Having trees milled?

   / Having trees milled? #1  

MarkV

Super Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2000
Messages
5,636
Location
Cedartown, Ga and N. Ga mountains
Tractor
1998 Kubota B21, 2005 Kubota L39
Anyone have experience bringing someone to their property to saw logs with a portable mill? I have about 20-30 mature pines that I need to take down for a new barn site. There aren’t enough trees to interest any logger in this area so I was thinking about having someone mill it. These are pretty good size trees and the lumber could be used for some planned out buildings and other projects.

So, what is the deal with portable mill operators? I don’t have any idea what to expect in the way of cost, what to look for, what to look out for or whether it is worth the effort. All comments are appreciated.

MarkV
 
   / Having trees milled? #2  
Mark try the Forestry Forum it has several members in north Ga. You may also do a search in your Georgia Market Bulletin.
Forestry Forum
Start with the members map.
 
   / Having trees milled? #3  
First, the link Billbob posted is a great one...

The custom sawyer usually has a few options on method of business. They can charge by the hour much like a dozer operator etc... OR, they can charge by the board ft. Somewhere usually between $.15 and $.40 a board ft. OR, they can deal on shares somewhere between 1/3-2/3 of finished product. Some guys do any and all of these options.

One can get an estimate on board ft by several scaling methods. Calculators for all the common log scales are located on the Forum posted.

One last thing, most sawyers have a charge for blade damage caused by hitting foreign objects, nails, bullets, fencing, chains, folding chairs, signs, cars, etc... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
   / Having trees milled? #4  
I don't know about sawyers that come to the home, but here we take our trees to a man who takes half the yield in exchange for milling. I should check to see if I can find a portable one. John
 
   / Having trees milled?
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Thanks for the information so far. There are at least two guys local that do custom sawing. I haven’t talked with them yet so I don’t know how they charge. I’m hoping to get a little more education before getting together so I have the right questions to ask.

Billbobtlh, the forestry forum link is helpful, thanks. By the way, I lived in Tallahassee for 12 years and still have a bunch of friends down there.

MarkV
 
   / Having trees milled? #6  
We recently had some cedar, oak and black walnut cut on site. First day, he arrived and set up by 0830 had to stop at 1230 due to rain. Next day, start at 0830 finished sawing at 5 pm. We supplied manpower to move logs and remove waste, kept all the lumber and the bill was 214.00 He even bookmatched some beautiful 14"x 9/4 x 12 oak mantle pieces.
He came highly recommended through a mutual friend. If you have two local to you, maybe you could tagalong a job or two and see how it all works.
 
   / Having trees milled? #7  
mark, check out this site. You may find this is a good solution to hiring out the work and it would always be around for you to use. John Portable sawmill plans
 
   / Having trees milled? #8  
Last fall I had a guy bring in a portable mill to my house and milled about 400 board feet of white oak. Total cost was $190 - $60 an hour and an extra $10 for metal detection on the logs. I could have saved the $10, but if he hit an object and broke the blade I was liable.

But that is the price in Michigan....

Just make sure you treat the ends of the boards after cutting so they don't check too bad. I didn't do that and will lose 2-3" off each end on some boards. Live and learn...
 

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