Getting started what mill?

[crane op]

I am wanting to buy a mill either a wood mizer lt40 or timberking 200o. I have 120 acres of mixed hard woods. I will be cutting oak hickory walnut and black locust.I would like to cut my lumber and once I get the hang of it do some custom milling. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. p.s. this is my first time posting on a forum and im not to computer savy please bear with me.

[beenthere]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
You will find a lot of good support for both makes of these mills from what I have gathered from reading the Forum over the years.

Where abouts are you?
Any milling experience?
Have you pulled up some threads here on the different mills through the "search" function (tab along top)?? 
Have you looked at the multitude of videos available? Not easy to look at them all

Pull up the proverbial stump and chat about what you have in mind, and maybe if there are any mills to see in your local area. (put some info in your bio, that will help).

Our sponsors have great information and very willing to help, including additional brands to the ones you mentioned. Lean on them.  ;D  All these sponsors' mills will cut good lumber from your logs so sorting them out that way won't work very well. ;)

[crane op]

I have zero milling experience.  I have been running farm equip, construction equip, and chain saws from a young age. Hopefully I posted this in the right section I'm just learning how to do this.

[Dave Shepard]

Welcome to the Forum! I own a WM LT40 Super. WM is a great company. I don't have any TK experience, but there are a bunch of satisfied TK users on here as well. My first bit of advice is hydraulics. ;D I love'em. :D

[Magicman]

Hello    crane op, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. 

Sawmill owners tend to be partial to their brands, so the best answer to your question will come from yourself.  You need to actually put your hands on both machines or even others to be able to judge for yourself.  Reading here will also point out some strengths and weaknesses but real problems are vigorously addressed by manufacturers and corrected. 

Adding some personal information and your location to your profile will help us to identify some sawmill owners that my be close to you and willing to let you operate their sawmill as well as give you some other hands on experience.

[drobertson]

Well said Lynn, I would recommend hands on all that interest you,  david

[Nomad]

     Magicman gave good advice.  See if you can find a Forum member near you who might let you play with him for a few hours.  Check the members map.  Add your location to your profile and maybe somebody will even make the offer.  Also, many manufacturers have lists of people who will either demo their mills for you or maybe let you play for awhile as well.
     And welcome to the Forum!

[cutterboy]

Welcome crane. You have posted in the right section. Let your search for a sawmill be fun and not stressful. There is no such thing as a perfect mill, but almost all mills sold today are good mills. Whatever mill you chose will saw good lumber and you will enjoy it. Try sawing on as many mills as possible, but keep in mind that you will probably love all that you try. Good luck on your quest.... exciting times are ahead for you.     Cutter

[thecfarm]

crane op,welcome to the forum. What's all the lumber going to be used for? There might be a woods expo near you,I just went to one just about 2 hours from me. Had a good time seeing the sawmills in motion. Might even be some at a County Fair. Take your time and enjoy the search. I looked and dreamed for 10 years before I had the money.

[crane op]

First off I would like to thank everyone for the warm welcome.Once I get this computer figured out I will do a profile. I would love to see any band mill work all the mills that I know of close to me are circular. The wood iplan to cut for myself will be used for a saw shed ,hunting cabin and fire wood storage sheds. From reading other posts on here I have found links and advise on building with green lumber and I think ill give it a try.

[WmFritz]

Your posting like an old pro already, crane op.  ;)
One word of warning though!  Sawdust in your pockets gets addicting.  smiley_alcoholic_01

[justallan1]

Welcome to the forum, Crane Op.
Like advised by others check out all of your options, watch as many videos as possible, try to find some shows to get to, ask any questions you may have and definitely spend a little time running some and talk with the folks who have had the mills awhile to get their opinion.

Allan

[dgdrls]

Welcome aboard crane op.   

As others have indicated you'll decide what you like best.
It's the Red tractor or Green tractor decision,
Now, I will add, maybe you would find a circle mill to your liking over a band?, Orange tractor. :D

My suggestion is test drive as many as you can and visit with sawyers.

Best
DGD

[Seaman]

Welcome, I agree with all, look at and play with as many mills as possible. As Dgdrls said, look outside the band box also, especially if you have larger logs.
Frank

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum Crane Op.

I don't know about TK, but a Wood-Mizer rep. will get you started sawing when they deliver your mill.  TK most likely would too.  They'll make sure that you have the "basic" skills to operate the mill.

