 44, three months ago. I've been toying with the idea for a long time, finally pulled the trigger.

[JFarmer]

I bought my first mill at the age of 19. It was a TK that my neighbor had. Sold it and since then I have owned three wood-mizers and I am now 30.It has been fun and a lot of stress but I still love sawmilling!

[customsawyer]

33 when I bought my first LT40 and have since bought 2 LT70s. Still love sawing.

[ladylake]

  Bought mine at 49, still working great after 8500 hours.  Easy to work on so I don't know if I'll ever get a newer model  (TK2000)    Steve

[Jim H]

I bought my first mill in '94. I was 23 and it was an '86 lt30, I've had a couple of lt40hd's since then.

[paul case]

Bought a meadows 48'' sawmill powered by a 6 cyl detroit in 2005 never set it up. Bought a belsaw m-14 in 2007  and sawed some with it. Sold both of them and bought a Ez boardwalk mdl 40 in september of 2008 at the age of 34. Last January I bought JFarmer's dad's 94 LT40 HD. Oh what a difference that HD makes. Sold the ez boardwalk mill in March I think. I have sold more mills than most men will ever own! PC

[steve phillips]

bought my mill 8 /2012   at 52 and holding

[pasbuild]

Got my first mill in my mid twenties, made it portable after the guy who owned the land it was set up at let it go back to the bank   sold that one for a bigger one that I spent more time building and fixing then sawing. Work got in the way so I traded that mill for all of the lumber to build my first shop didn't get another mill until I was 46, I downsized to a manual band mill that I use in the summer months.

[Woodey]

40 is when I purchased my first mill. LT40HD24G.
Upgraded to LT40HDD34Cat. and accuset.

[JustinW_NZ]

Bought a mill this year at age 33 and hope to have many years of making sawdust  8)

[Brucer]

32 when I bought my chainsaw mill, 55 when I bought my first Wood-Mizer.

[TimGA]

     After 2 heart attacks you get a different perspective. 1st know where you are going when you die if you don't already. 2nd do the things you have been putting off till tommorow today. So after looking hard, bought a TK2000  1  year ago at  50 love it, have made almost all payments with jobs. Great mill love the hyd.     
                                                                           Tim

[dgdrls]

This year at 48,  LT-10, 

DGDrls

[lyle niemi]

Last January, I was 43

[SamB]

57 when I finally pulled the trigger, although I collected info and researched just about every manufacture of portable sawmills for 12 years prior to becoming a sawmill owner.

[rmack]

07/18/2012 lt40 super, 53 yrs old.

heard about woodmizer mid 1980's, saw one sitting outside a brand new house cut on the mill in 1993, been wanting one ever since.  8)

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Ohh I got the Bug Young ;) Home Made Steel Logosol Dad Built for Me at 12 after about 12 months of nagging in 93/94 Milled timber for His log building business and the local hardware's mostly Douglas Fir and Pine moved up to a larger 3120 powered carriage type chainsaw mill with 41' cut length within 12 months then at 15yo brought the 1st Jonsered 6000+ (Serra) Band Mill set up to do 55' long and then built a Table top mill at 18yo over a wet week on the frame of the 3120csm used those mills along with going sawing on and managing other peoples mills from then on got my grandfathers old Meadows mill back in 07 i think its still a work in progress ;) 1st Lucas mill an 8-20 about 4 years ago followed closely by the 10-30 only wish I had gotten one earlier ! This year I brought a an early model Jackson Lumber Harvester Portable with two saw edger I also have a Frick sitting in the USA atm too but ill be sorting that out soon enough ;) Latest Mill I got is a 96 model Kiwi Built Varteg pto powered tabletop mill which was only used for demos here in the 90s and is virtually Brand new apart from the faded paint That's what I get for going to look at logs at a Retired Sawmillers  lmao see Back to regular programing as Ill be doing a thread on that lill trip ;)

So in near on 20 years I have had 10 Sawmills 2 Brand New the Lucas and the Jonsered ,3 Homemade Mills two of which got cut up to make the next one , 2 brought second hand and complete and almost ready to run , Three in the process of Rebuild Meadows and Jackson and most likely the Frick 01c too ;)

I love Sawmilling and will keep doing it until the day I die there are not to many things you can buy that can Make you a Living help you build a Home and Lifestyle and meet Great People but it only happens if your willing to work ;)

Regards Chris

[fat olde elf]

10 years ago when I was 65...........Sawed with an alaska Granberg with a 281 Husky for 10 years before I got my MP 32. I sawed in the heat a few days ago and lost 6 pounds on the day. Great therapy !!! Say your prayers......

[Mike N]

I borrowed an LT-15 in 2001 at the age of 47 (It needed some work so I fixed it all up & sawed 45 Black Ash logs). The next year I bought the mill & sawed up about 1500 bd. ft. of Big Tooth Aspen.  Then over the next few years I sawed several logs mostly Red Pine, White Pine & Balsam Fir.  Over the last 4 years my brother & I have sawed approx. 20,000bd. Ft. of Red Oak. & about 6000 bd. ft. of Black Ash.  We are making paneling & hardwood flooring for our new homes.  The select boards we are using for cabinets.

