Ordered a Sawmill

About 2 years ago, I completely got out of woodworking and sold off all my tools. Many of you guys bought them. LOL We pursued other interests and hobbies and I have only built a few things with hand tools in the mean time. Anyway, fast forward to today and we have a hobby sized sawmill on order. :)

My Dad and I went in halves on it. We studied and read everything we could and finally decided to get a Norwood Frontier OS23 with 10hp motor for our first rodeo. I wanted to go a little higher end, but we were sticking to a budget and didn't want to wait 22 to 53 weeks. Anyway, my thoughts are that if we really stay involved, we can always upgrade down the road if needed.

Most of the trees on our property are under the 23" capacity of the mill, so 80 to 90 percent of what we have should fit. We ordered a 10 pack of Cooks blades to get started. Our farm is covered with yellow pine mostly but we do have some other trees like oak, poplar, etc. In addition to some farm buildings and structures, I'm hopeful to start cutting and building some wood supply so that in a year or two, I can ease back into a basic wood shop setup. When I got out of the hobby 2 years ago, I sold off tools like Hammer, Festool, Felder, Lie Nielsen, Oneida, etc. After 2 years of reflection though, it occurred to me that I had way more fun with woodworking when I had a more simple shop with a basic cabinet style table saw and table top planer. Will be taking that lesson to heart whenever I start acquiring tools down the road.

While we wait for the sawmill (6 week shipping estimate), I spent some time this past weekend clearing a site for it. Will be setting up some areas to permanently install the mill, and have log storage as well as some lumber drying areas. Attached a few pictures of the clearing in progress. Stuck my Stihl MS261 on a few logs that we have on the ground already for size reference. The larger one measured 18" across, which is pretty large for our current trees. Gone are most of our 36" sized tress from the 1950's. Current crop is around 16 years old.

I'm open to any tips of wisdom as we get into this. Thank you.

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Congrats Greg! You're going to have a blast milling lumber. I've had a mill for 2-1/2 years now and have milled many thousands of board feet, all of it enjoyable. What's your plan for drying? FL seems like the perfect location for a solar kiln, or two.

John

Thanks John. The land is in south GA, but it’s only a few degrees different than my place in FL most of the time. Ultimately I think we will build a solar kiln, but for starters we will probably focus on air drying. Especially for outdoor usage like building a green house, solar kiln, etc. Have lots of exterior use projects planned but want to slice up some of the hard woods eventually and put them in a kiln. Should be fun and allow me to ease back into woodworking over time.

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Originally Posted by Greg Parrish

...and we have a hobby sized sawmill on order. :)

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That will be fun! (and a lot of good exercise!)
I got a Woodmizer when we first bought this farm and have used it a LOT. It's a wonder just to watch what is revealed inside a log - often a surprise or two!
You might get metal detector in case some of the surprises are iron. I use a Lumber Wizard.

Pine is my least favorite wood to saw but it's so useful around the farm. We don't have an abundance of pines here (and many of those succumbed to the pine beetles) but most are Virginia Pine and some White Pine. The problem I have is resin building up on the blade even with plenty of lubricant. I have to stop sawing occasionally and scrape off the resin but that only takes a few seconds. I never have this happen with any other wood including Eastern Red Cedar (one of my favorites). Most of the wood I get is hardwood like walnut, cherry, etc

I saw some 4/4 for farm use, siding and such, but much it goes to woodturning so I generally saw at least 2" thick, sometimes 4" or larger. It's SO nice to have a stack of slabs to work with.

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If you do any woodturning or know anyone who wants big blanks, I came up with a method to hold short pieces on the mill. I use lag screws to make a long "L" from 2x lumber and clamp the short piece near the end to saw. The support is sacrificial so I move down as some gets cut away. This friend just wanted the chunks flattened on at least one side to make bowls but I often saw square up the shorts to make larger blocks for drying.

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Some random pics (I love photos!):

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It looks like you have the equipment to handle logs, the hardest thing for most people. I started using my tractor to set logs on the mill with a couple of skidding tongs held by hooks welded on the bucket, then used forks on the tractor then on a skid steer. Then I got a small excavator with a thumb and everything suddenly got easier!

Make sure you post some photos as you get started. Good clean fun!

JKJ

John,

Thank you for the comments and the pictures. I saved the idea for holding short pieces. Looks like a good way to repurpose edges and cutoffs. We will have a lot to learn, but I'm excited for the venture.

With Yellow Pine, my biggest worry is the pitch (or pine tar). I'm already starting to read up on ways to deal with it but I'm guessing dedicated clothes and bathing in tar remover is going to become the norm. Blade wise, it seems as though a lot of cleaning on the machine is required to prevent buildup on the blades and wheels. Since it's our most available wood, it will just be part of the norm for us to get used to I guess.

With our mill, we have a trailer we could mount it on, but since this is for personal use only on our farm land, I'm thinking setting it up in a permanent location will be best to start. Our track will be 14' long with 11' cut capacity. We are planning to order one 7' extension and will build a lean-to on one end of the track so that we can roll the carriage into it when not in use. Will help to keep the saw assembly dry and out of the weather, as well as locked when not in use. We are thinking at the moment to put down rail road cross ties under each track (three 8 footers per side would handle our 21' total with extension) and then run a treated 2x6 across the top of the cross ties. Should give a fairly solid base once leveled and we can then screw the mill feet into the 2x6.

