Hello all, I have been a pretty active member on the firewood and chainsaw side of the house. This site is fantastic to both learn and share knowledge. So I am looking at taking a small run and sawing some logs for sale. I have a fair amount of standing maple, cherry, hickory and ash. How would one of you start this out, both from an equipment and outlet perspective. I need to find buyers for example. I may just find a mill and sell the logs, but for a small investment I am guessing I can make some additional funds. Any thoughts would be welcome.
It sounds like your aim here is primarily profit, rather than fun. This is not an easy way to make money. Put together a detailed business plan before you start dropping cash on equipment. (Spoiler: you will probably give up the idea when you realize what you're up against.)
I should probably have been a bit more specific. I'm assuming you don't plan to build and operate a drying kiln, so the product you'd be selling will be either green or, if you can store the lumber for a year or more before selling it, air-dried. These are the easiest sorts of lumber to produce, and the lowest in value. Do some research on the market price of air-dried lumber, because you will not be able to get more for yours just because you're cute. Then start thinking about what it would take to produce lumber efficiently enough to make it worth your time, and how much of it you'd have to sell to make it worth your capital investment and maintenance costs.
One of the reasons it's usually lower in value is because its unsurfaced. This also limits your customer base to wood workers who have their own surfacing equipment. There's a lot of them out there, but they will expect to pay less for rough cut. The kind of guy who just wants some cherry to trim out his house will be looking for surfaced lumber. So you might want to consider the price of that as well. If you're just looking to make some cash, maybe check with the Amish folks. There's a fellow around here who will buy standing timber and cut and haul it back to his mill himself.
The guys buying it to make furniture are looking to get it at a reasonably low price. Otherwise it cuts too much into profits. The local guys around here advertise on CL and word of mouth. The also sell crotch burls and turning blanks. Once you are known for having good sellable material, you will get repeat customers. Good luck and have fun.
I should take a pic sometime of the operation the guy who milled a bunch of logs for me has. He has a Woodmizer LT 30 or 40 with a lot of the bells and whistles. He's a little over a mile from me, and does quite a bit of rough sawn, but I know he also happens to have a pretty large planer. He also sells used cars, and rents sleds in the winter. Pretty sure he has a car repair thing goin' on too. Fairly well diversified. You could maybe start out with an Alaskan mill for not too much outlay and go from there. I think he sells rough Pine for around 25-30 cents/bd. ft.
thanks guys. I got a large local lumber company coming out to price the logs.......once we talk I will see what the options are.
There are several ways to get into milling, from my perspective: 1. You have a lot of logs and a good way to use up the end product, or you have a specific and substantial project in mind and having a mill would add value to the project. 2. You are interested in going into business for yourself as a mill owner/operator. 3. You are a small-time hobbyist looking for specialty wood products for woodworking, or you have some unique logs that you want to turn into lumber. In my case I started out as #3 - an avid woodworker with the occasional nice log or logs that were too good to turn into firewood. I bought a Logosol M7 and the first logs I cut up were some giant apple tree trunks that yielded over 200 BF of 6-10" wide planks. Later I became #1, when I decided I wanted to build a timber-frame home, and I sold the Logosol, bought a well-used Wood-Mizer Lt30, and proceeded to saw around 80,000 board feet of beams and boards for the house. I also did a small amount of sawing for others but I didn't really try to do that, they came to me and all but begged. After the house was done I sold the Wood-Mizer, but now I've realized that I'm still a woodworker with the occasional nice logs and I want to get a new mill. So I'll be firmly in the #3 category again soon, and maybe touch on #2. I don't have the time or interest in running a sawmill as a business, but if a friend wants a few logs sawn, I can handle that. Being a business owner requires a whole lot of upfront investment, a sound business plan, and a really good feel for your prospective market. There are a lot of bigger band saw mills out there being sold used, due to some poor schlub deciding that it was too much work or he wasn't making any money. You not only need the mill, you need log handling and processing equipment too. You also need room to mill your lumber, and space to stack and dry it. Will you be processing it as well? Kiln, planer, molder, etc? A guy with $250,000 worth of equipment and an enclosed warehouse or barn full of kiln-dried, planed smooth, graded lumber is probably going to get more money for their product than the other guy who is also selling kiln-dried, planed smooth lumber out of his garage - even if it's the same quality. It's a matter of the buyer's perspective.
Jon Great feedback and more in line with what I was looking for. I am looking at #3, but more for selling very unique pieces. A blend of 2 and 3 I guess. The business end is nonissue as I in a few companies by day. I just need experts like you to provide input to make sure I am not overlooking something. Thanks again
No problem. Definitely not an expert but I have some experience. The kind of lumber you want to produce will have a bearing on the mill you purchase. Any mill can produce off-the-rack rough hardwood - the typical stuff you'd get at your lumberyard. If you want big slabs, you'll need something that can cut them. There's a lot of options - several manufacturers make bandmills that can cut at least 36" logs, Granberg has their chainsaw slabbers, and there's a couple of swingblade makers that offer slabbing bars. From your signature, you already appear to have sufficient support equipment to accompany most any mill. Not to guide you away from FHC but there is a lot more information about sawmilling out there, on other forums and websites. Spend some time watching Youtube videos too. Visit other people who own mills. The universal truth about sawmilling is that it is ALWAYS harder than it looks.
