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Part-Time Sawmill Business

Started by Mcgeezer, November 17, 2017, 04:30:21 PM

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starmac

I missed a good deal on a newer one of those at an auction a while back, been kicking myself ever since for not bidding another round or two.

I have a friend that has an old forklift, not sure who even made it, but large tires all the way around, 4 wheel drive, rear steer and articulates too.
As far as I know he has never used it, but won't even talk about selling it either.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Mcgeezer

Quote from: starmac on November 22, 2017, 03:33:02 PM
McGeezer, are you looking at this as part time and keeping your day job for a living, or as your way to make a living.
To make a long story short, I'm in a very high-stress education job at the moment, which I'm looking to transition out of as it is becoming very hard on me and my new family.
I want to mill as much as I can part-time, but supplement my income as a substitute teacher (which actually pays pretty well) to make ends meet.  Also, like many of you fellas out there, I'll be relying heavily on my wife and her high paying/great benefits career  :laugh:.

I'm keen on going as far as the business takes me, and not scared of possible failures as I do have a career as a backup.  I am realistic the first 2+ years will be learning/small scale sales.  I'm not afraid of hard work, am very physically fit, have lots of bush/chainsaw experience, but most of all I know I'll be content....

Tkhel, that is a beauty!!  20,000+ I'm assuming?

Kbeitz

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

moodnacreek

A forklift or forks on some machine  that is handy in your yard is what you will need [ as others have said]. I work alone and just bought my 3rd forklift. It's the newest and most expensive vehicle we have. Kept the old one just in case. I can stack thick "slabs' [ I hate this term] on sticks with a forklift that I can not manhandle.  Drying the lumber you cut is where many beginners lose it. Drying also means [drying] without splits ,twists,cupping and stain. There is a lot to it. Consider log and lumber live decks. Try to visit other set ups . All lumber should have a place to go before it's cut, on sticks and under cover. I could go on but good luck.

TKehl

Quote from: Mcgeezer on November 22, 2017, 05:25:03 PM
Tkhel, that is a beauty!!  20,000+ I'm assuming?

I don't think it will lift nearly that much!   ::)  Has AG tires on it and is basically a D15 Allis Chalmers with some mods (High Low hand clutch becomes forward reverse hydraulic shuttle shift).  Weighs about 8k Lbs.  Should lift 5k Lbs.  (May be optimistic, we'll see.)   ;)
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

Ianab

What my back lawn looks like at the moment   :D Give you an idea of what you could reasonably expect working weekends with a setup like mine. Trees have been felled and milled at a friends property 5 mins down the road.



Stacks on the left are Sheoak, a VERY hard timber that give most band mill fits when they try and cut it. Stacks on the right are from one pine tree, and are going to become a new internal wall for my workshop, then the dry Sheoak can be moved into the shed for storage out of the weather. Similar sized stacks of Cypress and Cedar are already in the shed. This is just a hobby side line for me, but I'm starting to sell a bit of stuff. People are happy to pay $50 for a nice laminated serving board that's real simple to make if you have some contrasting woods laying about. Wooden play furniture for local Kindergartens is another thing I dabble in, and there is a push for "green" and sustainable there, so locally built from "salvage" trees is a selling point over something Chinese or plastic. The cedar and cypress holds up well in the weather, and avoids the "treated timber" worries as well.

Now if I wanted to expand much more, I'd need more space / machinery / tools / an actual truck etc. But the mill and it's little trailer I would be keeping as it works fine for what I need.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

starmac

Kbeitz, somewhere on this web is some pictures of Honda goldwings that fold out and make wreckers to tow broken vehicles. Iirc they are in use and stationed at a tunnel in Japan. Pretty impressive.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

starmac

I found it, it is Swedish built, not Japan.  I can't do pictures, but here is a link. It is called the retriever.

https://newatlas.com/go/5688/
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Kbeitz

Quote from: starmac on November 22, 2017, 10:02:50 PM
I found it, it is Swedish built, not Japan.  I can't do pictures, but here is a link. It is called the retriever.

https://newatlas.com/go/5688/

Thanks... Found a video... Sure hope they don't have to stop fast...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g42oP7hUVTM
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Mcgeezer

Very cool Ianab,

And you have a Peterson mill correct?  Nice to see you enjoy your hobby and sell a bit on the side...

Do many of you sell your green rough cut lumber, or do you find more value/demand in planing/drying timbers?

Ianab

I tend to sell more finished items.
You can saw a log, and sell the wood for $100. Or make it into furniture and sell it for $1000. That also makes the mill productivity less of an issue because if it only takes 1/2 a day of sawing to process a tree. Then you spend a week working with It, so a faster mill won't improve your over-all production much. A better planer / sander / spray gun might be more use.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

starmac

I am with you 100% Ianab, though I do not do fine woodwork. It is highly doubtful I could get the price of green rough cut lumber, maybe even the stumpage for the log out of any piece of furniture I am likely to build.

That said there is a fairly good market for portable out buildings, chicken houses, even out houses, small cabin kits and things like that that can make it well worth building something over just selling lumber.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Resonator

quote - "You can saw a log, and sell the wood for $100. Or make it into furniture and sell it for $1000."

Exactly! I'm new to the forum, and just purchased a brand new Wood Mizer LT28. I am staring my own business (LLC), and have been  thinking about "Value added product" that I can make with the raw material I produce. To start I built a 4x6 deer hunting blind out of rough sawn spruce from my land, which I sold it for a profit. And that's what I wanted to ask, and that is what do you guys see trending/ selling successfully as far as small structures go? I know I can't compete price wise with the guy down the road that has an LT40 hydraulic for portable custom sawing, (though he is a family friend :), but I can build something to sell. I'm reading up on as much of this as I can from the huge wealth of info here, and hope to "Get my ducks in a row, and not count my chickens till they're hatched." (Old saying x2.)
THANKS
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

WV Sawmiller

Resonator,

   Good luck to you on your venture.

