Saw mills

[Francis Robinson]

This is really a great site but how come I don't see a "saw mill" forum.
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How many guys have a saw mill of some sort (my hand is up).

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Woodmizer LT15
Diesel

ken

[Francis Robinson]

Woodmizer LT15
Diesel

ken

I bought the little LT-10 Woodmizer since I will only be hobby cutting with it. For some years I owned a Kasco "The Saw II" and did some commercial cutting with it. I could cut a log 24' long and 30" in diameter with it. It had electric up and down and electric feed. I used it maybe 6 or 7 years and sold it for almost what I paid for it new. I bought it through the then company owner Paul Kaster (now deceased) who was a very good friend of my father back in the late 1940's and 1950's and he and I later became good friends. Nice guy. I sold it after I got tired of people bringing me crooked 5" logs and wanting me to cut straight 6"x6" square post out of them.
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I had a little home-made circle mill before that that was just plain dangerous. a farmer and a black smith developed a decent design but quit improving it too soon. It was prone to having the carriage run off of the rails now and then...
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Sadly my little Woodmizer is still sitting in the shop with a lot of the stuff in boxes. I have two tractor engines I need to rebuild and deliver in the next two weeks then I should be ready to set it up for some winter sawing. I need to get some rough stuff cut for some stable work I need to do before real winter sets in.

[Dave Lehnert]

I do not own one but would like to HAVE one.

The Woodmizer LT10 would be kinda neat to have
http://www.woodmizer.com/us/sawmills...lt10/lt10.aspx

For some reason I like the Norwood sawmill. Never seen one in person, just on the net.
http://www.norwoodindustries.com/en/...d_sawmill.aspx

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Woodmizer LT-40 manual. Would like to have a hydraulic but I'm not the one who does most of the cutting and we try to have stuff that can be rolled with a cant hook.

[Steve Clardy]

Sold my LT-30 a few years back. I had it for 10 years

[Rich Souchek]

Chain saw mill here...

[James White]

Norwood LM2000 here. I couldn't be happier.

James

[Dave Lehnert]

Norwood LM2000 here. I couldn't be happier.

James

Do you use your Norwood for business or hobby?

I have access to logs. Just not sure how often I would use it.
Do you load logs by hand? That is how I would need to do it.

[Michael Conner]

I have a Lucas 618. Works well for me.

[James White]

Hi Dave,

I use my mill mostly for hobby use. Although I have milled logs for some neighbors. One was a barter deal the other for cash.

I originally purchased the mill to mill the logs that I cleared on my property when I started to build my house. I had romantic notions of doing 2400 sq ft of oak flooring. Cut,dried, machined and installed all by me with enough time left over to build the rest of the house. That was till reality hit me with a clue x 4. I did get to make all my window extensions, casings, stair treads and risers though. A nice ash Roubo work bench, some book cases for the wife and my Arts and Crafts dresser is in the works now. Not to mention about 500 bf of dried lumber plus another 1000 or so stickered in the yard.

I did wind up buying a small Allmand 25 TLB. Its a front end loader and back hoe with quick attach forks. Loading the logs without a machine is the easy part. Moving the logs around the property and stacking/unstacking them is the hard part. That is unless you just drag them in the dirt and get all kinds of dirt and rocks lodged into every nook and cranny.

My mill with the 13hp Honda option was 5K two years ago. I can easily see it paying for itself. But it is a joy to have and make useful lumber for yourself or to sell. The tractor was needed for doing retaining walls and the other landscaping. As for the other woodworking machines and tools. Well Ya just gotta have them dontcha?

James

[Al Weber]

Sure there can be sawmill section here but in the meantime check out the Sawmills and Milling section at ArboristSite.com. Great information and linked into the forestry industry so maybe broader coverage.

[Scott T Smith]

I have a Peterson WPF swingblade mill with 64' of track. The longest boards that I have milled so far have been 44'.

I also have a Granberg Chainsaw mill, and a Nyle DH kiln.

I primarily mill very large diameter oak logs, with the objective of obtaining very wide quartersawn boards for resale after kiln drying. My inventory system tracks not only bookmatched boards, but also side matched, log matched, and tree matched for maximum consistency.

[Izzy Camire]

I have a Logmaster LM-2. Fully hydraulic and diesel. Great machine.
For me it is a great feeling to take trees from my own property and turn them into useful lumber.
I recently built a barn from the wood I sawed out.

[Jim Dailey]

I have a Lucas 725 w/40' of rail but have been too busy with other projects to use it much...

jim