Regarding equipment, we have the John Deere 310k backhoe, a John Deere 5045 tractor, a John Deere gator, a Polaris Ranger and numerous 10 to 14 foot trailers. Between that, chains, cables, straps and other rigging gear, we should be okay to move logs and retrieve them around the property. That said, I sure wish our backhoe had a thumb on it, but doubt we will add one anytime soon.

I just added the ranger in September last year. It's got a 6,000 lb winch and is great at hauling stuff around the property. I may see a day that a small log skidding trailer would be helpful but it's honestly just too easy to grab the log with the backhoe and a chain.
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I spent the last 8 months building new perimeter roads on the weekends. The 310k is not really the right tool for that, but it did just fine. Lot's of saw material is now accessible thanks to the access provided to our property by this fence line road. Before you couldn't get equipment all the way around which would have made everything a bigger challenge.

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On the wood turning question, I used to do it. Sold my laguna 1836 with all of my other equipment. We converted my garage workshop here in Florida into a gym and other hobby room at the start of CoVid. I wasn't doing a lot of woodworking then and decided it was a better use of the space since the whole family could enjoy the room. My lathe is one of the few tools I wish I'd have kept. It may be one of the first items I look to replace down the road. Honestly, I would like to build one with large bowl capacity and short bed that can be kept outside, but haven't gotten serious enough to tackle that project. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John K Jordan

That will be fun! (and a lot of good exercise!)
I got a Woodmizer when we first bought this farm and have used it a LOT. It's a wonder just to watch what is revealed inside a log - often a surprise or two!
You might get metal detector in case some of the surprises are iron. I use a Lumber Wizard.

Pine is my least favorite wood to saw but it's so useful around the farm. We don't have an abundance of pines here (and many of those succumbed to the pine beetles) but most are Virginia Pine and some White Pine. The problem I have is resin building up on the blade even with plenty of lubricant. I have to stop sawing occasionally and scrape off the resin but that only takes a few seconds. I never have this happen with any other wood including Eastern Red Cedar (one of my favorites). Most of the wood I get is hardwood like walnut, cherry, etc

I saw some 4/4 for farm use, siding and such, but much it goes to woodturning so I generally saw at least 2" thick, sometimes 4" or larger. It's SO nice to have a stack of slabs to work with.

If you do any woodturning or know anyone who wants big blanks, I came up with a method to hold short pieces on the mill. I use lag screws to make a long "L" from 2x lumber and clamp the short piece near the end to saw. The support is sacrificial so I move down as some gets cut away. This friend just wanted the chunks flattened on at least one side to make bowls but I often saw square up the shorts to make larger blocks for drying.

It looks like you have the equipment to handle logs, the hardest thing for most people. I started using my tractor to set logs on the mill with a couple of skidding tongs held by hooks welded on the bucket, then used forks on the tractor then on a skid steer. Then I got a small excavator with a thumb and everything suddenly got easier!

Make sure you post some photos as you get started. Good clean fun!

JKJ

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I forgot to mention one problem with resin building up on the bandsaw blade is it will create more friction in the kerf and affect the cut. The resin always builds up on the top of the blade for some reason. I think it might get packed onto the blade by the wheels and steel roller guides. If I don't remove it the blade might actually dive down a bit in the cut causing the board to get thicker in that spot. Besides ruining a couple of boards this can put a lot of stress on the saw too.

I use an unconventional but very effective method to remove resin from the bandsaw mill blade. Some may gasp in horror but for me the way I do it is perfectly safe.

I stand behind the saw with it running and hold the tip of a very long-handled screwdriver against the resin buildup. I stabilized the screwdriver by holding it against something on the frame of the saw, have done it so much it's become automatic and I can't remember exactly what I hold it against. The resin is peeled off in just a few seconds. I've also used the tip of a long pry bar (about 2' long).

I've done this hundreds of times without drama. Anyone uncoordinated enough that they might let the tip of the screwdriver touch the teeth should definitely not use this method!

I also use this method on the shop bandsaw to clean gunk packed onto the blade when processing certain types of green wood. In this case, I use a length of thin-walled brass SQUARE tubing laid flat on the bandsaw table and press the end into the side of the blade while the bandsaw is running. It also removes any gunk on the blade in a few seconds. The brass is soft enough that if you did let it touch the side of the teeth it wouldn't hurt the teeth but just abrade the tubing some. I put a loop of steel wire on the end of the brass tube so I can keep it handy on a magnet stuck on the bandsaw.

Some miscellaneous sawmill comments:

If you see black streaks it generally means metal in the wood.

I keep a jug of something handy to pour into carpenter ant nests found in some logs.

I keep a couple of cant hooks with 5' handles and a long steel pry bar at the saw.

As with anything, safety is important. I always wear safety glasses, hearing protection, and gloves. I keep a big plastic truck box at the sawmill for lumber crayons, measuring tape, safety glasses, metal detector, gloves, etc.

