Buying A Bandsawmill, Any Recommendations?

[Renegade1LI]

I really don't need one, but I have some trees to take down that would be nice to mill into lumber. Some hardwoods for new kitchen cabinets, pine to reside the shop, build new shop, shed. I probably need my head examined but there are worse things to do. Who here has one or could recommend one, probably 26", would like to cut up to 16' boards. Not in a rush, just starting to look, haven't looked at used yet, but will, thanks.

 

[RTM]

@RivennHewn and one other at least have them

 

[southalabama]

Woodmizer. Pick your size but get hydraulics

 

[Renegade1LI]

Woodmizer. Pick your size but get hydraulics

I see lots of good reviews on Woodmizer, do you have one? Use one? Like to hear some first hand experience.

 

[PCustoms]

What's your budget?

You can easily spend $30-40k, mill the lumber, wait 5 years to air dry, find a wide planer and then start building your new cabinets.

 

[Tom Sestito]

I have a Woodland mills HM30MAX. Love it. Was about $8k CDN to my door when I bought it a few years ago, and I bought the sharpener with it.

It was easy to assemble, the instructions were great and the saw has been performing very well. I have about 20 hours on mine so far so I haven't used it a ton.

 

[ALinCarolina]

No offense but if it is just a dozen trees or so I don't think it is worth it. Can you post some photos of said trees? For nice usable boards the trees need to have a straight trunk with no branches until way up the tree. This generally only occurs when the trees are all growing close together. You will have a percentage that are low quality boards regardless. Then you will need to prepare a place for drying them, stickering, etc. Plan on one year of drying per inch of thickness. For siding the quality doesn't need to be high but for cabinets they probably should. If air dried outside you will ideally need to let them acclimate to the inside humidity levels. I have a complete shop so can joint, plane, etc. so when I was building my new shop on a thickly wooded site I had the trees cut and kiln dried by a friend. I still don't know for sure if it was all worth it.

 

[Renegade1LI]

What's your budget?

You can easily spend $30-40k, mill the lumber, wait 5 years to air dry, find a wide planer and then start building your new cabinets.

Budget is about 10k, not totally sure if this is a good idea, but may be a fun hobby. I can see this getting out of control, building a shed for it, drying area, etc.

 

[Renegade1LI]

No offense but if it is just a dozen trees or so I don't think it is worth it. Can you post some photos of said trees? For nice usable boards the trees need to have a straight trunk with no branches until way up the tree. This generally only occurs when the trees are all growing close together. You will have a percentage that are low quality boards regardless. Then you will need to prepare a place for drying them, stickering, etc. Plan on one year of drying per inch of thickness. For siding the quality doesn't need to be high but for cabinets they probably should. If air dried outside you will ideally need to let them acclimate to the inside humidity levels. I have a complete shop so can joint, plane, etc. so when I was building my new shop on a thickly wooded site I had the trees cut and kiln dried by a friend. I still don't know for sure if it was all worth it.

I have the tools and space to do it, trees are good for milling had a local tree guy come buy. Might be fun, might be a bad idea, I'm still in the thinking phase.

 

[RTM]

. Might be fun, might be a bad idea, I'm still in the thinking phase.

You should definitely read here then

Sawmill

After a month long wait, my sawmill arrived today! A couple years ago I started considering buying a mill. I started to research the different brands, pouring over reviews, and narrowed in on the Woodland Mills HM126 Woodlander. I know there are other machines out there, but this make/model...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[southalabama]

You aren’t going to get into a woodmizer for $10k IMHO

After a hurricane a friend had about ten acres of pines down. He couldn’t get a logging crew because everyone was so busy. He bought a woodmizer. He cut his trees and subsequently sold the mill for what he paid. I helped him run it a good bit.

 

[Renegade1LI]

You aren’t going to get into a woodmizer for $10k IMHO

After a hurricane a friend had about ten acres of pines down. He couldn’t get a logging crew because everyone was so busy. He bought a woodmizer. He cut his trees and subsequently sold the mill for what he paid. I helped him run it a good bit.

