Anyone own a small portable sawmill? advice on buying one please

[Sawyer Rob]

Biggest thing I have against Woodland Mills BSM, is it's a chinese copy of a Norwood Lumbermate!

I just get sick of the chinese copying everything!

SR

 

[DaveNJ]

And the Norwood Frontier line is a chinese copy of the Woodland Mills chinese copy of the Lumbermate? Nonetheless if I could have afforded more $ for a mill, it probably would have been a Norwood HD 36 with the ability to add hydraulics later. Almost pulled the trigger for one at an Ag show once.

 

[Ken45101]

I bought the Harbor Freight unit on sale last year.

Not bad for the low priced entry model.

It is ONE HECK OF A LOT OF LABOR especially working by myself. Positioning the log, rolling it, even removing the cut boards and slabs. A 12+ inch x2" green board is heavy. And, of course, the lumber needs to be seasoned for most uses.

The HF saw is limited to 9' logs. They do not sell extensions. I could replace the rails with longer ones but those 9' logs are hard enough to handle.

Ken

 

[Ken45101]

I'm milling mostly dead Ash on my property for my own uses and am pleased with it so far.

Dave,

any problems using the dead ash? I have milled some, with small holes in it. IDK if it is safe to use the wood for inside projects, I'm afraid of the bugs hatching!

Ken

 

[Oldpath05]

This is new to me, a Norwood without all the holes... The Frontier Story | Frontier Sawmills
Sawing a long pine - YouTube

 

[FTG-05]

I bought the Harbor Freight unit on sale last year.

Not bad for the low priced entry model.

It is ONE HECK OF A LOT OF LABOR especially working by myself. Positioning the log, rolling it, even removing the cut boards and slabs. A 12+ inch x2" green board is heavy. And, of course, the lumber needs to be seasoned for most uses.

The HF saw is limited to 9' logs. They do not sell extensions. I could replace the rails with longer ones but those 9' logs are hard enough to handle.

Ken

This is why there is no way I'd own a sawmill without a tractor and grapple.

 

[DaveNJ]

Dave,

any problems using the dead ash? I have milled some, with small holes in it. IDK if it is safe to use the wood for inside projects, I'm afraid of the bugs hatching!

Ken

Ash are dying because of Emerald Ash Borers. They destroy parts of the tree at the bark level- they don't make small holes, you can see their damage between the bark and the outer part of the wood. Small holes are likely powder post beetle grubs which invade after the tree is dead. The must be eliminated by kiln drying or treatment (spraying) with a borate product prior to actually using the wood.

 

[caver]

I was going to buy an EZ Boardwalk Portable Band Saw SawMills - EZ Boardwalk Portable Band Saw Mills but a Baker HD18 came up within 150 miles on ebay. It also help the Baker plant is maybe 25 miles from my property.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

And the Norwood Frontier line is a chinese copy of the Woodland Mills chinese copy of the Lumbermate

aaaaawwww NO, Norwood has the "original", they don't need to copy the commies!

SR

 

[Jstpssng]

Let's narrow the search to only "Made in USA"... then filter out all which are over $3K. From those, how many will saw a 16 foot or longer log?