Originally Posted by
Tom Hogard
The previous comment is somewhat misleading. On the topic of insurance, unfortunately, not all sawyers have insurance - mobile or stationary (very risky both for them, and for you). Not all sawyers are farmers, and farm owner's insurance may not cover commercial operations, open to the public, on the farm. I know of instances where operating a market on the farm caused increases in rates. Many insurance underwriters freak at the mere mention of a sawmill (farm policy or not). I mill at home, and on-site, my insurance covers both. My insurance, both business liability and sawmill & related equipment, runs less than $5 per day.
It should be more expensive to have someone come to you, you are asking for more services. For my clients, if they have the equipment to load and transport logs safely, then they bring them here and only pay milling fees. If you have to rent or borrow a trailer, and maybe a truck, and hire (or impose) on family or friends to help you muscle the logs on the trailer - you might consider the cost of travel and setup to be quite reasonable. Many of my clients do. If they have more logs than they could haul in one load, even those with equipment usually prefer to have on-site milling.
I go through an educational process with each new client, we discuss what they hope to get from their lumber, what thicknesses they need (which may vary depending on species, width of cut, figure, etc.), handling the lumber after it is milled, and anything else that comes up during that discussion. At my mill, the first log always takes a bit longer; we verify the thickness, wane, the rhythm of the process, etc.. For many clients, this might be the first time they have had a log milled, or ever worked with rough sawn material, and they may not know what to expect. Misunderstandings, like lumber to thin to finish at specs, shouldn't happen but do. If your sawyer does something unexpected, or something doesn't look right, speak up. We care that you are pleased with the product we create from your logs.