This is what I'm looking at, a little more$

LT15 Portable Sawmill

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woodmizer.com

 

[Renegade1LI]

You should definitely read here then

Sawmill

After a month long wait, my sawmill arrived today! A couple years ago I started considering buying a mill. I started to research the different brands, pouring over reviews, and narrowed in on the Woodland Mills HM126 Woodlander. I know there are other machines out there, but this make/model...

www.garagejournal.com

Thanks for the link, that's a nice machine and good value, worth looking into.

 

[RivennHewn]

You should definitely read here then

Sawmill

After a month long wait, my sawmill arrived today! A couple years ago I started considering buying a mill. I started to research the different brands, pouring over reviews, and narrowed in on the Woodland Mills HM126 Woodlander. I know there are other machines out there, but this make/model...

www.garagejournal.com

Thanks for the mention!


My only recommendation would be do your homework.

I love milling, but it takes time, space, and funds.

Mission creep is real. There is always “one more” tool or accessory that will “change your life”

 

[Renegade1LI]

Thanks for the mention!


My only recommendation would be do your homework.

I love milling, but it takes time, space, and funds.

Mission creep is real. There is always “one more” tool or accessory that will “change your life”

You're talking me into it, another tool that needs more tools, love it. I am seriously considering the wm126 seeing good reviews on it.

 

[RivennHewn]

A bit anecdotal, but my experience with Woodland Mills has been very positive.

I’ve heard how great Woodland Mill’s customer service is, but truth is, I’ve yet to need it.

My first advice is to not take assembly as a speed challenge. The more exacting you are, the less problems you’ll have later.

Read, and more importantly, understand the assembly instructions. One benefit is you’ll gain a great understanding of your machine. This will help when you do have an issue.

All machinery has maintenance requirements.

Stay on top of the maintenance, and high quality lumber will result.

Feel free to DM if you have any questions.

 

[RivennHewn]

My mill

 

[PCustoms]

A bit anecdotal, but my experience with Woodland Mills has been very positive.

I’ve heard how great Woodland Mill’s customer service is, but truth is, I’ve yet to need it.

I don't have a mill (yet) but I do have a stump grinder that I bought used.

I sent them an email over the weekend with some parts questions, and by the next Tuesday had a reply. Might have even been that Monday...

 

[glennm]

We have a frontier. Works really well and was reasonable price. Have a lot of fun with it. Milled some lumber today!

 

[RivennHewn]

We have a frontier. Works really well and was reasonable price. Have a lot of fun with it. Milled some lumber today!

Whatcha cutting there?

 

[southalabama]

This is what I'm looking at, a little more$

LT15 Portable Sawmill

#html-body [data-pb-style=J45TVG6],#html-body [data-pb-style=XCTJ1ET]{justify-content:flex-start;display:flex;flex-direction:column;background-position:left top;background-size:cover;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-attachment:scroll}#html-body...

woodmizer.com

My friend had an LT35 with hydraulics on a trailer and a blade sharpening tool.

 

[cgrutt]

My buddy bought a wood mizer a couple years ago but believe it was in the $30 - $40k range. I'm not sure which model it is but here is pic.



The building that it sits in was milled on it. All the wood (except for a small amount of cedar) was harvested off his property.




This outhouse was one of many projects I've posted it before.



He has big plans to build a number of cabins on property but hasn't started on those yet. All the wood will be harvested and milled on site.

 

[glennm]

Whatcha cutting there?

We had some nice spalted birch (a couple of logs) and a nice cherry that has some rot in the middle. We also cut up some ash to keep the pile level. It’s piled in my chicken coupe, gets nice and warm in there on the sunny days.

 

[Renegade1LI]

We had some nice spalted birch (a couple of logs) and a nice cherry that has some rot in the middle. We also cut up some ash to keep the pile level. It’s piled in my chicken coupe, gets nice and warm in there on the sunny days.

That Will be next, making a drying room, saw some good ideas with a conex box.