You don't have to obligate yourself to a new mill either, mine is a 1995 and I bought it in 2008, and at 13 years old it was cutting just fine when I got it and is today!
You can save yourself lots of money by going used!

[jdonovan]

There is much more than just the mill that you will need to be successful.

There will be an array of supporting equipment. Tractor/skid-steer/excavator etc.. to move, haul, load logs, waste slabs, and sawdust. Kilns/sheds to dry, and store the lumber.

I would venture to say there is more cost in buildings and support equipment than the mill itself.


120 Acres is good to work from, but do you have any markets identified for the lumber?

Resources like trees are only valuable when/if you get paid. Many people will tell you species of tree XXXYYYZZZ is super valuable, and worth $2000 a bd-ft, but these are the same people who don't know anyone who will really write the check for that amount. They have just 'heard' they are that valuable.

[dboyt]

Crain op, welcome to the forum.  With your construction experience, becoming a sawmill op will be a piece of cake!  I would like to personally invite you to the Great Portable Sawmill Shoot-Out at this year's Paul Bunyan Show in Cambridge, Ohio Oct 5th &6th.  You can see band mills and swing blade mills working side-by-side, and talk with salesmen, as well as people who run the machines every day for their business.  There will also be loaders, edgers, conveyors, tractors, firewood splitters, and just about every kind of support equipment you can imagine.  You can find out more about the show & Shoot-Out by visiting the website www.ohioforest.org.  Hope to see you there!  By the way, if you want to come to southwest Missouri to play with my Norwood mill, drop me a personal message.

[pri0ritize]

I would make sure you take your time and give a good look at swingmills as well. If you've got the support equipment to load them it looks like they can put a good amount of board footage out.

I have an LT40 and I really like it, I've had nothing but great service from WM as well.

[crane op]

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my post. Now to answer a few of the questions. I think I probably have more support equipment than I could ever use in this small of operation as my parents farm 15000 acres and we do our own land clearing. I really hadn't planned to sell much wood off our land at first. I prefer to learn (screw up) cutting lumber for my own use .Down the road I would love to mill other peoples lumber at their location. The main reason for getting a mill is to learn a valuable new skill and keep me busy during the winter( the wife says I need something to do other  than hunt every day). I am definitely looking at used mills and thanks for the invite to ohio for the shootout I hope we can make it.

[bandmiller2]

Hook op,your used to working with real machinery,find a mill with the goodies hyd. loading, power feed debarker est.,you'll save your back and greatly increase your production.Oh and welcome. Frank C.

[redbeard]

Welcome crane op !  When I got hooked on sawmilling it took a couple of years to bite the bullet. Studied and studied them all. In the mean time I had my logs sawn on circle mills and band mills. Welcome to your new adventure in life !

[crane op]

Ok some one explain blade degrees relative to type of wood . please

[customsawyer]

Welcome to the forum. For the most part the lower degree blades are for harder wood and higher degree blades for softer woods. I have been running 10° blades for all of my sawing for several years. I recently tried a 7° turbo blade by WM and might be switching over to them in the future. I have not tried them on pine yet so I have not made my decision yet. When WDH, myself and a few others were cutting some pecan (is in the hickory family and is considered the  due to how hard it is to cut) this past weekend we used 4° blades.

[bandmiller2]

Crane op,a couple of things to consider.Resale value WM has that by the short hairs.Sharpening bands is a big consideration you can go WM resharp or invest in a grinder and setter.If your lucky theirs a shop or individual in your area who will sharpen and set for you.If your mill will be kept on the farm give serious consideration to an electric,it is by far the best power for a stationary mill.I have used boath,electric is quiet,economical,and no fumes. Frank C.

[dboyt]

I keep an assortment of 10, 7 & 4 degree blades because I cut everything from pine to hedge.  I agree, less hook angle makes for a less aggressive cut which works better for the harder woods, and it stays sharp longer.  More hook angle in the soft woods will give you a higher production.  A lot depends on engine h.p.-- more power allows a greater angle for faster cutting.  By definition, hook is the angle at which the point of the blade meets the wood.  Here's an illustration.


 

Find out where other sawyers take their blades for sharpening.  If you are lucky enough to find someone local who does a good job, problem solved.  If you sharpen your own blades, you will also need a tooth setter.

Resale value depends more on the condition of the mill than the brand name. Keep it in a shed and maintain it well.  Sawmills that offer a hydraulic retrofit option allow you to start manual and build it to your needs as the business grows, so re-selling isn't even an issue, as far as I'm concerned.