Any suggestions on a good portable sawmill

[backwoodscedar]

I'm new to the Sawyer side of things I started my own little logging business just doing staves,poles etc. Business has been somewhat good but everyone keeps asking when am I going to get a sawmill. I been looking around and within a 50mile radius there is no sawmill got alot off family in the building and construction side of stuff and I have access to over 2000 acres of good cedar timber so what I'm getting to is what would be a good sawmill for a first timer but I also am a one man show

[Kbeitz]

That's kinda like the Ford verses Chevy thing...

[Dave Shepard]

Start looking at our sponsors to the left.  I have a Wood Mizer, and it has been great, with great customer service. Welcome to the Forum.

[Magicman]

Adding your location to your profile helps with questions/answers, and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

The sponsors on the left offer many levels of sawmill ranging from entry/hobby level to professional.  Knowing your intended market, available support equipment, and labor will help to determine which level of sawmill and related options that you might need.  Of course there is always the old "budget" that is also a deciding factor.

[backwoodscedar]

Sorry my location is around Stillwater Oklahoma and I've gotten to know a lot of Carpenters and custom home builders who would love custom beams and lumber and I would eventually like to slowly start learning to build funiture.  And thank you I have like the forum since I have sign up have found it very useful and everyone is very helpful and I have been doing a lot of research and I've got one guy that uses a woodmizer and another who uses a timberking but I've like how woodland Mills are setup to

[GAB]

I agree with what others have written.
I, however, would suggest that once you decide on one or a few possibilities that you visit a or some owners and spend some time with them.
I also highly recommend that you be the off bearer for a few logs to get the feel of the ergonomics of the mills you are considering.  This can make a big difference on how you or your employees feel at the end of a hard day.
Proximity to the local office for parts and maintenance might be a consideration if down time is a concern.
Gerald

[TKehl]

Welcome.

Budget?  Size requirements?  Manual vs. hydraulic?

There are few to no bad mills out there as they would go out of business quickly.  Like a lot of things though, there are different levels of robustness, hobby grade up to commercial production and everything in between.  A lot of it boils down to preference.   

Since we are talking cedar, it is most often smaller diameter, lighter, and other than knots, pretty easy cutting.  Due to the taper in cedar, you will want something to adjust for that, either factory or fabricated after the fact.  Honestly, with cedar, it may be easier to set up stationary and bring the logs to the mill rather than try to be portable.

I will say I don't think you could go wrong with any of the site sponsors.

[Bandmill Bandit]

From the limited info you have provided and from my own personal experience I would advise some thing with power options as it would seem to me you will have full time milling work shortly after you buy the mill.

At a minimum an LT40 Hydraulic mill would be where I would start BUT I can tell you will out grow it pretty quick based on the market profile you say you likely have for your business.

The LT40 Super or the LT50 with full option load would be my advise.

There are other pretty good mills out there, but like farm equipment there is only one John Deere. In the case of sawmills, the paint is Orange instead of Green.

That paint stands for a LOT of after purchase value that the others work hard to emulate but never really get to the same level.

Good luck! You are already a member of the support group that will help you deal with your addiction to saw dust. 

[Ianab]

Lots of different (and confusing) options for sure. But your plan has merit because you have identified your log supply, have the means to obtain it, and have your potential markets lined up too. That part of the plan is more important than the colour of the mill.

If you intend to move more towards sawing, then spending big on a LT40 with all the power options may be a good plan. But that's big $$, and basically you need to be sawing most of the time to pay for the beast. Because you can get good production, you are able to pay off the mill easily enough. But if it's a part time sideline thing where you are "testing the market" and trying to work out where your business is going to go, it's a big commitment.

Where as dropping $4,000 on a Woodland will get you sawing and give you product in the shed ready to sell, without having to sell your soul to the bank manager.

Other thoughts are:
Assuming you have "logging equipment" already, and can move the logs to the sawmill easily, do you have 3 phase electric power, or decent single phase that can be put through a phase converter?  If you do, electric is the way to go for cheaper running and lower maintenance. It would also let you add a heavy duty planer and shaper to your operation, as used heavy duty woodworking machines can often be had pretty cheap if they are 3 phase (most hobby operations can't power them). These go along with your thought of making some furniture yourself, so you keep your options open there as well.

Now your operation becomes more diversified, and you end up spending only a small part of the time on each task. Logging for a day, sawing for a day, another day to stacking / unstack the drying lumber, a day machining product to make finished mantles, T&G panelling etc, and a day with selling and deliveries. You still have Saturday to work on your furniture, and you can have Sunday off.  Of course it will never be that organised as the builder is going to need need his stuff delivered on Tuesday, but you get the idea. You might be actually milling for only 20% of your time. A huge mill is hard to justify in that scenario. Sure you can do the milling part quicker, but it doesn't help the rest of the operation.

