American-Made sawmills vs Chinese-Made

[Michael Barker]

I see posts often where people say this mill is a better buy because it has better features and IT IS CHEAPER.
Just a note to ask everyone to look closely at things like design quality, manufacturing quality, parts availability 10 years from now etc. In my experience of 71 years with about 50 in the machinery business , you get what you pay for. I'd rather have a 10 yr old good, used, Holiday Rambler camper than most new ones. I've owned two myself. No regrets. I've discovered that Woodland Mills, a Canadian supplier of mills is slickly marketed as a Canadian supplier but fails to mention that their mills are made in China !! Look closely !! Bandwheels are supported with bearings on one side only !! American-made mills such as Hud-Son, Cooks, Timberking etc. are supported on both sides !! And there are many more differences too. There's a reason the Chinese-built mills are cheaper. You really have to look closely to see the quality difference.

[John TenEyck]

Happy Woodland Mills owner here. WM is very clear about where their mills and other products are manufactured. You need read no further than the "About Us" page. They aren't hiding anything. I knew full well where their machines are made when I bought it.

WM's customer service is outstanding. I've had minimal trouble with my mill, but when I needed a new centrifugal clutch they covered it under warranty and shipped it the same day via Fedex Air at their expense. I had it from Canada in 2 days. Similarly, they are great to work with on the phone, both sales and technical support.

I looked at a lot of mills before I made up my mind what to buy. Cooks and Timberking are great machines, no question about it. I just couldn't justify the cost for my needs. But Hud-Son has some very poor design ideas, especially a lack of any spring on the driven wheel. I spent a good amount of time with them on the phone asking how they manage blade tension. The answers I got were not reassuring. Tracking was another area that left me feeling like I would be buying a homebuilt mill. I know there are many happy Hud-Son customers; I just wasn't comfortable with their engineering and technical support.

I would love to have bought an American built mill. I spent months looking for a used one with no success. Eventually, I decided to buy from WM. I would love if the machine were just a little more robust, had a few more HP, and had a greater distance between the guides. But I've never had reason to question the engineering or build quality of what I bought. It does exactly what they advertise it will do. One of the reasons WM's are lower cost than most anyone else is because they are sold as kits. The sawhead is preassembled, but the buyer has to assemble the rest of the carriage that carries the sawhead and, in my case, the trailer that it rides on. You trade your time for that lower cost, a bargain that I was happy to sign up for.

Just so you know, there are two bearings in each wheel. Geez, every one of your complaints is false. Do your homework next time.

John

[Wes Mitchell]

Seems like a weird thread to create an account to post.

[John TenEyck]

Seems like a weird thread to create an account to post.

Agreed.

John

[Michael Barker]

FYI, account was not created for this post . IMHO it was not a weird post . You are right about the Chinese build info being revealed on their site. My mistake !! You are wrong about the bearing being supported on both sides of the wheels.Tech support says is is a square shaft that is turned at the end and is inserted in the bearing in the wheel hubs. There are two bearings in the wheel hubs. Shaft is supported on 1 side only. Maybe you misunderstood what I was saying. Said it hasn't been a problem but recommends you closely inspect the band wheels bearings regularly at a MAX of 6-month intervals to check for seal leakage etc. Easily replaced he said . Support was prompt and a very nice guy so that's good. Not trying to get something stirred up. Glad you're happy with your mill.

[John TenEyck]

Yes, I misunderstood about the bearings. The shaft is supported only on one side. A thru shaft with big pillow blocks on both sides would have greater durability for sure. For the market WM's is targeting their design seems appropriate. I sawed about 8 - 9000 BF this past year, probably about 10K since I've owned the mill. The bearings are still fine. Changing them looks like an easy endeavor. And that's one of the great things about their mills. They are dirt simple and easy to maintain.

John

[Tom Hogard]

Just curious, supporting the shaft/axle on both sides would certainly be much stronger, but how would you put the blade on?

[Michael Barker]

Good point John. They seem like genuinely nice people for sure ! He said bearings are available locally usually and they even give you the bearing numbers with your mill so you can cross them. Don't see ,much of that nowadays. Most manufacturers won't you to come back to them and pay inflated parts prices.

[Michael Barker]

Tom, you can watch videos on Cook's saw site I think and see the process. Others too maybe.

[John TenEyck]

If you look at Hud-Son you can see how the outer pillow blocks sit on a frame that stops short of the end of the wheels and is connected back to the main frame of the sawhead. That allows the blade to fit over the outside bearings. As robust as that is, their blade tracking and tensioning technology is poor to put it mildly.

https://www.hud-son.com/product/hfe-...eader-sawmill/

John

[Michael Barker]

Talked to a Hudson dealer and it seems they don't really have a blade tensioning system as such but rely on the belt around the band wheels to compensate for any shock to the blade. Apparently others use this belt arrangement also. I would think that some type of spring system etc. would be preferred. The belts have a limited life and aren't cheap.

[John TenEyck]

Talked to a Hudson dealer and it seems they don't really have a blade tensioning system as such but rely on the belt around the band wheels to compensate for any shock to the blade. Apparently others use this belt arrangement also. I would think that some type of spring system etc. would be preferred. The belts have a limited life and aren't cheap.

That should prove to you that point of manufacture is less important than the engineering that went into the design. Go look at Cook's design for comparison. Uber robust spring. Uber robust everything, actually.

John

[Michael Barker]

That should prove to you that point of manufacture is less important than the engineering that went into the design. Go look at Cook's design for comparison. Uber robust spring. Uber robust everything, actually.

John

Any one had any experience with the Turner Mills with tires for band wheels ? They seem to have a lot of happy owners ??

[Michael Barker]

Any one had any experience with the Turner Mills with tires for bandwheels ? They seem to have a lot of happy owners ??

[Michael Barker]

John, I'm trying to support American workers and manufacturing. I agree on Cook's mills. IMHO they are the best-built mills out there. However , you can't get them to return a phone call in a reasonable time. Waited almost a month recently and called back before I could talk to their salesman. Said he hadn't gotten to me on the list. They are 8-10 months out on mills.