I made some Red Oak hardwood flooring for my wood shed to practice before we make the real thing for our new home.  Tongue & groove bds. 5" wide.

[Jim_Rogers]

In 1994 I was 42 and been at it 18 years with my LT30HDG24 with BX6 extension to mill 22'.

[levans]

I was about 48, and bought mine after having a logger say He would haul pine logs to be sold for half of what they brought. That's the going rate, but why do that when I had so many things that needed to be built.

[reride82]

I started putting my Belsaw together when I was 26, and refined it into what it is now within the year. I am now 28 

[grweldon]

Bought my TK1400 in June... I'm 50!

[Sprucegum]

I bought my old circle mill when I was 61 (almost 3 years ago). I had no idea I needed one until I joined this forum  ???  :D

[Meadows Miller]

I bought my old circle mill when I was 61 (almost 3 years ago). I had no idea I needed one until I joined this forum  ???  :D

Spruce We have lead many a person to what they need and Id say every man needs sawmill  ;) but then again I need some people not to have one as I need work for mine ill shutup now Mate  :-\   ;) :D :D :D :D

[ALWOL]

   Bought my first mill at 16. It was a large old circle mill, and came as a pile of rotten wood and scrap metal. I have bought and set up several since, but still use tha first one once in a while.

Alan

[RMay]

LT40 Manual at 45, LT40 HYD. that I sawed over a million BF. , LT40Super with command control & diesel ordered Monday at 56 retired and sawing full time , no more eye full of saw dust  8)

[MHineman]

  I was 49 in 2004 and bought a 5 year old WM LT40 manual mill.  Started as a hobby operator.  Within 2 years I had to find another method of bringing in money due to being downsized.  Now run the sawmill, log, and farm.

[Tom the Sawyer]

Retired 4/2009, bought my 2007 B20 (with less than 5 hours one it) 3 months later at the age of 58.   ;D :D ;D

Tom

[Tom L]

so I think I figured this out,
when we are in our 20-30's we all have spent all of our money on fast cars , fast women and fast boats

at the end of our 30's the fast cars are getting too fast so we sell them
the fast boats start to get trading in for ones that are slower and more comfortable to fish in

then for 5-8 or so years we buy nothing. we are bored. so we buy a manual sawmill and try it out.
because it is something that always has interested us , hey we are not that old right?
then after a year or two we figure out we are not 20 anymore and upgrade to a hydraulic mill.

then realize we can make some money while enjoying a mill that doesn't kick our butt every day.
and hope that someday we have the guts to tell everyone to sticker it and do something in life that
is enjoyable and move on from there.

[oklalogdog]

- I was 60 when I acquired the Foley's Belsaw M-14 and I am 61 now and have just purchased a Timberking 1220.  It was 108 degrees today when I made my first cut on the new mill - I'm way too old for this crap don't you think?

[Stephen1]

Started with a chainsaw mill while building my log cabin 10 years agao, fouind an old Norwood, or slivacraft from 1993 that needed some repairs, used it for 3 years, then decided that I needed some hydraulics if I wanted to do this for a retirement job. I bought a 1993 lt30hd last fall and have put on 200 hours whiole still holding my full time job, Soon i will retire, I think. :D
I just turned 56 .

[thecfarm]

oklalogdog,good luck with the new mill. Yes,it was kinda hot,but never to hot to play,  :D

[nas]

Bought a new Norwood in 2007 to saw lumber for the old farmhouse we had bought.  People found out about the mill and started to get me to cut logs for them, and to saw custom timbers.  Loved doing it and made a little money, but the manual mill was too much work :(  Upgraded to the LT40hd in 2009 and now saw full time and loving it 8) 8)

Of course the house still hasn't gotten done :

Nick

[BBTom]

I am another one that got his mill about 10 years ago, at the age of 50.  Seems like there are a bunch of us in the same age bracket. 

[mjl_2007]

Got my mill 2 years ago at 21.

[Delawhere Jack]

- I was 60 when I acquired the Foley's Belsaw M-14 and I am 61 now and have just purchased a Timberking 1220.  It was 108 degrees today when I made my first cut on the new mill - I'm way too old for this crap don't you think?

I met a gentleman near me with an LT40. He's 87 and still milling portable. He DID have the good sense to leave the mill parked during the heatwave. I guess wisdom comes with the years.

[flyboy16101]

Bought my lt28 2 years ago this october at age 20. had helped my great uncle with his lt15 a couple times and caught the bug

[Brucer]

My friend John (who doesn't have internet, which is why he isn't here) has run a home-made circle mill for years. After he broke his back 2 years ago he decided he needed something a little less labour intensive so he bought a brand new LT40 hydraulic.

He was 76 when he made the purchase ;D.

[Lookin4lunkers]

Of course I want one now or I wouldn't be here but it's just not in the cards (new morgage, infant son ect. ect.).  Hopefully it's in the ten year plan ;D

[js2743]

Got my Lucas 8-27 in February at age of 37, bought it to saw the lumber needed in a log house.

I got the logs for the house from someone that had bought them, then got job transferred. There is enough for a 32X60 with dove tail corners, plan on sawing all the other lumber that's needed to finish it. also going to finish all the inside with rough lumber, we want it to look like it was done way back then.