I detension the blade at the end of every use.

Don't do what I did once and leave the plastic water lube tank on the top of the saw over the winter. It froze and broke the container. Also, the UV in sunlight will destroy most white plastic. A cover made from cloth or tarp will make it last a lot longer.

Wasps love to build nests in the battery box, inside the wheel doors.

My plastic water lube tank has a valve to set the water flow and turn the water off when not in use. I found it a lot simpler to add a second valve inline in the hose just below the first. I use one to set the desired flow and use the other to turn the water on and off.

My saw is sits on rectangles of pressure treated wood under each foot. Been that way since 2004. I don't see any need to put it on a trailer unless I wanted to carry it around and saw for others. (not interested) I added an extra section of track so I can cut just over 16'. An extra clamp or two is a good investment. I never thought about building a shed on the end but I do have a good cover.

People sometimes ask me how much I would charge to saw logs for them. I won't do it. I don't want a business, the permits, taxes, insurance and all required and don't want to deal with customers. What I will do at times is saw for "shares": the guy brings the logs and helps with the sawing and we split the wood about 50/50. If I he doesn't stay and help I might do it for 60/40. If I have to go get the logs, I'm not interested! I'll saw for good friends just for fun.

My saw is a manual LT15 with a crank to advance the carriage. I do plan to relocate it at some point and shape the ground so the side I walk on is lower than the side I load the logs on to make it more comfortable to operate in my old age. I also want to have enough flat space on that side so I can use the yard box on the tractor to move the sawdust (which accumulates quickly!) I throw all the waste into a pile at the end of the saw and push it out of the way for burning. There are people who will come and haul all that off for burning. I generally cut 1x1 stickers from cedar.

Best time to saw and start drying is in the middle of the winter. Less sticker stain, fungus, insect attack, and drying checks that way. Holly can actually stay white. I do seal the ends of the logs with Anchorseal. It's cheaper by the 55 gal drum.

I always put forks on the tractor and unload the boards directly onto the forks. I generally work by myself so this is a lot easier, especially with heavy planks and slabs.

I find it easier to skid logs through the woods by driving backwards with the a skidding tong on a chain grab hook welded to the top of the bucket. That way I can see what I'm doing better and lift the end of the log easily as needed. People have asked me why I went backwards but I've always done it that way.

You can easily parbuckle even a big log onto a trailer with a couple of ramps and a wire rope or chain. Pull with a truck, 4-wheeler, or even a comealong. I have a couple of steel i-beams I've used for this. Sure beats driving the tractor to the site, unloading and loading the logs, driving the trailer back to unload the logs, then making another trip to get the tractor. Done that and didn't like it.

JKJ

One huge advantage of mills with metal wheels (no tires) is you can run kerosene, diesel fuel, etc blade lubricant. I know some folks say they use it on mills with tires on the wheels, too, but the manufacturer of my saw, Woodland Mills, says not to and so far I have not. With most woods I use no lubricant at all w/o problem, but some woods like ash, oddly enough, cause resin to build up on the blade and then I'm forced to. Water with Dawn dish soap works pretty well. Pinesol in water is said to work well, too, especially on softwoods with pitch, but I haven't tried it. I use windshield washer fluid in the Winter and sometimes in the Summer, too, as it works better than water for me. Too much of any lube seems to cause the blade to ride off the wheels and that's a pretty unpleasant experience, one I try to avoid.

You'll learn as you go, and it's all fun.

John

Thanks guys. I'll post more on this thread once we get the mill, set it up and start using it. :)

Greg, enjoy the ride. You will thoroughly enjoy the experience of cutting your own lumber. Since you are in the south go by the nearest John Deere dealer and pick up some Spindle pickers lube. All of the cotton farms use it. Add three or four ounces to the water in your lube jug. It's super slick lubricant. I cut mainly hardwoods but the guys who cut pine every day swear by it. Since I'm in the midwest, I did a search on google and had it shipped in. I'm not sure if you can get it in less than a 5 gal bucket.
And,.... be sure to get that Lathe replaced. There is nothing quite like it.

The best advice that I can give you is to join the Forestry Forum. It is pretty much the best online forum for small and medium sized sawmill and kiln operators, and there is a wealth of knowledge there.

Pine pitch can be mitigated multiple ways. Most sawyers use a very slow drip of diesel fuel, and claim that you don't smell any residue on the wood. Others will mix in additives to their water such as ERA laundry soap and liquid cascade. Personally I used cotton spindle lubricant as an additive and it works well.

My favorite log handling implement is a grapple rake on a skid or compact track loader. We also use forklifts, but the grapple is more versatile and less damage is imparted to the logs.

Here is one such example that you will find on the Forestry Forum, as well as a long thread discussing in detail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcVQ_MKprmI&t=1s

Thanks guys. I joined the forestry forum back before ordering the sawmill. That video is pretty awesome. Our mill won't be quite that nice though. LOL Good info just the same.

Got the mill, assembled and ran first test/play cuts today. Wood is southern yellow pine.

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