Now once you get things going, maybe (probably?) you will find things move in slightly different directions. If you find yourself doing more sawing, which is possible if you have the only mill for miles, then you can upgrade to a better mill. But then something else will have to go on the back burner. The logging and wood sales get cut back, but that's not a problem if you are making good money sawing someone else's logs. If wood sales are slower than you thought, you can spend more time with the logging, and keep the mill and machine shop going as a side line, as they don't owe you a fortune. But you want that flexibility.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[ladylake]

 
There are a lot of good mills, over here I don't like to pay for overpriced paint. I like simple easy to fix equipment.  Steve

[grouch]

Bah! That crazy Ianab's just trying to make things complicated cuz he as to wear velcro to keep from falling off the planet. All you need to do is (1) buy a sombrero, (2) dig a pit about 7 feet deep, (3) get a good 2 man rip saw, (4) con, er, persuade a buddy to don the sombrero and handle the end of the ripsaw that hangs down in the pit, (5) you handle the part above the pit and saw to the line. There's your sawmill. You're welcome. Where's my commission?

[DPatton]

Backwoods,

Welcome to the fourm! Sounds like the sawdust bug is about to sink its teeth into you for good. Just a word of caution it is very addictive.
You have named all very good mills all with many owners who are active on this site. Some will have you believe that only color matters but you will soon find that there are many many members here sawing with any color you can think of.
I think you have already touched base on some of the most important facts to make your mill choice's on. We know your young enough to operate a manual mill for many years to come, but you also indicate you are a one man show and have the potential to grow into a more production oriented business. Those two things plus the desire to be portable, along with your targeted tree species tell me you should be considering a fully hydraulic bandmill.
Do you have a budget in mind for a mill and have you considered support equipment such as forklift, and a place to store and operate your mill out of? Also you need a place to dry and store your product as well.
Happy mill hunting and please keep us posted with what you decide to buy and of course any questions you have along the way.

[Chuck White]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Backwoodscedar!

My best advice is to go out and see a few mills in operation or maybe a little "hands-on"!

[Magicman]

You mentioned "portable" which means "wheels" to me.  That also means that the sawmill will be high enough off of the ground to require some means of loading the logs onto the sawmill bed.  Winching may be OK, but loading and turning logs are for hydraulics. 

You also mentioned a WM and a TK close to you.  It would be nice if you could visit each of them, but they could view you as competition.   

[backwoodscedar]

Thanks to everyone for there advise. The reason for portable is because I got two places that are both 200ac each of good grade cedar and I can setup there at those places and I got land to setup at home but trying to keep business and home separate if you know what I mean and I have a tractor in the process of getting a new Holland 48 horse with loader and for the gentleman on saying I only have small logs cause of cedar yes cedar can be small but most of the properties I have access to have 80yr plus cedar on them and I've taken a log tape and have scale several at 38in 10ft up off the ground so yes I know it's not hardwoods but I got some pretty nice size cedar trees and both the Mills that are close to me I have visited both and have actually became good friends they have sent me some work cause one only does funiture and the other does a little of both so I have seen a WM lt15 in action and a TK 1220 and like them both but I hear more people say bad things about WM over TK and I was looking at either the TK 1400 or 1600 to start but it will be a big investment and want to make sure I'm making a good choice

[backwoodscedar]

And my other question to go with this is if I do go with a timberking what would be the best blades that will last for it

[ladylake]

I've tried out quite a few blades and always come back to Simonds, saw straight, take a lot of sharpening's and are priced good.  Steve

[petefrom bearswamp]

Mills are like lovin
All good but some better than others

[Magicman]

I've taken a log tape and have scale several at 38in

Is that diameter or circumference? 

[muggs]

Stillwater I know it well. That is where I finally get off of I-40 after coming from Ca. Head south on 59 to around Heavener where our mill was.   Muggs 8)

[backwoodscedar]

The diameter is roughly 38. And Simonds I'll have to check those out. And yes that's where Stillwater is it a good place love it here

[Magicman]

You will have a difficult time sawing those 38" logs with a 4 post sawmill without some serious chainsaw work.

[ladylake]

 Wont be much trimming at all with the new TK mills with 37" between the sturdy post, 46" above the deck and 32" between the guide rollers I think they will handle a 38" log better than a LT40 .  Plus the TK2200 and up have even bigger dimensions.  Steve

[Magicman]

True Steve.  If oversized logs will be the normal, then wide decisions need to be made before the purchase....not after and I was not making this a "brand battle".  The OP already indicated that he was leaning toward a TK.

[ladylake]

 Seemed like you were saying a cantilevered mill would work better on that size log as it would compared to my B20 but TK has upped the capacity on their new mills a lot. I'm thinking of buying a Cooks wide push along mill to cut my big ones down to size plus some wide table tops (52'') .   Steve