I have had a hard-on for sawmills and milling lumber for a LONG time!! I have a buddy with a nice hydraulic mill but it seems like we are always too busy to get some milling done. I plan on changing that this spring as I need wood for an addition we are putting on this summer. Probably mostly window trim and other accent wood. I have wanted a mill for a LONG time, but I am very busy with other things at the moment and I am not sure I would use it enough to justify the cost. It is SOOOOO nice to have a pile of usable lumber for any little project. I have been noticing a rather large influx of reasonably priced Chinese knock off mills. Brands like Tapina 36, Road Range, Timbery. In my very brief searches I have seen them without a trailer for around $5000 and with a trailer for $8000. Does anyone have experience with these mills? I used the search function but it didn't come up with anything. Seems like for intermittent homeowner usage if kept out of the elements these things would do the trick. $6-7K is a bit more justifiable than $15,000. Another thing I think we are going to start seeing is an influx of mills that were bought during the high lumber prices showing up on FB market place. We all know about the waitlists of the last 4 years.
I have seen a couple pop up around me, priced as new including shipping. No deals there. Problem I gather is fixing what wasn't built right or just trying to get those chi-com units to hang together. plenty of you tube vids- how honest some are is questionable. what ever you look at is a lot of green stamps up front. I've had the itch for a few years. the proliferation around my area is quite high. I do have a chain saw mill unit, haven't had time to even play with it. Last stuff I needed I just free handed it and then cleaned it up on my big band saw. Moving full sized log is another little hitch in the get along. The other little item seldom ever mentioned is drying the planks and such out. Depend on your location and type of material that could take awhile. Ya, you can build with green lumber - that's another can of worms. There is info available on that. Been quite awhile since i read up on that. Air dry apx 1 year per inch of thickness Plus keeping it from warping and splitting. ( that is why I haven't blown the bucks yet.) Got a good friend up north , he was hot to trot on it too, been 3 years hasn't pulled the trigger yet. Although his nephew did ( chi-com unit) but haven't heard anything about that endeavor.
Yeah, you gotta wonder how they hold up. I love to tinker, but it would suck to have to tinker on your new $6000 toy. I have the room stack a good bit of wood and I have a tractor so those things are not an issue.
Look into Woodland Mills. I have one and to find something better for the price isn't going to happen. I know a few others here have them as well.
They do look like very nice mills. But honestly on the surface (I repeat, on the surface) they do not look like they are built much different. Honestly it seems like the majority of these china mills are copies of the woodland mills. I think you are right though the WM do seem like the best bang for your buck in homesteader mills.
When I was hot in the pants over a mill, I ended up here: Hud-son Forest Equipment | Portable Sawmills | Built in USA Hud-son Patriot Portable Sawmill, Affordable 28" Capacity, Hud-son 13hp Engine The import stuff...my stance is that the quality issues are secondary to sending money out of the Country....to communists no less. If enough people buy the ccp units, small domestic makers will exit the market leaving only either super expensive or imported options.
Oh no....I don't own one! LOL I really really thought I needed to though some years back. When I was shopping I had zeroed in on Hud-son and one other maker that I now cannot think of. I would love to have a bandmill. Unfortunately I have only two of the needed ingredients being Desire and Trees. The money to buy the mill, the FEL that I'll need to keep it fed and the flat open space for it to occupy have not come to fruitition so far.
MAN!! I have not looked at the Woodland Mills mill in a while, they are VERY reasonably priced. How much of a PITA was it to assemble it?
It comes in a box , crate whatever you want to call it. All things considered it wasn't that bad. The cutter head is assembled and you need to put together the rollers , and frame for handle and the top half so to speak. Rails and crossmembers also need to be put together. I was very fortunate to be able to assemble at my work with plenty of space and a nice flat floor. If you are mechanically inclined then it is not bad , just a little time consuming but I also wanted to get it right the first time. Just another thing to mention is their customer service is very good!
If I was in the market for an import mill, I'd look very seriously at the woodland mills..... No personal experience but they look well made for the cost, and the company has a good reputation. I had an extremely negative experience with Norwood sawmills a couple years back....less than zero customer service.....so I always advise people to avoid them. I like that the Hudson mills are supposed to be US made, but you can't beat woodland's value, imo.
Church member has a woodlands and absolutely loves it. I wouldn't even consider a Chinese mill-too many examples of you don't even get what you pay for.......
The Woodmizer brand has been a good starter mill for me. It's nice having a dealer fairly close for help and questions.
Been doing more research. Really leaning towards a Woodland Mills HM126, $4400 out the door shipped with an extra section of track and 10 blades. I have the space, have a tractor, have the money, have the logs, have the trees, etc. Seems like a no brainer! The only thing I DON'T have is tons of extra free time.
Another "guy I know" story. Was set up pretty much the same as you are. Had the time, money, land, trees, tractor. Once he got the mill, word spread. He said he cut a dozen or so trees off his land! Since then (2 years ago) everyone has been bringing or giving him their trees!
Hey! I am ok with that!! I think you are right, if you have a place tree services can offload their trees easily they will keep you in logs. I have a nice mix of pine, hickory and oak I have had dropped off in the last couple of months. It was going to go to firewood but now maybe saw logs AND firewood. Ideally I would have a trailer with a log arch and winch to load logs, a guy could have more than he needs with a a bit of extra elbow grease.
If you start milling, you will look at things different. First you will look at it is mill logs then firewood will be second thought. If you mill and it and don't like it or it looks bad, then it becomes firewood. Some of the logs you don't think are any good to mill might surprise you ; you never know what is inside. And the slab wood you cut off also makes great firewood so you will generate some firewood regardless.
Fact: sawmills cause logs..... This is one of approximately 100 loads I've hauled home just this year.....all free for the getting...