    When I started to set up my business I was thinking about setting up an LLC for lawsuit protection but remember reading something here that if I was the operator, which I always would be, I could still be open to such lawsuits so opted for a sole proprietorship. Depending on how far along your are on setting up your business you might check on that. Just a thought.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Resonator

 I have already created a business name, and had my lawyer register it with the state as a LLC. I am trying things out this first year to see what works best. If don't want to continue as a LLC, I just notify the state/ discontinue paying the yearly registration fee. I will see tax wise what makes more cents as well.
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

TKehl

Tax wise a LLC and and sole proprietor are both pass through income, so taxes are the same.

LLC can give your personal assets better protection from business related issues.  IE, your Liability is Limited to the capital invested in the business.  If something goes south, the other person can't sue for your house in most cases. 

In reality, an LLC is a lot like insurance.  Most of the time you don't use it, but when you do, you're really glad its there.   ;)
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

Ianab

Quote from: starmac on November 23, 2017, 02:03:35 PM
I am with you 100% Ianab, though I do not do fine woodwork. It is highly doubtful I could get the price of green rough cut lumber, maybe even the stumpage for the log out of any piece of furniture I am likely to build.

That said there is a fairly good market for portable out buildings, chicken houses, even out houses, small cabin kits and things like that that can make it well worth building something over just selling lumber.

Dont sell yourself short.

"Rustic" and "Sturdy" are both selling points for both picnic tables and outhouses.   ;)

I've just got another contact from a lady that wants wooden furniture for her home daycare. Toybox, John Deere rocking tractor and some other assorted stuff. Toyboxes I've done (Rustic AND Sturdy), but a rocking tractor is going next level. At least rustic and tractor go together, so I'm willing to invest in a couple of rattle cans of Green and Yellow paint and give it a go.   :D

People sometimes ask me what my actual job is.

Stay at home Dad.
Computer tech.
Sawmiller.
Woodworker.
And add to that now, Mail sorter (new part time job)

I thought about getting business cards, but how to you reconcile all that on one card? :D


Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

starmac

Actually, rustic heavy duty picnic tables sell well and for good bucks too. I was not counting them as in the same league as fine furniture.
For a while I sold boulders, and got into making planters out of boulders, it was a lot of manual labor, but folks paid some big bucks for them.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

Kbeitz

Quote from: Ianab on November 24, 2017, 05:43:17 AM
Quote from: starmac on November 23, 2017, 02:03:35 PM
I am with you 100% Ianab, though I do not do fine woodwork. It is highly doubtful I could get the price of green rough cut lumber, maybe even the stumpage for the log out of any piece of furniture I am likely to build.

That said there is a fairly good market for portable out buildings, chicken houses, even out houses, small cabin kits and things like that that can make it well worth building something over just selling lumber.

Dont sell yourself short.

"Rustic" and "Sturdy" are both selling points for both picnic tables and outhouses.   ;)

I've just got another contact from a lady that wants wooden furniture for her home daycare. Toybox, John Deere rocking tractor and some other assorted stuff. Toyboxes I've done (Rustic AND Sturdy), but a rocking tractor is going next level. At least rustic and tractor go together, so I'm willing to invest in a couple of rattle cans of Green and Yellow paint and give it a go.   :D

People sometimes ask me what my actual job is.

Stay at home Dad.
Computer tech.
Sawmiller.
Woodworker.
And add to that now, Mail sorter (new part time job)

I thought about getting business cards, but how to you reconcile all that on one card? :D

It's hard to get everything o one card. You can also print on the back...



 
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Mcgeezer

Interesting.  The more I think about it, I see to

  

  

  tally the value in finished products.
I've made a few harvest tables for myself and family and the feedback has been spectacular...Everyone seems to want one.  Now, If I can mill the wood and finish the product and made unique family gathering places I think there's profit there.....at least for part of my business.  I estimate here in this market I could sell an 8ft table for $1000+


Ianab

That's the idea I'm getting at.

Then with a small portable mill and trailer, if it takes a whole day to fall, mill and haul home one tree, that's OK. You now have enough wood to build a couple of thousand $ of tables, which you obviously already have the tools and skills to do.

Now you don't need to spend up large on a truck / automated sawmill / skid steer etc. You need things like that if you are chasing bulk production, which is what you need if you are selling rough sawn lumber.

But of course be flexible, you may end up going down that road in the future. Or you may decide that you need a drying kiln and more woodwork equipment instead.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

brianJ

Then with a small portable mill and trailer, if it takes a whole day to fall, mill and haul home one tree, that's OK.

Actually this is the perfect scenario why you would purchase lumber from a local sawyer.   Also a lot of ways to skin a cat.


But Heck,  most of us here do things we enjoy instead of only chasing cash.

Southwood

I bought a woodland mills hm126 & have had it for 2 years & have had nothing but problems. Woodland is still trying to figure out my problems. Since day 1 I have always had tracking problems among other things. Now I'm waiting for new band wheels & tracking assembly. I have spent more time working on the mill than using it. I have maybe been able to cut about 30 logs since owning it & nothing has been consistent. It's obvious to me & many others that I got a defective mill. I wish they would acknowledge it & just replace it. I have had to put off my homestead projects & building my workshop because it's always failing or I'm waiting on new parts. There are not too many more parts I can change. My neighbor has had his woodmizer around 6 months longer than me & has not had any problems. If I had it to do all over again I would of bought the woodmizer lt10 for a $1000 more & saved myself time, money, & stress, & gotten a better built mill. It's been 2 years & were still troubleshooting it.

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